Two Fathers and a Child Prodigy Define “Classical” Music

By Thomas Erma Møller (Translated from Norwegian by Sarah Osa)

Viennese Classical music will suit you if you are fond of elegant and light musical expressions, beautiful melodies, well-balanced sound and sweetly sentimental feelings seemingly wrapped in the most delicate tissue paper.

When Baroque dance music started to go out of style around 1750, a group of composers saw their chance to introduce a new form to orchestra music. The symphony was to become the most significant instrumental form for the next 150 years. New innovations in this new form were already completed around 1750, especially by the composers attached to the German city of Mannheim, which boasted a renowned orchestra. Nevertheless, it was Joseph Haydn who was to earn the title “The Father of the Symphony” with his 104 contributions to the form, produced over half a century.

Simultaenously, Vienna grew to be the Mecca for European music, and music from this period is often labelled Viennese Classicism. The classical ideals — balance, elegance, discretion and clarity — flowed into music from both architecture and paining, and Vienna was the home of three of the most famous individuals in music history. Concurrently with “Papa Haydn”, the child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was producing compositions before yet another patriarch entered the scene. Ludwig van Beethoven burst his way through the classical barriers, paved the way for Romanticism, and was to influence composers’ technique, style and expression throughout the whole of the content-rich 19th century.

The classical symphony is divided into four separate movements with a more or less set order for tempo and character. With a few exceptions, the first and last movements are quick and energetic, the second movement slow and calm, and the third a stylised variant of the elegant 17th century dance, the Minuet. In addition, Haydn and Mozart created patterns for how melodies should be introduced in contrast to one other and developed. There were also fixed patterns for which keys should be used. Many of the same characteristics defined another new form, also attributed to Haydn, namely the string quartet.

Mozart’s 41 symphonies have a lot in common with Haydn’s, but include uniquely distinct detailed traits, for instance in the formation of melodies and in the use of sound. Haydn and Mozart used almost the same instrumentation. The classical orchestra did not include the cembalo, and had four distinct groups: string instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass), wind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon), brass instruments (horn, trumpet, and occasionally trombone), and percussion instruments (timpani). Sometimes instruments were removed or added, but the main core of the symphony orchestra was now set.

Another musical form which gained a strong footing during the second half of the 18th century was the piano concerto. Technical developments allowed improvements in the hammerklavier — the modern piano’s predecessor — in the 18th century, and this gradually eclipsed the cembalo as the leading keyboard instrument. Mozart made use of this when he wrote his 23 concertos for piano and orchestra. Haydn and others have also composed music in this form, but no other composer has enjoyed the lasting popularity of Mozart with his piano concertos. The classical piano concerto had three movements — quick outer movements and a slow middle movement. Often, the composer himself acted as soloist when the piano concertos were performed, improvising parts of it in order to show off his virtuoso technique.

In contrast to Haydn and Beethoven, Mozart has never been bestowed a historic “Father” title, and has instead been attributed an eternal label as a child prodigy. He was a real child star and retained a musically playful style for the rest of his life. Still, such a description is somewhat crude, and does not take into account that Mozart wrote a world-famous mass for the dead — his Requiem. Also Haydn composed magnificent sacred music — for instance The Creation. Besides, it’s worth mentioning that both Mozart and Haydn composed operas. The former’s Figaro’s Wedding, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute have gained lasting popularity. Haydn and Mozart’s opera are constructed on Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera reform where the plot grew more realistic and the drama more dynamic than in the operas of earlier times. Beethoven composed both church music and an opera, but is more famed for his revolutionary reforms within chamber and orchestra music. Beethoven also had a starting point in the classical forms laid down by Haydn, Mozart and others, but his nine symphonies already belonged to the new century and the new style. Romanticism was waiting, just around the corner.

In the 2017-2018 season the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the following works from this period:

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante bubbles in true, unconcerned Mozart style, but also reveals the composer’s darker sides, especially in the thoughtful middle movement. This is one of the favourites of Mozart enthusiasts. 

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20. This is one of Mozart’s most famed piano concertos, and that comes as no surprise. The ravishing melodies speak for themselves. Even Beethoven admired this concerto more than any other.

Haydn: Symphony No. 45 “Farewell” Haydn displays his sense of humour here. This symphony represents a protest against an employer’s treatment of musicians as they leave the stage one by one, before the performance is finished! 

Listening tips:

Haydn: Symphony No. 94 “Surprise”. You may already have heard the second movement, but it might still take you by surprise. This symphony is full of big and small surprises, and is packed with Haydn’s vivid expressions and ebullient melodies.

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23. Many of Mozart’s piano concertos are worth a listen, but just this one may contain the most beautiful melody of them all, in the melancholy second movement. The rest is a highly energetic celebration of the classical piano concerto.

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto. The clarinet had just been invented and developed during Mozart’s time. Still, he knew how to make use of its qualities and attributes. The result was one of the most famous concertos for the instrument of all time.

Haydn: The Creation. No one can claim that Haydn merely produced formulaic classicism. Here he shows off his most inventive and impactful abilities as a composer in the captivating musical story of Genesis. An illuminating work!

Mozart: Requiem. Described by many as the most beautiful mass for the dead in music history. Most famous is the heartbreaking Lacrymosa, the last movement Mozart was able to complete before he died, leaving behind copious amounts of immortal music.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 1. Beethoven composed his first symphony right at the end of this period. It counts as a classical symphony, but it you listen closely you can feel the power and energy from the very first note of this masterpiece — which was already on its way to the next musical era.

Selected composers:

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Johann Stamitz (1717-1757)

Carl Stamitz (1745-1801)

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)

Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784)

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)