The Symphony in Beethoven's Vienna (review)

Remarkable both for the uniquely accessible quality of writing and the depth of scholarship, The Symphony in Beethoven's Vienna by David Wyn Jones, Reader of Music at Cardiff University, is an excellent addition to the world of research on Beethoven's life and times for both the amateur and the more serious Beethoven scholar. Cultural historians interested in aspects of life in Vienna in the Classical era will also find this a useful addition to their research.

Beethoven's symphonies are legendary and his prowess as a symphonist is no less auspicious. His importance and sheer dominating brilliance in the field has unfortunately led many to know a great deal about Beethoven and far less about the composers who lived and worked at the same time. David Wyn Jones explores the context in which Beethoven worked in this remarkably revelatory study.

"Setting the Scene" (chap. 1, pp. 1–10) discusses the atmosphere in the musical world of Vienna and the characteristics of musical life that shaped the changing fortunes of the symphony in the early years of Beethoven's stay in that city. The history of the symphony as a genre in Vienna is explored from 1790 through 1830. Fascinating aspects of that history such as the changing pattern of patronage and the perceived status of the symphony as a genre are discussed (chap. 2, "Selling Symphonies," pp. 11–33 and chap. 3, "Performing Symphonies," pp. 34–56). The highlighted works are discussed through each stage of creation from manuscript production to eventual printed dissemination and each is then traced into its final placement in the concert life of Vienna. These two chapters also provide a unique insight into the ever-changing reception history of Mozart and Haydn's symphonies.

Symphonic repertoire produced by less familiar composers is the focus of the following three chapters (chap. 4, "A Tale of Two Brothers: Anton and Paul Wranitzky," pp. 57–97; chap. 5, "Loose Ends and Faltering Beginnings," pp. 98–129; and chap. 6, "A Rare and Rarefied Genre," pp. 130–54). The author thoroughly examines the careers and compositions of several composers such as Gyrowetz, Vanhal, Eberl, Hoffmeister, Krommer, and Anton and Paul Wranitzky, and discusses the reception history of their symphonies.

Beethoven is the focus in the final two chapters (chap. 7, "Beethoven and the Decline of the Symphony," pp. 155–80; and chap. 8, "The Reformulation of the Symphony and Beethoven," pp. 181–209). Jones eloquently describes Beethoven's travels to Vienna to study with Haydn and the ultimate result his prolonged stay in Vienna had on his reserved employment in Bonn. All the background behind the evolution of each of Beethoven's symphonies is examined and the author relates contemporary acquaintances Beethoven had and their reaction to and influence on each work. One section, "Schubert and the Symphony, 1820–28: 'Striving After the Highest Art'" (pp. 203–06) discusses the lack of social and musical advantages that Schubert experienced late in his life in relation to the other composers who were active and how those deficiencies significantly influenced Schubert's production of symphonies.

This book puts so many things into perspective that it seems each page leads to a new revelation. It sheds new light on how symphonies were performed. Few realize that Beethoven's contemporaries and even Beethoven himself were usually working with orchestras made up of household servants who had duties and lives filled with non-musical responsibilities with far less actual time to practice than a professional musician would have had. When one considers this fact, the contemporary reaction to the technically difficult parts becomes far more understandable. Additionally, today during concerts we typically listen to an entire Beethoven symphony in one sitting. Yet often a concert during Beethoven's lifetime would have the movements of a symphony split up with smaller, unrelated works performed between the...