Musical Vienna in 1800 A LIFE Institute Course Fall 2018 Bob Fabian LIFEcourses.ca
Approach in 1800 ~ between 1780 and 1830 It was a time of change: The revolutions (and Napoleon) were shaking Europe and the Holy Roman Empire (Vienna) Europe discovered science, enlightenment and progress, but a changed old order persisted Music echoed the changes in society dynamic music for an audience, not for the monarch
Limitations I m neither a musicologist nor an historian After high school, the choice was between an Institute of Technology and a Music Conservatory. With my father s urging, technology won, but my love of music continues The big 3 (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven) play a major role, but they did not play alone My personal bias is on patterns & structure in music (stories often get in the way) One consequence: opera is less important for me
My course goals... An appreciation for the way music changed An appreciation for the way music making changed Our classical music was born in Vienna during this period The conductor arrived, the instruments were dramatically improved and new ways were found to pay for music An appreciation for some of the less well-known composers Finally, how Vienna inspired music and music making into the 20th century
Necessary E s LIFE courses should be: Educational Engaging Entertaining The balance may be different, but all three E s should be present If you don t like the balance I offer, I m open to discussing changes
Plan for Remaining Sessions Session 2: Social changes Session 3: Not just the Big 3 New instruments, new ensembles Session 5: The string quartet Many/most performances included premieres Session 4: Changing musical technology Accompanying changes in music and in performance The thoughtful musical ensemble Session 6: Some missing pieces Quick look at Opera, pianist/composers, and the future
This Session Plan Introductions What would you like to see covered? What would make this course successful? Basic facts: Vienna Public role of music Beethoven: Wellington s Victory Evolving style Haydn: The Creation (secular, but still classical ) Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (secular, dynamic, driven)
Over to you... What would you like to see covered? What would make this successful for you?
Vienna Cemetery Thanks: John Webb
The Current Vienna
Holy Roman Empire https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/hrr.gif
Vienna & Empire in 1789 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/map_of_the_holy_roman_empire%2c_1789_en.png/800px-map_of_the_holy_roman_empire%2c_1789_en.pnga
Vienna & Holy Roman Empire By 1800, no longer Holy, no longer Roman, and no longer an Empire But The Catholic Church was still the church And the Emperors did support music Vienna (1800) contained an estimated 200,000 London (1800) ~ 1,000,000 Paris (1800) ~ 500,000
Vienna & Music Vienna drew musicians who wanted royal and then aristocratic patronage Public music was important, initially for the Church and the Empire, and then as a civic statement Beethoven s Wellington s Victory celebrated the defeat of Napoleon in June 1813 December 1813 benefit concert for wounded Austrian and Bavarian soldiers, Beethoven conducting
Beethoven: Wellington s Victory NKO, live from Tel Aviv Museum of Arts, July 13th, 2016. Conducted by Shalev Ad-El https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewmacykndfw
Today? We don t use music in that crass a way! But Bernstein did conduct Beethoven s 9th in Berlin in celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall But Toscanini did conduct the New York premier of Shostakovitch's Leningrad Symphony (#7) in 1942 from a microfilm score flown out of a Leningrad under siege in 1941 maybe we re not all that different
Two Musical Peaks Haydn s The Creation Composed between 1797 and 1798 Libretto by Baron Gottfried van Swieten First performed on 19 March 1799 Beethoven s Ode to Joy (Symphony # 9) Composed between 1822 and 1824 Text: Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy" First perfomred on 7 May 1824
Think about the differences The Creation is deeply religious, but is not a composition for the church Ode to Joy is deeply spiritual, but is not aligned with any church doctrine The Creation develops and evolves, but does not have the fierce drive of Ode to Joy Is one the culmination of the Classical era, the other a bold introduction to the Romantic era
While we Listen Think about the musical and emotional differences and what that says about the era just ending, and the era just beginning Each composition will get half of the remaining time (they deserve more, but there are limits to what we can do in one LIFE course session)
Haydn: The Creation From the Haydn Hall at Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn in 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xipsnmqzh9m
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (May 7, 2015 on the anniversary of its first performance) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rojhhs5mtva
Your View... Did Haydn go beyond the classical? Was Beethoven really a revolutionary? New kind of subject matter? New musical expressiveness? Humanistic reverence for life? A new revolutionary musical dynamic? Other thoughts...
Next Week There were social, scientific, political and musical revolutions brewing Vienna was a musical magnet, drawing composers and performers Public concerts were infrequent and not yet a major source musical income What was required to enjoy music in Vienna in 1800? What music was being enjoyed in Vienna in 1800?