CLASSICISM IN MUSIC 17501820

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CLASSICISM IN MUSIC (1750-1820)

• Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

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The Viennese Classic Style

• Classical style originated in 2nd part of the
  18th century. Vienna, capital of Austria
  (centered at crossroads of 4 other musical
  nations--Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and
  Italy).

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(No Transcript)
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Classic

• can refer to an aspect of Greek or Roman antiquity

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• or any supreme accomplishment of lasting appeal

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Neo-Classic Art

• borrowed from art history painting, sculpture,
  and architecture of the late 18th and early 19th
  century were influenced by ancient Greek and
  Roman models
• noble simplicity and calm grandeur
• Classical music and neo-classic art stress
  on balance and clarity of structure (traits found
  in classical style of music we will focus on)

Thomas Jeffersons home, Monticello
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ENLIGHTENMENT

• important intellectual movement of the 18th
  century centered in France forms the basis for
  Western society as we know it today
• rise of the middle class
• promotion for universal education
• humanism--faith in reason disdain for social
  injustice, religion lost its overriding influence
  

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IMPORTANT TRENDS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT

• HUMANISM--most profound.
• THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS--Declaration of
  Independence/Federalist papers--exemplify
  Enlightenment idealism
• MUSICAL CONSUMERISM

• MUSIC AS ENTERTAINMENT)
• RISE OF CONCERTS-
• First concert hall at Oxford in 1748
• The concert hall fostered instrumental music
  (symphonies and concerti).
• It replaced the church, the royal court, and the
  opera house as the focal point of human life.

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Joseph II and the Viennese Court

• 1780-90--reign of Joseph II of Austria (Hapsburg
  ruler)--Greatest years of Classical Style
• emancipated peasantry
• furthered education
• patronized music and literature (150,000
  people--300 newspapers--liberal)

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Vienna in the Classic Period
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Mozart was a child prodigy he and sister Nannerl
  were trotted all over Europe as infant prodigies.
  Between 6 and 7 he never spent more than 10
  months at a time at home.
• first symphony was played at a London concert
  when he was 8 he was knighted by the Pope when
  he was 14 (copied music by ear)

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• Mostly Wolfgang was displayed at courts and
  salons
• future Queen Marie Antoinette of France was one
  who was entertained by 6-year old Mozart. He
  would guess the keys of compositions played to
  him, and sight-read music with a cloth over his
  hands.

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• father Leopold was a court musician

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• As a young adult, Mozart had difficulty making
  his way--he won more acclaim as a boy wonder than
  adult musician.

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• In 1783, Mozart quit and set himself up as a
  free-lance musician in Vienna....partially to get
  away from his father. Leopold had masterminded
  his career and grew more possessive as Wolfgang
  sought independence. Leopold disapproved of his
  marriage to Constanze Weber, a singer who had no
  money and was as unpractical as he.

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• He followed in his fathers footsteps in the
  Archbishops court at Salzburg.
• The Archbishop of Salzburg was overbearing and
  philistine and Mozart hated him. (He was
  literally kicked out when he left).

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• Everyone thought he was a genius, but his music
  was too difficult and he was difficult too.
• He lived on teaching and concerts. Mozart would
  play a concert every year and premiere a piano
  concerto.

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Antonio Salieri

• After 1787, Mozart dropped out of fashion his
  pupils dwindled, and the elite snubbed his
  concerts. He had a minor court appointment and a
  church position.
• When he was finally getting out of debt, he died
  at 35.

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• Mozarts death was dramatic a mysterious
  anonymous patron commissioned a Requiem Mass.
  Mozart thought he was writing his own death mass

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• When he died, his wife was so distraught she
  could not attend to funeral arrangements. He was
  buried in an unmarked grave with paupers.

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• The story has persisted through the generations
  that Salieri somehow contributed to Mozarts
  death--most likely by poisoning him.