Music in Eighteenth-Century Austria

An examination of the little-understood period of music history in which Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven worked.

David Wyn Jones (Edited by)

9780521453493, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 April 1996

304 pages, 3 b/w illus. 12 tables 68 music examples
25.4 x 18 x 2.3 cm, 0.69 kg

'The book stands as an excellent contribution to modern research. The editor's introductory essay outlines genuinely new perspectives, and it ends, appropriately, with the statement 'Larsen's Challenge to Musicology' remains.' Opera Quarterly

The music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven forms a cornerstone of the modern repertoire, but very little is known about the context in which these composers worked. This volume of twelve essays by leading international scholars considers some of the musical traditions and practices of this little-understood period of music history. Beginning with the early decades of the eighteenth century, the volume documents selected aspects of musical life and style from the late Baroque period through to the early years of the nineteenth century. The four main areas covered in this exploration of music history are orchestral music, sacred music, opera and keyboard music. Georg Reutter (Haydn's teacher), Antonio Salieri (Mozart's colleague) and Wölffl (a rival of Beethoven) are just three of the period's prominent musicians who are discussed at length.

List of plates
Preface
1. Introduction: new challenges, new perspectives David Wyn Jones
Part I. Overture, Symphony and Concerto: 2. The trumpet overture and sinfonia in Vienna (1715–1822): rise, decline and reformulation A. Peter Brown
3. The early Classical violin concerto in Austria Chappell White
Part II. Traditions in Sacred Music: 4. Haydn's Missa sunt bona mixta malis and the a cappella tradition David Wyn Jones
5. Johann Baptist Vanhal and the pastoral mass tradition Bruce MacIntyre
6. The Austrian pastorella and the stylus rusticanus: comic and pastoral elements in Austrian music, 1750–1800 Geoffrey Chew
Part III. Opera and Drama: 7. The applausus musicus, or Singgedicht: a neglected genre of eighteenth-century musical theatre Robert N. Freeman
8. The operas of Antonio Salieri as a reflection of Viennese opera 1770–1800 John A. Rice
9. Lorenzo da Ponte's Viennese librettos Konrad Küster
10. Viennese amateur or London professional? A reconsideration of Haydn's tragic cantata Arianna a Naxos Julian Rushton
Part IV. Pianos and Pianism: 11. The Viennese fortepiano in the eighteenth century Eva Badura-Skoda
The Beethoven-Wölfl piano duel Tia DeNora
Index.

Subject Areas: Western "classical" music [AVGC]