Why many of the greatest classical composers were either Austrian or German? I would say that at least half of the greatest classical music composers of all times were teutons, but why? Is it something on the culture, geo-economics or education of those times? (I reject any answer related to race)
2007-09-26 19:46:26 · 8 answers · asked by Manuelon 4 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Music ➔ Classical
Thank you for your answer, I wish to hear more opinions.
2007-09-29 16:30:25 · update #1
I don't disagree about the Austrians and Germans since the centre of music was in Vienna...but have you ever heard of the Eastern composers from Hungary (Liszt,Bartok...),Poland (Chopin) and the great Russian School (Rachmaninov,Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev,Shostakovitch,
Stravinsky etc)?
2007-09-26 21:27:50 · answer #1 · answered by Erina♣Liszt's Girl 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well, I don't know that HALF of them were of the Germanic persuasion, but there are certainly a lot of them.
Keep in mind that the Baroque era was dominated by the Italians until the late "High" Baroque.
And Opera was the domain of the Italians until well into the 19th century, with the exception of Mozart and Wagner, and even he Mozart wrote most of his operas in Italian, and composed in the lucid style of the Italians. Wagner was, of course, the most Germanic of the Germanic composers :-)
The Germanic domination can be looked at as starting at the time of Mozart and Haydn, and the main reasons are geopolitical. The German states of Austria and Prussia dominated the political landscape. The Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, and Austrian, also happened to be an enthusiastic patron of the arts. He sought to create a German music that rivaled the Italians, and in doing so transformed Vienna into not just a center for the music arts, but a world cultural center, attracting Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert to its environs.
But during the Romatic era, with the shifing of power toward Paris, which emerged as THE center for the arts, it is difficult to maintain that the Germans continued to dominate, although their ideals of style and form continued to influence composers well into the 20th century. So we have composers such as Chopin, Berlioz, Lizst, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, all great composers but not German, always giving a nod to the German way of doing things.
The various nationlalistic movements of Bohemia, Russia, France, etc. during the latter part of the 19th century and continuing into the 20th, were a reaction and rejection of this Germanic hegemony -- the Russian school of Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Cui et al, the Bohemian composer Bedercik Smetana, the French impressionists Debussy and Ravel (who looked to Faure as the new arbiter of a truly French school) sounded the death knell of the German dominance of musical thinking.
Oversimplified, this is my take on the subject.
2007-09-27 04:56:08 · answer #2 · answered by glinzek 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Wait just a second, it is time for my afternoon siesta. Zzzzzz
{{singing through nose heard}} Oh, it is because ... um .... in the wurst of times, they had to sit down to make themselves comfortable after a plate of sausage, chops, sauerkraut (mit Kummel), and potatoes....and some beer.
They were very anxious to make some money to travel to Paris because the shoes and the food was better there ...although not the water ...and they had to make arrangements to take the night train to the South of France where they liked to sit under the Mimosa trees and dream. Also, the French perfume that you could buy in Grasse, just a little inland, made great gifts, even in those days!
It was a rather desperate situation, and they all promised to share knowledge with each other which ....oh, you asked a question? ......just a minute ....}} oh, I am sorry ....that was a long nap.....
Well, you got it right ....
they *all* had things in common: a musical set up they could work with, instruments that made lovely sounds, a great love of song, a genuine love of romance and poetry, they were very fond of pretty ladies, given to chasing after royalty, and they liked to eat. And they all had training .....traaaaaaaining, my dear....and they did *not* HATE HATE HATE their homework. They positively slurped it up !!! But, you know that!
Who's afraid of a perfect fifth, a perfect fifth, a perfect fifth .......? Yump ...yump ... pah, puddiaa-yump!
In addition, they all agreed that music was to be listened to and was not meant for competing with each other. With the exception of Srtauss, who was clearly friends with Dr. Seuss, they liked music of form! Form! That's it! So ya could *recognize* it, even Whistle it afterwards!
To a man, they hated the sound of cowbells and various other objectionable noises introduced at a later date, although they did not yet know that. Hey! How about that !! In addition, they did not have credit cards, fur coats (although I think one or two longed for them), and they did not make television commercials. Those would ruin anyone. That is why they lasted. Even Vivaldi knew that.
Their music was pure and from the heart. Even Srtauss liked it when his listeners grew warm and fuzzy when listening to his music. In addition, most of it could be sung by a gondolier ~ and often was!! ~ I mean, you should have heard the echoes all among the palazzi that lined the Grand Canal. It was something. Why, I once heard a goldolier singing, "Non piu andrai, farfallone amoroso", that is how far the Teutonic influence went. Of course, he was laughing .....but that is alright!
Germans and Italians differ in their opinions on the subject. Hey! It is only to be expected.
And, speaking of teu-tons, they ususally used a mono-tonic situation. They stuck to I-V-I and simple variations of that, that is how cagey they were. No one suddenly got panicy because he did not know how to stick to his parameters and suddently swooped into a completely different set of tonalities and started afresh, like Richard Srtauss. God, there is something wrong with our typewriters!
Look what you STARTED !!
Hey ...I think you got a lot of information from the others, so be sure not to use my stuff on some liner notes of something for a playbill. You will be pelted! Otherwise, you are in good hands with the other guys & their answers.
Have a good day.
Tea, please?
Meanwhile, back in Wurtburg...
2007-09-28 09:55:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yeahh// Austrians & German ppl are way talented.My art teacher is German and she's like sooo good at art.
And the music schools for germans in germany are free.
2007-09-26 20:40:40 · answer #4 · answered by crystal_diffussion 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
easy their "secret" is Pythagoreanism. They were are more esoteric when it comes to the study of harmonics and of numbers and science, check out the 2nd Vienna School Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Alban Berg, and for the most complete rundown of how and what they studied can be found at www.HansKayser.com
So what IDIOT gave me a thumbs down? stupid ignorant fool!! you dumbass !!!
2007-09-26 21:20:31 · answer #5 · answered by robbie_johansen 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They all gave us the great gift of their beautiful music.
2007-09-26 21:29:18 · answer #6 · answered by Dutchess 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you know Hitler was a painter?
Some of his paintings were actually pretty good.
and hey its true!
Look it up on wikipedia if you want.
2007-09-26 19:54:28 · answer #7 · answered by krystal_engel 3 · 0⤊ 5⤋
Because they r pro!!!!! (yea i like nonsense answer!!!)
2007-09-27 01:20:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋