By Jaime Staengel

Music City. It’s a phrase many of us hear about Nashville, Tennessee, home to Country Music. Then there’s Memphis, known for Blues and Rock ‘n Roll and, of course, Elvis. Even our own hometown of St. Louis has its own rich music history from Blues and Rock ‘n Roll to Hip Hop, with legends such as Miles Davis, Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, Nelly, and SZA coming from here. While all these genres have their roots in recent times in the US, there is a much older “Music City” for the Classical Music world – Vienna. This stately city, nestled in the heart of Europe, has a unique history which drew the best composers from all over to its concert halls. To understand why this is the case, a brief history lesson will do!

Back in the 1700s, the Austro-Hungarian Empire spanned much of modern Central and Eastern Europe. The dynasty ruling over this vast expanse was the Habsburgs and, like any good dynasty, they had a lot of money. In those days of emperors and dukes and various degrees of royalty, one way for musicians to earn a living was to take commissions from these wealthy rulers. As composers came to Vienna for this reason, the city gained a reputation.

One of the earliest composers to come and make a name for himself was Joseph Haydn. In addition to the rich royals already mentioned, Vienna had another institution which brought Haydn to the city first – the St. Stephens Cathedral, or Stephansdom in German. This cathedral has a famous boys’ choir, of which Haydn was a part.

The Stephansdom

When he was older, he composed for a Prince who lived outside of Vienna, but Haydn was often in town for his works’ performances. The Confluence Chamber Orchestra (CCO) is playing the finale from Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 this summer, which was written in 1788 in Vienna.

Bust of Haydn in the Hofburg, Vienna

I traveled to Vienna and visited the Hofburg, the former imperial palace of the Habsburgs, and now a museum. It is not every day you get to see crown jewels up close! Demonstrating how important Classical Music remains to Vienna, there were entire halls in the museum dedicated to composers, including one to Haydn, pictured in German below. The opening quote from Haydn reads “My language [music] is understood by the whole world.”

Haydn sign at the Hofburg in Vienna

Vienna Rathaus, or City Hall

The history of Vienna and Classical Music is too deep for one blog post, and many other big name composers lived and wrote there, such as Mozart – though I may have to save his story for another time.

One other composer the CCO is playing this concert with ties to Vienna is Franz Schubert. Schubert, like Mozart, died young but left behind incredible works including the Ständchen (Serenade) which CCO plays August 13^th. The quote about Schubert in the Hofburg reads “He can do everything, he is a genius! He composes songs, masses, operas, string quartets, in short everything, that one wants,” describing his talents as a 17-year old.

Schubert sign in the Hofburg, Vienna

Music, at its best, transports us to new worlds through combinations of notes which these composers had the vision to know would move us. It is our hope you will check out these two pieces, along with many others, at the upcoming CCO Concert on Sunday, August 13^th. Just as our hometowns shape us growing up, Vienna shaped countless musicians over the centuries, allowing us the closest thing to time travel when we play, and imagining what it must have been like to hear these pieces in glittering palaces.

The stage set at the Palais Auersperg for a Classical Concert of the Vienna Residence Orchestra