Thus, in the words of Joseph Kerman and Alan Tyson, "Beethoven appears to have been reaching for a more direct and intimate mode of communication." Kerman and Tyson claim that this search for direct human communication was "in the best early Romantic spirit."

Both classical and romantic elements can be seen in Beethoven's expanded use of musical form. Beethoven began his career as a classical composer, and the forms of classical music remained with him throughout his life. However, in his later compositions, Beethoven also began experimenting with the expansion of those forms. The basis for this experimentation was Beethoven's powerful individualism. Thus, his works indicate that "there is a will to use the language to his advantage, to bend the form to his personal design." Mies points out that Beethoven's compositions were often longer than the average classical composition. As a result, Beethoven was constantly seeking innovations in the classical form in order to "avoid boredom and longwindedness." He continued to use the classical forms that he had learned in his youth; however, he extended and enriched those forms in a new and exciting way. In the words of Mies, "this step by step expansion of old resources and the employment of new ones set the seal on Beethoven's unique development." This expansion of traditional forms also shows how Beethoven was a pivot between the earlier classical style and the later romantic style.

One of the classical forms that Beethoven expanded was the sonata. In both the classical and romantic periods, the sonata form was usually the basis for the first movement of a symphony, and it was often used as the basis for the last movement as well. One of Beethoven's greatest contributions to romantic music was his "reinterpretation of the sonata principle." Mies argues that the formal changes made by Beethoven in his symphonies