23 Jun VIENNA AS AN IMPORTANT CULTURAL CENTRE DURING THE CLASSICAL PERIOD
ienna as an important cultural centre during the classical period
Introduction
Vienna has always been an incredible city, which might seem to resemble a chapter from proffers culture and fairy tales, excitement and history all of which are rolled in what can be termed as a splendid package (Cobb: 2002 para. 4-9). Set in the backdrop of imperial palace, royalty and amazing mountains, Vienna is an important visitor’s destination which can be toured through out the year. Vienna is the Austria’s capital and it is by far the largest city in the country as well as one of the most important cultural centres in Austria all the way from classical period till today. This has enabled this historic city to be inscribed in the World Heritage List of UNESCO. Thus, Vienna is the cultural hub of the Austria (Parsons: 2009 pp.112-141).
There is also a greater number of important institutions which are located at Vienna, which includes; United Nations offices, International Agency of Atomic Energy, Vienna International Centre, and so on. Apart from this, Vienna city also houses some of the civil war sites. As a cultural centre, Vienna city has a rich ancient tradition of theatre, classical music and opera all of which dates back to the classical period. Thus, Vienna city serves as the Austria’s cultural centre, whereby it showcases most of the Europe’s finest classical music and art (Pastelli: 1984 pp.276-291).
The western music classical period between 1730and 1820, thus despite an overlap that was considerable at both ends of this period, that is, with the preceding as well as the following period, this musical era was of great importance to the Vienna. Although sometimes the term classical music acts as a blanket word encompassing all music types in this tradition, it is also specifically used to mean this particular classical period within that tradition. The classical period usually falls between the Romantic and the Baroque period (Cobb: 2002 para.4-9). Most of the notable composers during this period were; Wolfgang Mozart, Ludwig Beethoven, and Joseph Haydn though others included; Johann Dussek, Muzio Clementi, Carl Philip Bach as well as Christopher Gluck. Schubert and Beethoven are sometimes regarded as romantic composers or who were part of the transition between the classical and romantic period. The classical period is also referred to as the Viennese classic sometimes; this is because all the notable composers during the classical period such as the Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn and Schubert at some times worked in Vienna.
The historical background of Vienna as a cultural centre
The cultural history of Vienna exists more than its memory may be, mostly with its beautiful architecture which preserves the cities heritage which is very intriguing amongst its ancient walls (Pastelli: 1984 pp.276-291). The Hofburg imperial palace which traces it roots in the classical period also stands as a tribute to Habsburg dynasty which was once very powerful and also serves as part of the Austria’s presidency grandiose resident. Thus, Vienna literature is also regarded as an important part of culture which began in the classical period when the Holy Roman Empire was disbanded by Francis II leading to establishment of the Austrian empire (Cobb: 2002 para.4-9).
Vienna has also been a significant innovation centre in music. Thus, Vienna’s status as a cultural centre started back in early 1500’s when it actually focused on the music instruments and especially the lute composers in Vienna during the classical period which lasted in parts of 18th as well as 19th centuries were mainly attracted to the Vienna city by the Habsburgs patronage, when it actually became the capital of classical music in European continent (Parsons: 2009 pp.112-141). The famous composer, Mozart with his melody and form balance; Beethoven with his usual symphonic patterns; as well as Haydn, with the string sonata and quartet development all greatly attributed to the classical period of music.
The Classical Era in Vienna
From 1750 up to 1820, architects, artists and musicians moved from the styles which were heavily ornamented of the Baroque which led to the embracing of the uncluttered and clean style which they thought reminiscent of the style of the classical Greece. The aristocracies which were newly established were then replacing the churches and monarchs as the arts patrons whereby they were demanding for an impersonal as well as elegant and tuneful music (Pastelli: 1984 pp. 276-291). During this classical period dances which included the gavotte and minuet were provided mainly in the forms of entertaining divertimenti serenades (Spielman: 1993 p. 121).
However, during this period Vienna city which is the Austrian capital became the European’s musical centre whereas the works which were composed during this period were often regarded as in the Viennese style. Thus, this greatly contributed to the rise of the Vienna city as the cultural centre in the entire of Europe for its critical role which it was playing to the development of music (Cobb: 2002 para 4-9). Composers from all over Europe came to train around and in Vienna. This gradually led to the development as well as formalization of the standard musical forms which dominated the European musical culture during the classical period. The classical period ended up reaching its majestic culmination with the development of the masterful sonatas, symphonies and string quartets which was done by the three great composers from the Viennese school: Wolfgang Mozart, Franz Haydn, and Ludwig Beethoven respectively (Parsons: 2009 pp. 112-141). However, at the same period, the first burgeoning romantic musical voices can be found in the French Schubert music who was also a Viennese composer.
Great composers based in Vienna during the classical period
The classical period was characterized by the convergence of the world’s best composers of that time at Vienna making it one of the most important cultural centres of the classical period (Pastelli: 1984 pp. 276-291). This is mainly because music is always regarded as the soul and heart of many cultures and societies, hence without it most of their existence would cease. Thus, by Vienna becoming an epitome of music competition and performance it actually acted as an important cultural centre world wide (Spielman: 1993 p. 121). A great number of composers all over the world moved to Vienna or around Vienna where they used to train and perform their music. However, the four composers who were very notable as well as successful in Vienna during the classical period included; Ludwig Van Beethoven, Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Christoph Willibald Gluck (Parsons: 2009 pp.112-141).
Ludwig van Beethoven
This composer was born in German in the year1770. His music is usually considered to be the bridge between the classical period and the subsequent romantic era. Beethoven was actually self-educated and ended up rising up to become one among the greatest composers in the classical period (Pastelli: 1984 pp. 276-291). His works were mainly composed for concertos, quartets, piano sonata and symphonies. Almost the entire of Beethoven’s musical career was based in Vienna and it can be viewed best in three distinct phases. In his first period of musical career Beethoven composed the first and second symphonies, six string quartets, opus 18 as well as the first fifteen piano sonatas of his thirty two. In his middle stage of musical career, he started building on classical works thereby bringing them to new expressiveness level. In this stage he also composed the third symphony which was known as Eroica (Parsons: 2009 112). In his third stage Beethoven was at peak of creativity, whereby he explored music more than he had done there before (Cobb: 2002 para. 4-9).
Franz Joseph Haydn
This composer was born and raised in Austria and began his musical career at tender age as a choirboy in Vienna. Most of his musical career also rotates around the Vienna city and while he was in school his most favorite pastime was to scribble music on piece of paper (Pastelli: 1984 pp. 276-291). Count Fornberg was Haydn’s first patron, and under him Haydn was capable of playing string quartet as well as composing his first composition of eighteen quartets. Haydn later became the Count Morzin music director, where he composed his first symphony which was then followed by more than a hundred others (Cobb: 2002 para. 4-9). Later Haydn went to spent thirty years together with the Prince Paul Esterhazy family, whereby he composed forty string quartets, five masses, thirty clavier pieces, a hundred and five cello trios, sixty symphonies as well as many other works for birthdays, funerals, weddings and other occasions (Parsons: 2009 pp. 112-141). Haydn added in to the orchestra extra instrumentation and sang his music with a lot of passion thus he is regarded as today’s one of the greatest music composers in the entire of music history.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart was regarded as the greatest child prodigy whom the world has ever known. This is because at the age of four he was capable of learning a peace of music in approximately half an hour (Pastelli: 1984 pp. 276-291). Then at the age of five he was incredibly playing the clavier well, whereas at the age of eight he started writing and composing his first symphonies. Though Mozart’s life was full of challenges he managed to travel extensively throughout Europe where he composed many operas most of which were most loved, with his last opera being the magic flute (Sherrane: 2000 para. 3-8). However, although Mozart lived for only 35 years, he is actually regarded as a musical genius who was prominent. Hence his creativity contributed so much to the Vienna as the Europe’s most important cultural centre because together with his friend Haydn they also lived in Vienna (Spielman: 1993 p. 121).
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