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Elizabeth Hoover

Professor Weinkauf

Music History 2

February, 2021

Vienna, Austria, Impacts Upon Classical Music

When talking about the importance of a city in history most people may mention Berlin,

Germany, or London, England. Now, when asked what city has a major impact on musical

movements, you may think of New Orleans, Louisiana, or Memphis, Tennessee. However, one

of the most noteworthy cities to list in this category tends to be overlooked by those who do not

know its relevance, Vienna, Austria. This city has many attributions to musical history and the

development in musical understanding that most do not realize exist in this one European city.

Though for those who know the unofficial name for the city, they know it as the capital of

classical music. Vienna gets this name because during the Classical Era many important

composers came together in this city to perform, compose, and study music. For this reason

Vienna became the melting pot of classical music due to the musicians who came together here;

the strong political power of Austria; and the support of the royal family in the arts.

Some of the major composers who worked and found themselves in Vienna, Austria,

during this time period of classical music are Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert. The first

one I will talk about is Franz Joseph Haydn who was born in Austria, but later moved to Vienna

to sing in St. Stephen’s Cathedral as a choirboy. After being kicked out of the choir when his

voice changed, Haydn went to work for the noble Hungarian family, Esterházys, outside of

Vienna for thirty years and Haydn constantly visited the city. During this time Haydn met Mozart

in Vienna and became friends with him, even when the Esterházy family no longer required
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Haydn’s services he returned to Vienna to teach and compose music. In this time when he was in

Vienna teaching he taught a particular student who influenced the musical realm, Beethoven

(Tommasini).

Another great musician impacted by the culture of Vienna was Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart who was born in Salzburg and later traveled around Europe with his father, Leopold, and

his sister. When Mozart was a child prodigy, writing his first piece at the age of six, his father

began touring with his children in hopes of gaining patronage for Mozart. However, Mozart did

not want to work underneath a patron and attempted to freelance in the city of Vienna until his

death. Overall, Mozart had points where he was successful at freelancing and he met many

famous musicians during his time in Vienna, but with the other addictions he had, Mozart

ultimately died a poor man (Burkholder).

Adding onto the list of musicians, Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany,

and he was a child prodigy like Mozart, but not as naturally talented. Beethoven showed musical

prowess from a young age and his father saw this in him, but he was not to the level Mozart was.

At an early point in Beethoven’s life he went off on his own to Vienna to begin his career as a

composer and performer. In Vienna he studied under Haydn and met other great musicians in the

time he lived in Vienna. Another important aspect to know about Beethoven is that he was not

fully under the support of a patron, but was a successful freelancer. Beethoven began going deaf

when he had to rely more on patrons, but overall he did well in freelancing up until this point and

even after he went deaf (Burkholder).

Franz Schubert is another person who was impactful to the Classical Music era and the

only musician listed who was a native Vienna. Schubert started his career as a schoolteacher, but

later through himself in the realm of music and started his career as a struggling freelance
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composer. At the time when Schubert was trying to make it as a freelance composer then

patronage system was breaking down near the end of the classical music era. Schubert is one of

the composers, like Beethoven, who straddles the line between Classical and Romantic

Composer since he lived through both times and had components, and ideals, of both of these

eras (Tommasini). Other composers that were greatly impacted by the city of Vienna, Austria,

but do not reside under the title of Classical era composers are Brahms and Strauss. To elaborate,

these two composers were born in the Romantic time period of music and hence can not be

considered Classical musicians. Though the fact that these two musicians were impacted by the

city and hotbed of activity that is Vienna is notable to mention (Why).

With the composers who were key players in this time laid out, now is a good time to

know why Vienna was the place to be. For instance, Austria was a strong political power in

Europe at this time and so it can be seen why there was such a move towards this area for music.

To give some background to Austria's power at the time, it was one of the countries that made up

the Habsburg Empire. This Empire during the eighth century was a state in Europe at the time,

and was in power from roughly around the 13th century to 1918 (The). Additionally, Austria was

its own self-governing state under the Habsburg Empire and ruled in most territories in Europe.

Another great aspect of the Empire was that once Empress Maria Theresa took the throne she did

fantastic acts for the stability of the country as well as the people. One of her acts was to spread

education and start five hundred public schools. She also helped grow the industry and lowered

taxes on products, adding to an improved economy. She also reformed the legal system as well as

the army (Vienna). Though these acts did not make everyone vote well in Maria’s favor because

she was a woman who ascended to the throne. Also, she was not the first pick, her brother

Leopold was to take the throne, but he died before he reached his age to assume the role. This
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being said Maria, in the eyes of the more noble members of the Empire, lacked the proper

education in how to assume and rule the Empire as was fit, but from her acting she showed time

and again that she was more than capable to rule the Habsburg Empire (Women).

Though to aid in the atmosphere of why Vienna was such a great place for music was that

Maria was originally from Vienna and she was a big supporter of the arts, especially classical

music. Some ways Maria contributed to music at the time was performing operas and dancing

with her sixteen children as well as performing in Gluck’s innovative opera “Orpheus and

Eurydice.” In addition to all that Maria did for the state of Austria and adding to the culture of

music, the stable state of the economy allowed the culture of music and arts to develop in Vienna

more so than in other cities around Europe in this time. The composers at the time were also a

big influence as to why others came to Vienna. For example, Haydn was composing in Vienna

for many years drawing in students to be taught there. some composers wrote songs for this great

hub of culture, one of the most prominent ones to mention was Haydn’s composition of the

Austrian National Anthem “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser” (Vienna).

The last item that drew many musicians into the city of Vienna was the Habsburg

patronage system. Seeing as the economy was stable and the royal family of this Empire

supported the arts, especially music, you can see why many musicians were swayed by the

possible income to stay or come to this city. This being said some composers went to patrons that

were near Vienna, but were not located in the city proper. For instance, Haydn worked under the

Esterházys family south of Vienna for thirty years and he traveled to Vienna many times in the

course of his time working for this particular family (Burkholder). The support of the Habsburg

Empire in music and patronage also did not die out when Maria Theresa died of a lung condition

called emphysema. The next in line to assume the throne was one of Maria’s sixteen surviving
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children, Joseph, the second and later became the Holy Roman emperor (Women). This is

significant to the continuation of music and patronage in the Habsburg empire because Joseph

the second was one of the children who participated in operas and dances with his mother. Also,

he was a major reformer who abolished serfdom, or the practice of indentured servants, and

secularized many of their religious properties. The church has since taken over many of the

public areas, deeming them church property simply because it was within their power to

(Vienna). These components ensured that the stable state of the country continued making it

possible for music and the arts to develop within this area.

When you look at all of the ways that Vienna and the Habsburg Empire allowed for an

atmosphere to cultivate a healthy place to compose music, it makes perfect sense. Compared to

other regions at this time that were still recovering from civil unrest and going through a period

of upheaval, such as France, it is easy to see why Vienna, Austria, was such a hotbed of musical

activity. Overall, when you look at the combination of the most well-known composers of the

classical era and how they all ended up in Vienna for periods of time, if not for the rest of their

days, it is strange. Though once all the reasons why this one location was such a fantastic and

supportive location for the arts, it makes great sense why this is the case. Another thing to

mention is that there are multiple famous composers and musicians buried in the Central

Cemetery in Vienna. Some of the more notable composers buried there are Brahams, Beethoven,

Strauss, Schubert, Arnold Scoenberg, and more recently, Falco and Udo Jurgens. Also, Mozart

has a grave at the cemetery, but since he was buried in a paupers grave, and unmarked, it is just a

plaque that says his name is located in the cemetery (www.dw.com). However, this is not the

only reason why I decided to investigate into the hotbed of activity in Vienna, Austria, during the

Classical era. My other reason is that my sister is traveling to perform in Austria this summer,
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provided it does not get rescheduled once again, and I did not know the cultural or further reason

behind why so many greats happened to be in Vienna at nearly the same time.

Still today Vienna is very proud of its heritage and the history that lies within the very

boundaries of this city. For example, there are opera houses and concert halls that host

performances year round. To honor the classical music time period, there are even performances

put on in more recent years where performers dress in time period attire and play the pieces that

would have been premiered in those very concert halls. In addition, various other composers and

musicians came out of this city within more recent years such as Strauss, Brahms, and Arnold

Schonberg, who later fled to America to escape persecution for being Jewish (Why). Overall,

you can see that the stability of the Habsburg Empire greatly influenced the culture of music and

why many great composers of the era congregated in the city of Vienna for various things like

patronage and camaraderie.

Works Cited

Burkholder, J. Peter, et al. A History of Western Music. W.W. Norton & Company, 2014,

digital.wwnorton.com/hwm10.
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Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com. 12 Jan. 2021 .”

Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 17 Feb. 2021,

www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/maria-ther

esa-austria-1717-1780.

“Vienna in the Classical Period.” UKEssays.com, 5 June 2017,

www.ukessays.com/essays/history/why-was-vienna-such-an-important-cultural-centre-his

tory-essay.php.

“Why Is Vienna the Capital of Classical Music?” Concert Vienna,

concert-vienna.com/blogs/viennese-things/why-is-vienna-the-capital-of-classical-music.

Tommasini, Anthony. “The Big 4 Of Vienna: One Faces Elimination.” The New York Times, The

New York Times, 10 Jan. 2011,

www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/arts/music/11vienna4.html.

“The Habsburg Monarchy.” – a Simple Introduction, 28 Dec. 2020,

www.visitingvienna.com/culture/habsburg-monarchy-introduction/#:~:text=The%20Habs

burg%20empire%20is%20the,the%2013th%20century%20to%201918.

(www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. “Mozart's Mysterious Grave in Vienna: DW: 02.12.2016.”

DW.COM,

www.dw.com/en/mozarts-mysterious-grave-in-vienna/a-36477126#:~:text=Vienna's%20

most%20prominent%20graveyard%20is,Udo%20J%C3%BCrgens%20are%20buried%2

0here.