David Wyn Jones, Music in Vienna: 1700, 1800, 1900 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2016). x+277 pp. £25.00.

Janet K. Page explores the interaction of music and piety, court and church, as seen through the relationship between the Habsburg court and Vienna's convents. For a period of some twenty-five years, encompassing the end of the reign of Emperor Leopold I and that of his elder son, Joseph I, the court's emphasis on piety and music meshed perfectly with the musical practices of Viennese convents. This mutually beneficial association disintegrated during the eighteenth century, and the changing relationship of court and convents reveals something of the complex connections among the Habsburg court, the Roman Catholic Church, and Viennese society. Identifying and discussing many musical works performed in convents, including oratorios, plays with music, feste teatrali, sepolcri, and other church music, Page reveals a golden age of convent music in Vienna and sheds light on the convents' surprising engagement with contemporary politics.

Convent Music and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Vienna

Contents: Introduction Part I Setting the Stage: Ferdinand III's public image and the Thirty Year's War Justitia et pietas: a portrait of Ferdinand III, Part II Means of Production Emblematic sound: musical performance as a mirror of imperial majesty and piety The politics of printing: the print program of Giovanni Felice Sances. Part III Music as Representation: Musical portraiture: representations of the emperor in sound Mirrors and models: piety and spirituality in the service of the crown Maria Patrona Ferdinandi (et Austriae): Ferdinand III's Marian devotion as public image Epilogue: Ferdinand III's image after the war Appendix Bibliography Index.

Sacred Music as Public Image for Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III: Representing the Counter-Reformation Monarch at the End of the Thirty Years' War

This article seeks to present the aims, sources and preliminary findings of a project examining musicians and musical life at the Viennese imperial court between the reigns of Joseph I and Joseph II. Many studies have had this subject as their focus and so I will commence by discussing how this one seeks to further previous knowledge and offer new perspectives. To date, researchers have embellished the history of many individuals serving at court, examined what role policy and certain monarchs have played in musical life in Vienna, and have sought to present statistics about the number of musicians there; however, systematic research of some of the most fundamental sources pertaining to the Hofmusikkapelle for the period in question has not yet been documented. In addition, there are a diverse range of materials rarely employed by musicologists which provide a more holistic view of musical life in Vienna in the 18th century. Unlike Paul Nettl’s Forgotten Musicians,1 the aim of this project is not merely to embellish the lives of lesser-known figures by providing ‘snapshots’ of their lives, but is rather to collate these images and then examine them collectively in order to gain a better insight into the complexities of musical life at court. The desiderata are to more clearly establish court policy − ideology (i. e. ceremony) vs. pragmatism (i. e. money) − the demographic composition of the court, familial and social networks within and beyond the court and city, and the extra-musical aspects of musicians’ lives, such as financial standing, health and places of residence. Moreover, it is not my intention to provide an exhaustive study on court music − which would rightly be deemed as an insurmountable challenge − but rather to provide a lexicographic resource to aid further research in this area.

David Wyn Jones, Music in Vienna: 1700, 1800, 1900 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2016). x+277 pp. £25.00.

References

Convent Music and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Vienna

Sacred Music as Public Image for Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III: Representing the Counter-Reformation Monarch at the End of the Thirty Years' War

Forgotten musicians. Documenting musical life at the Viennese imperial court in the eighteenth century