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 Mozarts
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 others 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