Page 130 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

where chords repeat quietly in the middle between melody and bass). Mozart, after a study of Bach and Handel in the early 1780s, infused his symphonies, quartets, and concertos with greater polyphonic content, but this seems to have caused the pleasure-loving Viennese to think his music too dense!
The Dynamic Mood of Classical Music
What’s perhaps most revolutionary in the music of Haydn, Mozart, and their younger contemporary, Beethoven, is its capacity for rapid change and endless fluctuation. Recall that in earlier times, a work by Vivaldi or Bach would estab- lish one “affect,” or mood, to be rigidly maintained from beginning to end—the rhythm, melody, and harmony all progressing in a continuous, uninterrupted flow. Such a uniform approach to expression is part of the “singlemindedness” of Baroque art. Now, with Haydn, Mozart, and the young Beethoven, an ener- getic theme in rapid notes might be followed by a second one that is slow, lyri- cal, and tender. Similarly, textures might change quickly from light and airy to dense and more contrapuntal, thereby adding tension and excitement. For the first time, composers began to specify crescendos and diminuendos, gradual increases or decreases of the dynamic level, so that the volume of sound might continually fluctuate. When skilled orchestras made use of this technique, au- diences were fascinated and rose to their feet. Keyboard players, too, now took up the crescendo and diminuendo, assuming that the new, multidynamic piano was at hand in place of the older, less flexible harpsichord. These rapid changes in mood, texture, color, and dynamics give to Classical music a new sense of urgency and drama. The listener feels a constant flux and flow, not unlike the natural swings of mood that we all experience.
Vienna: Home to Classical Composers
New Orleans jazz, Hollywood film music, and the Broadway musical of New York—these are all names that suggest that a particular city gave rise to a distinctive kind of music. So, too, with the Viennese Classical style. The careers of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and the young Franz Schubert all unfolded in Vienna, and from Vienna radiated their powerful musical influence. For that reason, we often refer to them collectively as the Viennese School and say that their music epitomizes the “Viennese Classical style.”
Vienna was then the capital of the old Holy Roman Empire, a huge expanse covering much of Western and Central Europe (Figure 7.8). In 1790, the heyday of Haydn and Mozart, Vienna had a population of 215,000, which made it the fourth-largest city in Europe, after London, Paris, and Naples. Surrounded by vast farmlands ruled by an aristocratic gentry, it served as a cultural mecca, es- pecially during the winter months when there was little agricultural work to be
108 chapter seven introduction to the classical style: haydn and mozart
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