Empress Marie Therese and Music at the Viennese Court, 1792-1807

by John A. Rice

Overview

Empress Marie Therese, second wife of Emperor Franz II, devoted much of her life to music. She played piano and sang, compiled a large music library and supported professional musicians and composers. This comprehensive survey of the Empress as musician and patron is based upon John Rice's discovery and analysis of extensive unpublished material from her private collection. In this work Rice introduces readers to the musical and cultural worlds of the Viennese court at the end of the eighteenth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521047371
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/19/2007
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Musical historian who has published widely on eighteenth-century music and received the American Musicological Society's Kinkeldy Award.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; List of illustrations; List of tables; List of musical examples; List of abbreviations; Two intertwining family trees: the Habsburg-Lorraines of Austria and the Bourbons of Spain and Naples; A note about quotations and transcriptions of documents; Introduction; 1. The empress as collector of music; 2. Marie Therese's musicians; 3. The empress as soprano; 4. Private concerts; 5. Celebrations of Franz's birthday and nameday; 6. Musical caprice; 7. Marie Therese's influence on music in the public sphere; 8. The empress as conceiver, commissioner and shaper of musical works; 9. Il conte Clò: a birthday cantata from inception to performance; 10. Joseph Haydn and Beethoven between court and nobility; Epilogue; Appendix 1: Marie Therese's collection of church music; Appendix 2: Marie Therese's musical diary, 1801–3; Appendix 3: Paer's letters to the empress; Appendix 4: Correspondence between Paisiello and Marie Therese; Appendix 5: Documents pertaining to the development and performance of Paer's Il conte Clò; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...[a] erudite, detailed, and copiously documented work, the first in-depth study of one of the most important friends of music in the late Classical era." Chester Lane, Symphony

"Assembling detailed information on Viennese musical life at the turn of the 18th century, this well-documented volume makes a significant contribution to the field of musicology... Recommended." Choice

"One cannot help but stand in awe of the scholarship presented in this volume."
Caryl Clark, Journal of the American Musicological Society

From the Publisher