Music and culture in central Europe

Transcription

1 Music and culture in central Europe One of the biggest advantages to studying abroad that is emphasized by almost any organization that tries to draw people in is the cultural experience that can be enlightened far beyond the understanding from reading a book or attending lectures. The experience of being in another country, of immersing oneself in the culture and the ways of the people there and the history that it contains is said to be more influential and more rewarding. After my first trip to Europe and experience and submersion into the culture, specifically the musical history, I can agree that this was far beyond any learning that I have received in the classroom setting. Though it is taught that all of these composers lived in Vienna, and Vienna is often mentioned throughout history classes, the sheer volume of the rich musical history cannot truly be understood until being in that culture. To walk through the homes of countless famous composers, to wander through state parks and city streets with statue after statue dedicated to composers who lived and worked there, and to experience the musical love that is still ever-present in that city was an experience I will never forget. My main focus of my reflection will be on my experience in Vienna, because it was there that I found a love of classical music and rich history that I did not expect to find. The level of interest that people still show in classical music, as well as the obvious draw the city has had over the years, was eye opening to me. This in mind, I was

2 still excited by the culture overall in Munich and Salzburg, and if anything, visits to these cities helped to enlighten my understanding of just how much of a hub Vienna is for the aspiring musician. The European trip began in Munich and proceeded to Salzburg before concluding in Vienna. In a way, this trip also seemed to progress through the musical level and influence each city had. Munich, though a great city with many cathedrals, was hardly the bustling musical venue that we would later experience, and the cultural history was not as strong. Don t misinterpret and think that there was no musical culture in Munich; when compared to the average city in the United States it was still highly filled with musical opportunities, but as the trip continued, it would seem rather uninspiring for musicians compared to what we would later run across. The most influential musical name that I came across while in Munich was Carl Orff, known for his methodology of general music education. At the musical instruments museum that we went to in Munich, there was an entire dedication to his Orff instruments and the influence that his research and theories covering music education have had across the world. His theory is a strongly followed method of teaching today in America. After leaving Munich and seeing Salzburg, the musical experiences picked up. In Salzburg, it was a Mozart heaven. Love Mozart? Go to Salzburg, it s as simple as that. The city really isn t that large and the opportunities not that grand in comparison to other options in Europe, but it still had plenty of history. Though Mozart did not particularly care for the city

3 of Salzburg and was rather uninspired there, clearly the city grasps claim to him and is not going to let the world forget it. With their Mozart balls and hundreds of tourist concerts dedicated to the works of Mozart, it was clear this was their claim to fame. Also, surprise, their university is also named after their hero, the Mozarteum. Quite simply, music in Salzburg is alive and thriving mostly because a young prodigy from the classical period was born there and spent 9 years of his life finding himself while an unhappy court musician. Nevertheless, this was enough to spark a city that would continue to love Mozart music and grab the interest of tourists of all types; after all, it s impossible to miss the shops lining the streets with Mozart souvenirs. The experience in Salzburg, though not the intense musical experience I would have in Vienna, was nevertheless musically based and enriching. The Salzburg Fortress concert, which I was excited to attend though I had my doubts about the quality of a tourist performance, was actually quite enjoyable. Keeping in mind that these performers were not with the symphony or some other high-level professional organization, their talent and performance was quite impressive. Even beyond the specific performance, I was most amazed at just how many performance opportunities there are in Salzburg, especially with the size of the city. I guess being a tourist attraction allows for many concert options. The best part about the concerts is that they were actually decently priced, which came as a surprise to me. The best concert I attended in Salzburg though was definitely the Mozarteum Wind Symphony. Wind playing is still not a highly sought-after ensemble, and it

4 seems especially in Europe, this has not caught on as an ensemble quite in the same way as it has in the United States. Nevertheless, this ensemble was simply amazing, and blew me away with their playing abilities. They played a variety of music, most of which I had never heard performed by a wind ensemble, and many composers I had never even heard of before. It truly showed the difference in the culture of this more modern ensemble between the United States and Europe. Even their orchestration was different than what I am accustomed to in the United States, and they were much more flexible, adding and removing people from the stage for each different piece. I was saddened to see that, like with an orchestra, their use of saxophone was rather slim; in fact, he only played on one of the pieces, and even then had a rather modest part. This is not the case in America, thank goodness, or I feel my primary instrument would be a rather boring one to play. Along with the normal concert setting, I was also able to experience a mass performed in the Salzburg cathedral on Sunday morning. This was such an eye-opening experience. Maybe this happens often in America, but I have never heard of a catholic church here performing masses. Yet it seems that every mass in a European cathedral still includes an actual mass as it would have been performed when it was written. I think it s really cool that they still integrate this into their current worship services as it preserves an extremely vital portion of musical composition in music history. The mass I attended used the setting of Missa Sexi Toni by Alexander Gualtieri, which was written in the seventeenth century. It was really cool to hear the

5 acoustics of a mass performed in one of these cathedrals as well. The interesting part about this mass being performed was that Gualtieri was actually a organ and choirmaster in Salzburg during his lifetime, so this mass may have been performed in this cathedral when it was premiered. This was fitting as music in Salzburg flourished primarily in church music as it was a seat of a prince-archbishop, which is who the funding and employment of musical life through the 19 th century came from. The other largely popular musical name in Salzburg besides Mozart, Michael Haydn, was a church musician and gained his employment and fame through working for the archbishop at the time of his stay in Salzburg. This is an interesting situation since Haydn was born in Vienna; standout composers or musicians did not often make a move away from the city. However, he found high levels of success in Salzburg, and his memory and influence remains with a museum there, which we toured during our time there as well. The largest portion of the musical experiences in Salzburg throughout the year occurs later in the summer and we did not participate in, though from what I have heard it is absolutely amazing and a true draw of musical virtuosos and lovers of the culture. This is the Salzburg Festival, which basically draws the musical life from hubs such as Vienna to Salzburg to give concerts, opera performances, and even premieres in this beautiful Alpine city. The festival has been occurring off and on since 1877, and been in full swing since the conclusion of World War 2 in This festival was ran for many years and made famous by Herbert von Karajan, another famous man

6 from Salzburg who studied at the Mozarteum before he made it big after he left the city for Berlin and later Vienna. There is even a statue of him in Salzburg. Of course, though I was excited for the Salzburg Fortress and beyond excited to hear a wind ensemble from Europe to play, my greatest excitement was for the concert opportunities in Vienna. I ended up attending two music performances in Vienna and experiencing another on a live television broadcast, but even beyond that, the city itself was bursting forth with music everywhere I went. If I was an up-and-coming musician in Europe, I can understand the draw to Vienna, where musical exposure is constant and a high quality performance is available if you are willing to stand for only a few Euros practically every night. Plus, the chance to play on street corners and in the subway is readily available, and the reception you could receive from these cultured Vienna dwellers and tourists would be outstanding, as I witnessed while I was there. The portion of our musical experience that was built into our trip was the visits to countless museums of homes of different composers. We visited two homes of Beethoven, one of Haydn, one of Schubert, and took a trip to Eisenstadt to visit Haydn s home there. These homes were just a portion of the many different museum homes that you can visit in Vienna. Though we didn t make it, there is also the House of Music, which is a great visit. Along with all of the in-home museums, we were also able to experience the Ancient Musical Instruments collection at the Hofburg Palace, which was huge and

7 simply fantastic. The amount of instruments they had been able to collect and the information about them was fascinating. If I had the time, the entire audio guide would have been an entire morning on it s own. It was clear just in these few visits that music was important to the history and culture of Vienna, and will continue to be. The final group visit was to the cemetery, where the list of influential composers in Vienna grows even more. There is the Strauss family, Brahms, and Schoenberg to add to the list, as well as Gluck and Wolf. This list just begins to show the amount of thriving culture of music there has been in Vienna throughout the development of musical history. In musical history, perhaps the major obvious point to show how influential Vienna has been is the first and second Viennese schools. Also important was the Vienna Boys Choir, a rather historic and well-famed ensemble. Though our basic musical knowledge begins with these organizations and their formulation during the classical era, music in Vienna was present beginning in the early formation, becoming especially apparent under the rule of Maximillian I in the late 15 th century. Music was more conservative at the time; however, it was still very prevalent throughout the church and courts. Music really began to grow and influence the culture of Vienna beginning in the Baroque Era, when Italian musicians began to travel to Vienna for employment, as well as give premieres of many of their operas there. The first Viennese school refers to the big classical composers in the late 18 th century that lived in Vienna, Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Beethoven.

8 These composers were highly influential in musical growth and development in general, and their success in Vienna makes them greats even today. The second Viennese school, which was a big part of the new rise of atonal music in the 20 th century, was comprised of Schoenberg and his followers, primarily Berg and Webern. This is an important thing to understand as these two movements in music are some of the largest in musical history in general, and both are found to have originated in Vienna, thus emphasizing it s importance as a musical hub. The Vienna Boys Choir, which also holds much influence in the history of music in Vienna, was actually formally founded in 1924, though the history and idea of this choir goes back as far as Maximillian I. This choir was originally used in the church mass, and is made up of boys pre-pubescent, producing a treble tone that is very pure, different from that of a more mature voice. Today there are four different choirs and the students receive intense musical training as well as giving hundreds of concerts every year. The concerts by the Vienna Boys Choir make up only a part of the musical life in Vienna. Opera is another popular genre of music in Vienna, which has two premiere professional opera companies. The State Opera House is internationally renowned and produces approximately 60 operas a year. This, along with the many ballets on its stage, is just overwhelming to consider. The opera building is always sold out, and standing room tickets are only available by showing up an hour before the show. These tickets are also highly sought-after, so there is a large screen on the side of the opera

9 house where they show the stage if you want to stand outside and see the production. We saw a small portion of Carmen while walking past the opera house on this screen on Thursday night, and it was amazing how many people would stop outside the opera house just to watch this screen. Along with the State Opera, there is also the Volksoper, or Folk Opera. This is where they have a lot of operettas or musicals. I was glad to be able to get tickets to see Die Fledermaus done at the Volksoper on Tuesday, and was stunned by the production. Tickets in the top of the balcony were 21 euros, still not cheap, and the cast was talented beyond my expectations. For a second-rate opera company compared to the State Opera, the performers sure did not show it. Their precision was flawless and I was simply blown away by this production. This clearly showed just how impressive and deep the level of talent is in the city of Vienna to be able to cast such high-talented singers. The best part of seeing the opera was the acoustics, which are of high enough quality that there is no amplification needed, so the vocalists are not mic-ed. This was fantastic compared to in the United States, where there is such a draw to mic-ing for fear that the audience may not perfectly hear the vocalists. Not only is Vienna home to some fantastic opera companies, but there is also a large selection of concert ensembles. The top symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, is again well known throughout the world. Their performance on the lawn at Schönbrunn palace is free, and highly attended. Even with the rain and cold weather which kept our touring group

10 inside, there were still thousands that chose to brave the weather just to hear the ensemble play, and with good reasoning. The live broadcast on TV was phenomenal, and I can just imagine what an experience this would have been in better weather conditions and being able to see the performance done live. As if the Vienna Phil wasn t fantastic enough, there of course are other orchestra s to see perform as well, and of course no shortage on venues. My other orchestral experience however, was not a Vienna based orchestra, though it was in one of the best venues you could ask, the infamous Musikverein. The Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra was performing works by Wagner, and the musical experience in that hall was simply breathtaking. Along with the sheer musicality and the acoustics, one of the biggest surprises to me during this concert was the standing-room only tickets. This was how I decided to attend the concert, and wasn t sure exactly what to expect. Probably my biggest surprise was just how many people are willing to stand for 2-plus hours to see a classical music concert. This is something you never see in America, but at that concert there were at least 100 people standing in the gated-off back portion of the concert hall. The best part of this was the ages, anywhere from 12-year-old children to 70 year olds, all standing through the entire concert, that desperate to see the ensemble perform. Every concert I attended in Vienna, as well as when we continued on to Prague, these tickets were a prevalent purchase. For a student at a university, these tickets would be ideal: cheap, and offering the chance to hear world-class musicians perform pretty much every night of the week if you

11 would like. My ticket was only 6 euros, and well worth it, even with my tired feet by the end of the program. This experience alone changed my view of where classical music is in the midst of society; clearly in Europe there is much more emphasis, love, and appreciation for this musical form compared to what I see in the United States. Of course, just like in Salzburg, Vienna is filled with tourist concerts. Though I did not experience any of these, I think it would be interesting to see how well these groups perform as well. In a city that is so much a central hub for music, I have to imagine so many students and aspiring musicians strive for the chance to play in some of these ensembles. Also in Vienna, I was able to experience another mass, this time at St. Stephen s Cathedral. This mass was on a religious holiday, and the mass performed was a typical Mozart mass (I believe in B, though I don t specifically remember). The best part of this mass was the organ. Like in Salzburg, they didn t use the large organ to perform, however, the smaller organ in St. Stephen s Cathedral is no small organ and the sound quality and reverb absolutely blew me away. My journey did not end here, and my experience of Don Giovanni in Prague continued to enhance my love of classical music and truly appreciate every experience that I had. The culture of classical music in central Europe was probably the most eye-opening moment for me. In America, it seems that classical music has taken such a backseat to the pop culture world that at times I wonder if it will be lost forever. On the other hand, pop culture seems

12 to not be as prevalent in Europe; in fact, most of the pop music I heard was actually American. Rather, the European culture seems to understand the value of classical music and still hold it dear, as is shown by the thriving culture and 15,000-plus concerts and operas you can see in Vienna every year. This was my favorite part of my trip to Europe and I can t wait to return with this knowledge to be able to plan even better concert choices and experience the true majesty of classical music in Europe.

13 Works Cited: Cliff Eisen. "Salzburg." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 8 Jun < 37>. Horst Leuchtmann and Robert Münster. "Munich." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 8 Jun < 60>. Jerome Roche. "Gualtieri, Alessandro." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 8 Jun < 92>. Theophil Antonicek, et al. "Vienna." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 8 Jun < 26>.