Transcript II. The Composer, Patron, and Public in the Classical Period

II. The Composer, Patron, and
Public in the Classical Period
Journal Entry
What do you think of when you think “Classical”?
Haydn, Mozart & Beethoven

Haydn
 Content to spend
most of his life
serving a wealthy
aristocratic family,
considered a
skilled servant
Haydn, Mozart & Beethoven

Mozart



Born 24 years after
Haydn
Could not bear being
treated as a servant,
left his court position
and went to Vienna to
try his luck as a
freelance musician.
Successful and popular
for a while, popularity
declined, died in debt
Haydn, Mozart & Beethoven

Beethoven
 Only a few years after
Mozart’s death,
Beethoven was able
to work as an
independent musician
in Vienna
18th Century Middle Class

As 18th century advanced, more people
made more money



Merchants, doctors, government officials
could afford larger homes, finer clothes and
better food
Prospering middle class wanted more than
material goods such as theater, literature, and
music
Middle class had great influence on music;
palace concerts were usually closed to the
public so they organized public concerts with
an admission price.
18th Century Middle Class

Not only did they want music in public,
but they also wanted it at home

They felt their sons and daughters deserved
music lessons as much as children of
aristocrats did.
If middle class children played instruments well
enough, they might be invited to palaces and
eventually marry into aristocracy.
 Demand for printed music, instruments, and music
lessons had vastly increased

Composing for the Middle Class

Composers of this time took middle class
tastes into account


Wrote pieces easier for amateurs to play
Turned from serious to comic opera
Turned from heroic and mythological plots that the
nobility enjoyed, and used middle class subjects
and folk-like tunes.
 Some comic operas even poked fun at nobility
 Dance moves became less elegant and courtly,
more vigorous and rustic

Composing for the Middle
Class
Serious composition was flavored by folk
and popular music
 Composers sometimes used familiar
tunes as themes for symphonies and
variations

Vienna (1800 population
c250,000)



One of the NEW music centers of Europe
at this time
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven all active
there (not born there, however, they were
drawn there to study)
Haydn and Mozart became close friends
and influenced each other’s musical style

(Beethoven traveled to Vienna at 16 to play
for Mozart, at 22 he returned to study with
Haydn)
Vienna

Seat of the “Holy Roman empire”



(Reached across modern Austria, Germany,
Italy, Hungary, and Czech Republic)
Cultural and commercial center with a
cosmopolitan character
4th largest city in Europe at this time
Holy Roman Empire
Austria
Vienna
Aristocrats from all over the empire
would spend winters there,
sometimes bringing their private
orchestras with them.
 Good orchestra was symbol of
prestige
 Much of nobility were excellent
musicians

Vienna
Much music was heard in private
concerts
 Aristocrats and wealthy commoners
played alongside professional
musicians
 Nobility often hired servants who
could double as musicians

Outdoor music



Light and popular
Small street bands of wind and string
players for garden parties or under
windows of people likely to throw down
money.
Haydn and Mozart both wrote music for
this called divertimentos or serenades.
GROUP PRESENTATIONS
Johann Christian Bach
Dominique Flyte
Nick Caban
Kalyn Moore
Antonio Salieri
Claire Chandler
Ryan Kaminsky
Anna Stamer
Christoph William Gluck
Emma Brown
Taimoor Aziz
Bilal Aziz
Sami Greytak
Pergolesi
Aaron Brunnworth
Chris Pearson
Jacob Burns
Phil Kosydor
Muzio Clementi
Alec Camp
Blake Noud
Andrew Drake
C.P.E. Bach
Julian Harvey
Nate Novak
Kieryn Beyerl