Week 4: Biedermeier Vienna, Beethoven and Schubert

A typical Biedermeier interior

The Biedermeier style is a name given by historians in the early 20th century to the art and artifacts in the period in Vienna from the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) to the Revolutions of 1848.

• Short lecture on the Congress of Vienna
• Lecture on the Revolutions of 1848 (John Merriman of Yale)
• Short article on the Biedermeier style

Ludwig Von Beethoven

Although we didn't have time to discuss Beethoven's career at length, you should know what an important role he played in the musical life and history of Vienna. 

IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN is a fantastic documentary on the life and music of this genius that combines live performances with dozens of interviews with musicians, conductors and historians along with images of Vienna .  It can be purchased through Amazon.

Nearly as famous at Beethoven,  the Viennese composer Franz Schubert did not live to a ripe old age. Dead at 31, he never-the-less left a last impression that developed into a legend. Below is a well known image called a "Schubertiade" featuring the composer in a Biedermeier setting surrounded by an adoring group of young people. Schubert was very successful in his lifetime and was at the center of a celebrity cult, which continued long after his death. These post-mortem images of him in intimate settings playing the piano became very popular.

A typical Schubertiade

Schubert's most famous cycle of Lieder (art songs) is "Winterreise" (Winter Journey) - based on a series of melancholy poems by the Romantic poet Wilhelm Müller. Below a few recording of the full cycle  by its most well known interpreter  Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, a short lecture on the cycle and the soprano Lotte Lehmann singing the song "The Crow" from the cycle.