Why the Austro-German School of Composition is So Overrated

What is “Classical” Music?

Here is what the Oxford English Dictionary has to say about the word “classical”:

classical, a.

(ˈklæsɪkəl) 

[f. L. classic-us ] 

1. Of the first rank or authority; constituting a standard or model; especially in literature. 

   1599 Sandys Europae Spec. (1632) This man‥is now‥alleaged as classicall and Canonicall.    1608–11 Bp. Hall Epist. vi. i, Those later Doctors, which want nothing but age to make them classicall.    1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v., Authors‥of good credit and authority in the Schools, termed Classici Scriptores, Classical Authors.    1824 L. Murray Eng. Gram. Classical authority consists of speakers and writers, who are deservedly in high estimation.    1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. II. Montaigne is the earliest classical writer in the French language.    1868 Rogers Pol. Econ. Those rules of taxation which have been laid down by Adam Smith and have become classical.

2. Of the standard Greek and Latin writers; belonging to the literature or art of Greek and Roman antiquity. 

   1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) Avicenna attributeth certain things to Weasels flesh only, which the classicall Authors rather ascribe to the powder of Weasels.    1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. I.  That learning which had been accumulated in the Latin and Greek languages, and which we call ancient or classical.    1841 W. Spalding. Some isolated sections of classical art.

b. Designating the form of a language (esp. Greek and Latin) used by its ancient authors. 

   1850 W. Mure Lang. & Lit. Antient Greece I. v. 99 In a large proportion of the works of the later Byzantine poets, composed in the classical Greek, accent and quantity are as completely identical as in the verse of Shakspeare or Corneille.    1863 Chambers’s Encycl. V. 82/2 The Hellenic, or classical Greek.   1958 Oxf. Dict. Chr. Church 614/2 [Hebrew] was the classical language of Israel, in which the OT‥was written.    

c Designating the language, art, or culture of a period deemed to represent the most perfect flowering of the civilization that produced it. 

   1871 H. J. Roby Gram. Latin Lang. p. xx, This is a Grammar of Latin from Plautus to Suetonius…Any typical form not shewn to have been used in the period here taken, ought to be excluded from a Grammar of Classical Latin, or mentioned only with the authority affixed.    1895 Oracle Encycl. I. 154/1 Arabian literature spans the chasm between the extinction of classical learning and the revival of letters in the 15th c.    1937 Oxf. Compan. Classical Lit. 454 The following periods are distinguished: Early Latin up to about 100 b.c.; Classical Latin from 100 b.c. to the death of Augustus a.d. 14‥; ‘Silver’ Latin is applied to the post-Classical period up to about a.d. 150. 1978 K. J. Dover Greek Homosexuality i. 3 Classical Greek literature is predominantly Attic‥, and in the classical period Attica is also represented by more documentary inscriptions than the whole of the rest of the Greek world.

3. Of persons: Learned in the classics, i.e. in ancient Greek and Latin literature. 

  1802 Dibdin Introd. Classics 20 note, The Classical World is no doubt aware, etc.    1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xiii. 743 The authority wielded by the great classical scholars.

4. Of or pertaining to Greek and Latin literature and antiquities; relating to the classics. 

   1789 Loiterer 21 Mar. 4 In the nine succeeding years, I compleated my classical education.    1832 Chambers’s Edin. Jrnl. I. 226/1 There are very few‥who have not enjoyed the advantages of a classical education.    1839 Ld. Brougham Statesm. Geo. III, Ser. i. Sheridan 210 He [Sheridan] brought away from school a very slender provision of classical learning.   1876 Grant Burgh Sch. Scotl. ii. xiii. 346 The thorough character of the classical instruction imparted at our higher grammar Schools.

5. = classic a. 5. [Of literary note, historically famous]

   1820 Scott Monast. v, The many fine bridges which have since been built across that classical stream

6. a Of literature: Conforming in style or composition to the rules or models of Greek and Latin antiquity; hence transf. to art having similar qualities of style (see quot. 1885); opposed to romantic. 

   1820 Byron Let. Goethe 14 Oct., I perceive that in Germany as well as in Italy, there is a great struggle about what they call Classical and Romantic.    1864 M. Arnold in Cornh. Mag. Aug. 165 The problem is to express new and profound ideas in a perfectly sound and classical style.    1864 Spectator 20 Aug. 964/1 Matthew Arnold‥that most classical of English critics‥‘classical’‥we mean‥to express also the contraction and self-satisfied equanimity of his own school of criticism.    1885 J. C. Fillmore Pianof. Music (ed. Prentice) 47 The classical ideal is predominantly an intellectual one. Its products are characterised by clearness of thought, by completeness and symmetry, by harmonious proportion, by simplicity and repose. Classical works, whether musical or literary, are positive, clear, finished.

b Of painting, landscape, etc. 

   1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. v. 246 A school of art properly called ‘classical’.‥The school is, therefore, generally to be characterized as that of taste and restraint.    Ibid. 247 The classical landscape, properly so called, is therefore the representative of perfectly trained and civilised human life, associated with perfect natural scenery and with decorative spiritual powers.

c Of music: (see quot. 1885); spec. opp. jazz. 

   1836 Musical Libr. Supp. III. 64 (title) What is the meaning of the word ‘classical’ in a musical sense?    1885 J. C. Fillmore Pianof. Music 79–80 ‘Classic’ is used in two senses. In the one it means, having permanent interest and value.‥In the second sense.‥music written in a particular style, aiming at the embodiment of a certain ideal, the chief element of which is beauty of form.‥In classical music, in this sense, form is first and emotional content subordinate; in romantic music content is first and form subordinate.    1916 Variety 27 Oct. 12/4 It would not be surprising to note the disappearance of the classical orchestras for the syncopated groups.    1947 Penguin Music Mag. Dec. 52 The lowbrow, of course, divides all music into ‘classical’ and ‘jazz’.    1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz vii. 107 He has devoted much time lately to classical writing, including a trombone sonata for American Composers’ League.

d Of a style of ballet: (see quots.). 

   1928 A. L. Haskell Stud. Ballet 16 The classical ballet was pure dancing and nothing else, the romantic ballet a close alliance between pure dancing, music, décor, and literature, while the modern ballet is literature, music, décor and‥a corrupt form of dancing.    1957 G. B. L. Wilson Dict. Ballet 75 Classical ballet, ballet in which the movement is based on the traditional technique evolved from the French Court ballet of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the Italian schools of the nineteenth century, and the Imperial Academy of Dancing, St. Petersburg and Moscow‥.and in which dramatic or emotional content is subordinate to form or line.

e Of physics, mechanics, etc., used esp. of conclusions based on concepts and theories established before the discovery of quantum theory, the theory of relativity, etc. 

   1914 L. Silberstein Theory of Relativity i. 1 Before entering upon‥the modern doctrine of Relativity‥, it seems desirable to dwell a little on the more familiar ground of what might be called the classical relativity.   1928 A. S. Eddington Nature Physical World ix. 193 For the last fifteen years we have used classical laws and quantum laws alongside one another notwithstanding the irreconcilability of their conceptions.    1933 Discovery May 152/1 The strange limitation of classical mechanics, symbolized by the quantum of action.  1958 P. A. M. Dirac Princ. Quantum Mech. (ed. 4) p. vii, The classical tradition has been to consider the world to be an association of observable objects (particles, fluids, fields, etc.) moving about according to definite laws of force...

7. Hist. Of or pertaining to a classis in a Presbyterian Church; belonging to this system of church-government. 

8. Of or belonging to a class. Obs. 

9. [= L. classicus belonging to a fleet.] ‘Pertaining to a ship’ (Blount Glossogr. 1656). 

10. Short for classical style, art, etc. 

   1885 J. C. Fillmore Pianof. Music 47 They [Mozart’s piano compositions] were not remarkable for strong contrasts, but contrast is not of the essential nature of the classical.‥Repose, the very essence of the strictly classical.

The meaning of the word “Classical” in Classical Music is a question that is asked far too little. The pigeon-hole of “Classical Music” is accepted all too credulously and with an astonishing degree of thoughtlessness while being rather oversimplistically pitched against its binary opposite of popular music. To be honest, “Classical” is a problematic term that I have previously stated I would prefer to see being ditched altogether.  The original meaning of classical is one borrowed from literature, as found in the OED definition 6a:

Of literature: Conforming in style or composition to the rules or models of Greek and Latin antiquity; hence transf. to art having similar qualities of style (see quot. 1885); opposed to romantic. 

1820 Byron Let. Goethe 14 Oct., I perceive that in Germany as well as in Italy, there is a great struggle about what they call Classical and Romantic.     

1864 M. Arnold in Cornh. Mag. Aug. 165 The problem is to express new and profound ideas in a perfectly sound and classical style. 

1885 J. C. Fillmore Pianof. Music (ed. Prentice) 47 The classical ideal is predominantly an intellectual one. Its products are characterised by clearness of thought, by completeness and symmetry, by harmonious proportion, by simplicity and repose. Classical works, whether musical or literary, are positive, clear, finished.

The application of the term to music is a derivative of the literary use as found in the OEDs definition 6d of the term:

Of music: (see quot. 1885); spec. opp. jazz.  

1836 Musical Libr. Supp. III. 64 (title) What is the meaning of the word ‘classical’ in a musical sense?     

1885 J. C. Fillmore Pianof. Music 79–80 ‘Classic’ is used in two senses. In the one it means, having permanent interest and value.‥In the second sense.‥music written in a particular style, aiming at the embodiment of a certain ideal, the chief element of which is beauty of form.‥In classical music, in this sense, form is first and emotional content subordinate; in romantic music content is first and form subordinate.     

1916 Variety 27 Oct. 12/4 It would not be surprising to note the disappearance of the classical orchestras for the syncopated groups.     

1947 Penguin Music Mag. Dec. 52 The lowbrow, of course, divides all music into ‘classical’ and ‘jazz’.     

1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz vii. 107 He has devoted much time lately to classical writing, including a trombone sonata for American Composers’ League.

As the OED points out, the most interesting of these traditional definitions is that of J.C. Fillmore in 1885, who explains that the term “classical” has two usages. Although that 1885 definition seems straight forward enough, the term “Classical” remains an extraordinarily vague and nebulous expression that becomes increasingly so the more it is critically examined. Neither Mozart nor Haydn ever claimed to having subordinated emotional content to form, nor did they ever state that they aimed purely at “beauty of form” or “repose”. “Repose” was even defined by Fillmore as “the very essence of the strictly classical”. Yet one could find endless examples from the compositions of Haydn and Mozart that would totally contradict these reductivistic stereotypes. To reduce the compositional style of any composer down to such crudely jingoistic formulae represents a gross misrepresentation, one driven entirely by polemical intent. Furthermore, this very presupposition of an alleged conflict between “form” pitched against its crudely binary opposite of “content” is little more than a grossly outdated nineteenth century notion anyway. It is equally outdated as any analysis built up from a problematic set of binary oppositions as that between classical-romantic, classical-popular (classical-jazz back in 1947), or classical-modern. Today, I will like to take the critical examination of the meaning of the term “Classical” a step further by critically examining the role of the so-called Austro-German “Classical” composers.

For a start, I should mention that I have nothing against the German tradition in the arts. Far from being biased against it, I find the Austro-German tradition to be fascinating, including its music, literature, and philosophy. I have had one reader complain that far too many of my posts here are dedicated to debunking modern stereotypes about Wagner as having originated in the crude anti-German prejudices of World War I and II anti-Hun propaganda. Far from being prejudicial against German culture, I know my Goethe as well as I know my Shakespeare. I can recite more poetry in German from memory than in any other language. Yet here I am in this post about to complain of the over-valuation of the Austro-German composers from Bach onwards (while leaving earlier composers such as Schütz and Praetorius undervalued). 

I have no shame in saying that the time has come to question the centrality of the Austro-German tradition in composition and its place right at the epicentre of so-called “Classical” music. For a start, none of the Viennese “classicists” ever espoused an aesthetic philosophy that could, in any way, shape or form, be described as Classicism. All you have to do is compare the subject matter of L’Orfeo with Don Giovanni to see that even much of Monteverdi’s output is better described as “Classical” in style than Mozart’s, since Monteverdi derives inspiration from the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome to a far greater extent than Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven ever did. Others in the world of architecture did aspire to a classicist aesthetic, based on the architectural aesthetics of the Greco-Roman classical world, but this was never the case in compositional spheres—at least not until the advent of Iannis Xenakis, the first composer since classical times who can truly be regarded as having a compositional philosophy and aesthetics that can be described as Classical in that it derived inspiration directly from classical Greek thought.

Sketch for Μεταστάσεις (Metastaseis) (Metastasis in French transliteration) by Xenakis

Moreover, those so-called “Classical” composers of the eighteenth century not only never considered their aesthetics to be “classicist”, but struggled within their lifetimes to emerge out of the looming shadow of the all dominant Italian tradition in music. Italian composers were the “Classical” models held up to the young Mozart and Schubert, not other Austro-German composers. Even Wagner struggled against the prejudice of conservative German opera goers who looked down on anything that was not sung in Italian. In those days, German singers used to adopt Italian stage names in order to be taken more seriously. It was for similar reasons that in a contest at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, where Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor went up against Salieri’s Prima La Musica, the work by Salieri was unanimously judged to be the hands down winner. 

Palestrina is a composer who was held up to every aspiring composer in the Austro-German tradition as a model during their compositional studies. So when E.T.A. Hoffmann was advocating for the greatness of Beethoven’s symphonies, he was to do so by comparing them to Palestrina’s masses. Bach too would have been taught counterpoint by studying Palestrina. When making a study of counterpoint late in his life, Beethoven likewise turned to Palestrina, whom Beethoven honoured by using church modes in his opus 132 string quartet. Even as recently as the late nineteenth century, the example of Palestrina was considered the traditional model of composition, with conservative academics looking down contemptuously on the Austro-German composers as “modern” upstarts. I have even come across one book on Palestrina from the early twentieth century suggesting that J.S. Bach’s counterpoint could not stand comparison to that of the great Palestrina’s—how dare these modern upstarts utter Bach’s lowly name in the same breath as the great Palestrina’s!

It is clear that the term “Classical”, when applied to the Austro-German composers, was coined with an entirely polemical intention. It was meant to argue that these newer Austro-German composers could and should be taken as seriously as Sophocles rather than being dismissed as “modern” curiosities. It marked the combatative emergence of Austro-German composers out of the shadow of the Italian school. Yet today, it seems to me that this swing away from the more “traditional” Renaissance era compositional models towards the Austro-German school has gone too far. The likes of Palestrina have come to be relatively undervalued. For, although Palestrina has certainly never been entirely forgotten, the average person on the street is unlikely to recognise Palestrina’s name in the same way as that of Mozart’s.

Palestrina

Nor does the reinvigoration by the early music movement of an interest in Renaissance Italian school models suffice. The Italian school was, without doubt, of great importance, and their influence lives on in the way Italian markings such as allegro, andante, or adagio are commonly used in music today. We must value the likes of Palestrina, Monteverdi, and Gesualdo, but nor must we forget that these composers in turn were raised with the compositions of the Franco-Flemish school being held up to them as “classical” models. In particular, the example of Josquin de Prez would have been extremely well known not only to Palestrina, but to Bach and Beethoven as well. Schoenberg—ever the traditionalist—uses examples from Josquin in his theoretical writings. Josquin, and, even more importantly, Obrecht, were the composers who established modern imitative counterpoint, with material being handled by imitative techniques in inversion, retrograde and retrograde-inversion. Anton Webern did his PhD in the music of Franco-Flemish composer, Heinrich Isaac, a direct contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci. Indeed, one of the great advantages of having a more long term view of the development of Western music is that it helps us to better appreciate the historical continuity between the pre-tonal era composers such as Isaac with post-tonal composers such as Webern.

The memory of Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Orlando Lassus is honoured with a statue in Munich

It is high time that the greatest names in Renaissance Italian and Franco-Flemish composition be appreciated just as much as equivalent Renaissance Italian and Franco-Flemish artists such as Bruegel, Bosch, Rembrandt, Raphael, da Vinci, and Michelangelo. Josquin was widely regarded as the Michelangelo of music for centuries after his death. It would be unacceptable to list a few Austro-German artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth century as the greatest “Classical” painters of all times, and it should hardly be considered any less acceptable to do so in music. 

Bruegel’s Fall of Icarus (c. 1558) has a classical theme: the legend of Daedalus and Icarus

So while I certainly do admire the works of Beethoven’s contemporary, Caspar David Friedrich, it would be considered absurd to call Friedrich’s works “Classical Painting”, and regard him along with a few other Austro-German painters of the eighteenth and nineteenth century as part of a canon of “Classical” painters to be held up as the central received body of models to be esteemed by all aspiring student of the arts. 

Casper David Friedrich (1774-1840) was a contemporary of Beethoven (1770-1827)

It is thus not enough to regard Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven as the “Classical” models, any more than it is not enough to regard Goethe and Schiller as the “Classical” world literature while largely ignoring Shakespeare, Chaucer, Petrarch, or Dante. It is time those in the art music world took off their Austro-German “Classical” blinkers and widened their horizons a little bit. Or to put it another way, we cannot continue to look at the history of composition through late nineteenth century and early twentieth century eyes. We are well overdue for a radical overhaul so that, as in the visual arts, both the older Franco-Flemish and Italian epochs are better accounted for, and the greater international plurality of the twentieth century better accepted as constituting a new norm.