Abstract
Music was a prime element in the ‘Quodlibet of Vienna’, and in particular in the Habsburg tradition, and so musical life at the Viennese court — the administrative centre of the Habsburg empire -inevitably forms the main focus of this chapter.3 What can be deduced about the music cultivated within the imperial household is important both for its intrinsic interest and as an aid to understanding the musical culture of the city as a whole. The title of a classic article on the subject of the Emperors Ferdinand III, Leopold I, Joseph I and Charles VI as composers and patrons of music4 suggests one of the prime factors in the Habsburgs’ strong and continuous musical tradition: the imperial rulers were, for several successive generations in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, immensely gifted and knowledgeable musicians, for whom the court musical establishment (the Hofkapelle) thus possessed a more than superficial significance. The emperors themselves regularly composed and conducted musical works. It has been suggested5 that the frequent references to musical matters effected ‘by command of the sacred imperial Majesty’ in court documents convey a sense not so much of the whim of an absolute monarch, exercised for its own sake, but rather of the emperor’s genuine abilities influencing the musical life of the court. (This aspect of the Habsburg tradition illuminates the later and better-known involvement of Emperor Joseph II in musical patronage.) Under Charles VI especially, court
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Bibliographical Note
Music
Very little literature exists in English specifically on music in Vienna in the early eighteenth century. There are partial accounts, tending to focus on individual composers’ lives and works; particularly useful among these are E. Wellesz, Fux (London, 1965),
B. Pritchard, ed., Antonio Caldara: Essays on his Life and Times (Aldershot, 1987); one of the best and most relevant essays in the latter volume is A. P. Brown’s ‘Caldara’s Trumpet Music for the Imperial Celebrations of Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine’ (pp.3–48). A companion volume to Pritchard’s Caldara, and a welcome addition to the literature, is H. White, ed., Johann Joseph Fux and the Music of the Austro-Italian Baroque (Aldershot, 1992). General histories of music draw in references to Viennese music of this period, notably the relevant volumes of the New Oxford History of Music, v: Opera and Church Music 1630–1750, ed. A. Lewis and N. Fortune (London, 1975), and vi: Concert Music 1630–1750, ed. G. Abraham (Oxford, 1986). But the specific literature in English is more usually concerned with social, historical, artistic and architectural aspects of the Viennese Baroque than with its music. One relevant factor may be that the art and architecture of the Austrian Baroque are still readily visible, the music less easily accessible. Another factor is the weight that has inevitably been attached to later developments, from the Viennese Classical period onwards: the recognition of Vienna as a musical centre usually and understandably stems from the achievements of later periods.
For specialized literature on the music we must turn primarily to sources in German, which offer excellent but often very densely constructed accounts, such as L. von Köchel, Die Kaiserliche Hof-Musikkapelle in Wien von 1543–1867 (Vienna, 1869, repr. 1976);
R. Flotzinger and G. Gruber, eds., Musikgeschichte Österreichs, i: Von den Anfängen zum Barock (Graz, 1977), and ii: Vom Barock zur Gegenwart (Graz, 1979); and the invaluable and magisterial account by F. Riedel, Kirchenmusik am Hofe Karls VI. (1711–1740): Untersuchungen zum Verhältnis von Zeremoniell und musikalischem Stil im Barockzeitalter (Munich and Salzburg, 1977). Further perspectives can be found in S. Wollenberg, ‘The Austro-German Courts’, Companion to Baroque Music, ed. J. A. Sadie (London, 1990), 229–39. Many of the books mentioned offer helpful illustrative material that includes maps and charts, such as Riedel’s plan of churches in Vienna (p.311); they also provide references to further reading.
Other literature
The Habsburg monarchy has been the subject of extensive, often romanticized, literary treatment, again tending to focus on later periods. In fact, the reigns of Charles VI and of his predecessor Joseph I present something of a gap in the literature, only partly (though usefully) filled by C. Ingrao, In Quest and Crisis: Emperor Joseph I and the Habsburg Monarchy (West Lafayette, 1979),
J. W. Stoye, ‘Emperor Charles VI: the Early Years of the Reign’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser., xii (1963), 63–84.
For excellent authoritative background to this era, R. J. W. Evans’s The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy 1550–1700 (Oxford, 1979) is indispensable. Again, these have helpful references to further reading.
In addition to the literature in English, there are numerous German sources covering the Habsburg monarchy, such as F. Matsche, Die Kunst im Dienst der Staatsidee Kaiser Karls VI. (Berlin, 1981).
The subject of Vienna itself has also exerted considerable literary attraction. I. Barea’s Vienna: Legend and Reality (London, 1966) is still, 25 years after publication, stimulating and wide-ranging. More specialized works on Vienna of musical interest include theatre studies: R. A. Griffin’s High Baroque Culture and Theatre in Vienna (New York, 1972; particularly valuable for its illustrations); and two items by F. Hadamowsky, ‘Barocktheater am Wiener Kaiserhof, mit einem Spielplan (1625–1740)’, Jb der Gesellschaft für Wiener Theaterforschung, 1951–2 (Vienna, 1955), 7–117, and Die Familie Galli-Bibiena in Wien (Vienna, 1962). For further specialized bibliography the article ‘Vienna’ and articles on individual composers (such as Fux and Caldara) in Grove 6 and Grove 0 are helpful.
Editions
There are a number of standard collected editions of the music, such as those in the series Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich (DTÖ), and J. J. Fux: Sämtliche Werke, ed. Johann-Joseph-Fux-Gesellschaft (Kassel & Basle and Graz, 1959-), as well as facsimile editions of works by Viennese court composers in the series The Italian Cantata in the Seventeenth Century, xvi (New York, 1985), Caldara’s L’olimpiade in the series Italian Opera 1640–1770, ed. H. M. Brown, xxxii (New York, 1979), and his Joaz in The Italian Oratorio 1650–1800, xii (New York, 1986), and works by Conti and Caldara in the series The Symphony, B II: Italians in Vienna (New York, 1983). But this is music that really needs to be appreciated in performance; and performances are relatively rare. Perhaps the increased coverage of the Austrian Baroque in general histories of music, together with the now established role of groups specializing in ‘authentic’ Baroque performing styles and instruments, will create a more receptive climate for this neglected repertory.
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© 1993 Granada Group and Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Wollenberg, S. (1993). Vienna under Joseph I and Charles VI. In: Buelow, G.J. (eds) The Late Baroque Era. Man & Music. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11303-3_11
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