Vienna Part II: So you want to be a composer?

If you wanted to be a composer anytime from 1700-1900, you would probably have found your way to Vienna.  There must have been a truly remarkable blend of talent and opportunity, as I know of no other place or time that produced such a quantity of great musicians.  They were rivals and friends, teachers and students; appreciated and scorned; yet, in the end, each left us a piece of his soul.

In Vienna, Christopher Gluck changed the form of opera while serving as the orchestra director for the Empress Maria Theresa and teaching piano lessons to her daughter, Marie Antoinette, and Salieri (who was jealous, but did not poison Mozart).  Young Joseph Hayden sang in the Vienna Boys' Choir at St. Stephen's.  He returned in his later years, composing his Creation and Four Seasons and becoming a close friend to Mozart.

Six-year-old Amadeus Mozart delighted the Empress Maria Theresa with his musical talent.  He was married in St. Stephen's Cathedral and composed much of his music in Vienna.  I wanted to visit the  Figarohaus where he wrote 12 concertos, 5 sonatas, The Marriage of Figaro, and more pieces in just 3 years, but it was closed last trip and I didn't have enough time this trip.  Sadly, only 4 years later, he lived as a pauper on a nearby street, struggling to finish The Magic Flute and Requiem before his untimely death at age 35 after which his body was dumped in a common grave (by an unpopular edit, no funerals were allowed that year).  Yet, I have recently found Mozart alive and well.  I was in Vienna in 2006 when they celebrated his 300th birthday.  He has a statue, a museum, cafes, and a chocolate candy factory.  I even saw him helping to sell raincoats in one store.

At the age of 17, Beethoven visited Vienna and played in the Figarohaus for Mozart who recognized his talent.  The year after Mozart died, Beethoven met Haydn who invited him to study with him in Vienna.  However, their styles did not blend.  Beethoven was soon a favorite performer for the aristocracy and, during his happy years in Vienna, he wrote great sonatas, such as Moonlight and Pathetique.  But it was also here that he began to struggle with his oncoming deafness.  He moved outside the city to Heiligensatdt (now the Beethoven Museum).

Most of Beethoven's great impassioned symphonies were written during this tumultuous era.  One of my favorites, Eroica (Heroic), was initially dedicated to Napoleon, but when he took Vienna and later crowned himself Emperor, the disillusioned Beethoven violently crossed out his name.  Although Beethoven did not die in Vienna, in 1888 his remains were brought here to the Zentral-friedhof and placed next to those of his friend Franz Schubert.  Schubert had been born in Vienna and spent most of his musical life there.

There were others who found their way to Vienna:  Brahms, Liszt, Chopin, Mahler.  And in the final half of the 19th century, the Strauss family took center stage with Johann Strauss Jr. becoming known as the Waltz King, despite his father's disapproval that he chose to follow his father's footsteps in a musical career.  Monuments to composers are found throughout the city, especially in the Stadtpark.

To showcase their music, a great opera house (the Staatsoper) was built in 1869, but its architecture was criticized to the point that one of the architects committed suicide.   However, today it is beloved, though the season only runs from September to June.  However, there seems to be an endless array of musical and theatrical opportunities in the city.

As an optional excursion, Uniworld provided tickets to a Mozart/Strauss concert at the Kursalon (photo to right) in Stadtpark.   The old salon is beautiful (though hot in summer) and the music excellent, though it is primarily for music-loving tourists.  Jenny and I attended in 2006.  Having not gotten my act together to plan alternative entertainment, I returned again this summer  and was still delighted by the vibrant and soaring melodies performed by the chamber orchestra and opera soloists. (The attempt to add an element of ballet/waltz on that small platform seemed awkward.)  The performers were mostly young and led me to conclude that the musical talent pool in Vienna continues to be deep and strong.

Click on link for slideshow:
Vienna's Composers