Learn Something Really Interesting

Ok, this is a study abroad program, so we do have to go to class. But, the classes here are fairly interesting, especially if you want to know something about Central Europe.

Since I played classical piano through high school, I always was interested in why Vienna was such a big center for classical music. Dr. Pfabigan had the answer in one of his Art and Nation classes.

School Time: Learn something that interests you. I leanred something this week that no one in the US could ever explain to me: Why was Vienna such a big center for classical music?

Apparently, in Europe, there were two different tracks countries followed. There was the normal path an the "Special Path of Thought." The normal path was the path the countries like England and France followed, and the special path was what Germany and Austria followed. Basically, before 1300, there was no concept of "nation" or "nationalism" in Europe. However, after the 800 year war (which ended in the 1300's), a successful Protestant split, middle class revolutions (French Revolution), and intellectual enlightenment (Renaissance), the middle class had a lot more "power" and acted more like individual nations. This basically led to more industrial countries trying to move forward, and countries like France and England valued the industrial and political life more towards the 18th Century.

By the time the Baroque period hit Europe, France and England had gone through basic transformations where the industrial middle class was doing more than they had in the past. However, Vienna was the center of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Hapsburgs weren't so keen on the idea of making a "nationalized" nation state. Why rule one country when you can have an empire? So, as a result, there was this attitude in Vienna that culture and art serves a special place, ie "France and England may have revolutions but we have the culture." To the people in Vienna, culture was more important than "civilization" (politics) because to them, politics was a bunch of lies. In other words, in order to keep their power, the Hapburgs downplayed the revolutions and stressed culture.

One of the consequences of this stress on culture was at about the time when music started getting good (the Baroque period) the idea of culture was central to the Viennese lifestyle. As a result, composers could come to Vienna and get better status, better audiences, and better wages than anywhere in the more industrialized Europe. Austria was backwards in the industrial sense, but they made better instruments. This is why Bosendorf and Steinway both started in the Holy Roman Empire.

Thank you, Dr. Pfabigan.