Mozart, Haydn, Gluck, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner, Schoenberg – it reads like a list of the great and good in classical music – but the amazing thing is that every one of these musical geniuses lived and worked in Vienna.
So just what was it about Vienna? What were the special qualities that enabled one city to foster such a golden age for music? This explosion of talent applied to visual art, architecture, science and politics too, all of which blossomed and developed in 19th century Vienna, sowing the seeds of modernism in each of those fields.
As we’ll hear during this concert, Vienna’s proximity to nature, its politics and burgeoning middle classes were all factors in its cultural flowering but most important was Vienna’s geographical location at the heart of the Habsburg Empire. Immigrants flocked there from Habsburg territories as diverse as Greece, Hungary, Germany and the Bohemian and Slavic nations.
Mozart, after becoming tired of the restrictions placed on him by his patrons in Salzburg, settled in Vienna and was one of the first to operate as a freelance musician, paving the way for others to follow. He created what would come to be termed the Viennese Classical style which first flourished under the enlightened rule of Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. This meant that when Beethoven (born in Bonn) was ready to take on the mantel of Mozart, there was no question about where he should settle – he must conquer Vienna, the capital of music.
Vienna’s unique setting also plays a part in its inspiration for artists. Surrounded by hills and mountains and bejeweled with parks, its natural setting captivated artists, particularly as Romanticism took hold and nature was thought to reflect the human soul. Whether in Klimt’s paintings of trees or Beethoven’ Pastoral Symphony, written in Heiligenstadt on the banks of the Danube, proximity to nature was vitally important. Schubert’s lieder are inconceivable without their Alpine backdrop. The phrase “Brucknerian splendour” sums up the majesty and beauty of the Austrian scenery captured by Bruckner’s symphonies and Bruckner’s rival, Brahms, also loved the countryside, taking long walks every single day. For Brahms, composing and walking were synonymous.
Even today, Vienna’s most famous landmark is not a building but the River Danube. We will end the concert with the Blue Danube Waltz – surely the definitive Viennese piece written at the pinnacle of fame by that most Viennese of composers, Strauss, expressing the essence of Vienna’s golden era. Emma Johnson 2024
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