Research Point: Vienna & 18th Century Music

The OCA course material describes Vienna as a musical ‘hub’ during the 18^th century.  The ‘first Viennese school’, comprises of some of the most famous composers including Mozart and Haydn. Szczepanski (2008) writes:

“The group of artists we now call the “First Viennese School” revolutionized classical music between 1760 and 1830. The “school” is made up of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert, all of whom lived and worked in Vienna, making the Austrian capital the center of musical creation at that time.”

At this time music from all of the major European countries was performed regularly, thus allowing composers to take inspiration from each other’s different music styles and techniques.  This was perhaps the beginning of the emerging audiences of the 19^th century which I studied in my last section of the course. 

In addition, the course material describes the ‘Vienna Harmoniemusik’, as a wind ensemble, based in Vienna, employed by Emperor Joseph in 1782.  Floricor Editions (n.d.) writes that the Harmoniemusik were a result of the Emperor’s desire to have his ‘table music’ played by an wind ensemble of two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and two horns.  This inspired many European courts to do the same and the wind ensemble became very popular. 

Floricor Editions (n.d.) also add that this was a time of not only a sharp rise in composition for wind ensemble, but also a time where many famous compositions including ballets and operas, we re-scored for wind octet.  These include Mozart’s Serande Gran Partita (1781) and Harmoniemusik zu Le Nozze Di Figaro.