Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Music
What other country can match the musical heritage of Austria or the creative force of its
great composers? Even some of the Habsburgs were gifted musicians: Leopold I
(1640-1705) composed, Karl VI (1685-1740) stroked a violin, his daughter Maria Ther-
esia (1717-80) played a respectable double bass, while her son Joseph II was a deft hand
at harpsichord and cello. But it's the greats we remember: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven,
Schönberg and - yes, even that contemporary great - Falco.
Vienna Classic
Wiener Klassik (Vienna Classic), which dates back to the mid- and late 18th century, very
much defines the way we perceive classical music today. In its day, the epoch marked a
move away from the celestial baroque music of the royal court and the church and brought
forms of classical music such as opera and symphonies to the salons and theatres of the
upper-middle classes of Vienna and Austria.
The earliest of the great composers was Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), who in his long ca-
reer would tutor a budding young German-born composer by the name of Ludwig van
Beethoven (1770-1827). Another well-known figure of the epoch was Franz Schubert
(1797-1828), and one of the least known was the female 'blind virtuoso' Maria Theresia
von Paradis (1759-1824). Von Paradis received voice training from the Italian composer
Antonio Salieri (1750-1825), and this is where we get to the heart of the matter during this
epoch: the much-discussed but possibly fictional rivalry between Antonio Salieri and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91).
Mozart & Salieri
Mozart was born in Salzburg. He tinkled out his first tunes on the piano at the age of four
years, securing a dazzling reputation as Austria's Wunderkind. Salieri had been appointed
by the Habsburgs in 1774 to head Italian opera at the royal court in the years following
Mozart's meteoric rise. The stage was set for rivalries and intrigue, and this culminated in
rumours that Salieri had murdered Mozart. We will never know whether he did or not (it's
extremely unlikely that he did), but this is a moot point. The interesting thing is how much
art has been born of the rumours. The most recent artistic masterpiece is the film
Amadeus
(1984), directed by Miloš Formann (b 1932). It won eight Academy awards and is widely
considered to be the best of its ilk.
