3. Musical Life in Giuliani’s Vienna
3.3 Music in the Salons
While public concerts emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, music-making in private, e.g. salons and homes, was equally essential. The Viennese home “was the focus of family, social and intellectual life”. Salons played a significant part in the general shift of musical patronage from the aristocracy to the middle class (Hanson 1985, 109). By 1820s, home concerts arranged in salons easily outnumbered those given in public halls (Hanson 1997, 109). The effect a single salon had on Viennese musical life was based on their size and prosperity. While a simple lower middle-class home was more private, high middle-class salons “imbued with the spirit of the court and became meeting-places for artists, thinkers, writers and other professionals as well as the local
intelligentsia” (Carew 2002, 249).
The origins of the salon culture can be traced back to the aristocracy of the Italian
Renaissance period, and it spread through Italo-French marriages to France in the 17th century. The French aristocratic salon was primarily a literary circle, where educated men and women from different levels of the society would gather to discuss various subjects, such as politics, philosophy, science, literature, theater and music. It was not topics but a conversation that became the main focus of salons. It was important for the participants to emphasize their sophisticated taste through
their language. Salons were hosted by a saloniére, the lady of a house. Thus, salons were an important part of the female culture (Heindl 1997,46).
French salon culture was adapted in the German-speaking world around the mid 18th century (Burwick 1994, 129) and around 1780s salons started to appear in Vienna. At first, they were a part of the high aristocratic lifestyle, but they quickly became frequent among the middle class and the low aristocracy as well. Besides adapting sophisticated literary discussions from French and German salons, the specialty of Viennese salons was in their implementation of musical
performances into their regular activities. Another Viennese feature was that some salons had men as their hosts (Heindl 1997, 46). The private concerts arranged in salons were derived from an earlier tradition of the Hauskapelle (as discussed in section 2.1). In winter the nobility resided in the city, and musical activities arranged in salons formed the core of the private concert world (Morrow 1989, 13). Morrow divides the social classes associated with Viennese salons into three levels: 1) the high nobility, 2) the lower nobility and 3) the wealthy middle class (Morrow 1989,22). The high nobility was separate from the other classes and they rarely invited members of the lower classes into their activities (excluding, naturally, performing musicians who were mostly of middle-class origin) (Morrow 1989, 24), while the low aristocracy and the middle class had more contact with each other.
The late 18th Viennese salon, regardless of the social class, adapted the manners and elegance of the aristocracy. The atmosphere was liberal, and the hosts of salons were highly
educated, usually speaking multiple languages and had a wide range of interests in science, arts and politics. After the Napoleonic wars, during the Biedermeier era (1815-1848), the distinction
between an aristocratic and middle-class salon increased. Salons of the middle class started to favor German over French, which the lingua franca before, due to the nationalistic tendencies among the Austrians evoked by the Napoleonic wars. Intellectual discussions were replaced by jovial and cozy behavior and the framework of salons were generally more modest and bourgeois (Heindl 1997, 46-49).
Normally, the Viennese aristocratic and middle-class people did not mix and thus the salons of the different social classes were separate entities with few exceptions. Since the reign of Francis I (1745-65), the Austrian Empire had ennobled some high-ranking members of the upper middle class in order to lower the boundaries between them and the aristocracy. However, since the upper middle class was still significantly less wealthy than the high aristocracy, the former stayed socially in the middle class and were not treated as equals by the latter (Heindl 1997, 41).
Morrow describes the distinction between salons by giving examples of private concert descriptions written by people from different social backgrounds. Since private concerts and musical activities in general were an essential part of salons, I consider these observations more or less applicable to the salon activities outside music as well. Her study shows that the salons of the
high aristocracy mainly included members from that particular class. Some mentions of the lower aristocracy participation as attendants and organizers occur but they are a minority. In the middle-class salons, while consisting mainly of members with no noble status, appearances of the minor aristocracy occur (Morrow 1989, 24-25). However, there were some exceptions such as the salon of Nathan Adam and Fanny Arnstein (née Itzig), which they founded in 1780. Fanny Arnstein was daughter of a wealthy Jewish banker Daniel Itzig originating from Berlin. In 1776, she married a Viennese banker, Baron Nathan Adam von Arnstein and moved to Vienna. Her salon hosted
ballroom dances for up to 400 people, arranged orchestral concerts, held literary circles and smaller musical activities. Arnstein was a low-ranked noble in the 1820s- 1830s but her salon emulated the style of high aristocracy. It was immensely popular and attracted visitors from different social classes around Europe (Heindl 1997, 47-49).
A typical Viennese salon gathering started around 4 p.m. with a late afternoon cup of tea, which then led to such activities as a polite conversation, card games, recitation of poems or playing music. Amateur salon concerts were called Hauskonzerte and required each guest to take part in musical activities, regardless of their age or skill level. Such activities could then last until the midnight (Hanson 1985, 109). Hauskonzerten usually included both dilettante and professional musicians. Professional musicians were generally hired for each occasion separately but in some salons, the older tradition of the Hauskapelle still existed and the musicians working for them were taking part in these events (Morrow 1989, 15).
Mauro Giulani, like many other musicians of his time, was a frequent visitor in salons as a performing artist. His participation in the high nobility Hauskonzerte arranged by Ms. Von
Rittersburg is described in the diary of J.F. Reichardt dated March 1, 1809
Therefore, it is also very gratifying to me that the amateur concerts of Frau von Rittersburg, which are held from seven to ten in the evening, are beginning again, and will continue through Lent. The seating
arrangements will also be more advantageous for the listeners in the future; the music will be played only in the middle room, and the listeners will be seated in the two open adjoining rooms. Especially nice Italian vocal pieces are performed at this concert [series], Frau von Rittersburg herself sings very pleasantly, and Fräulein von Zois and young Frau von Frank, all very pretty, enchanting creatures, sing, together with a few Italian and German tenors and basses, ensembles from Italian operas and operettas with much spirit and taste....Even Prince Lobkowitz often takes a lively part in the ensembles with his strong, full bass voice, with which he enters wholly into the Italian style. His orchestra provides the largest part of the instrumental music there, and it often performs certain symphonies and overtures very creditably. Several well-trained dilettantes, however, also often reinforce the orchestra. I also heard the very popular guitarist Giuliani at this concert for the first time, and I very much longed to hear him again often. (Translation from Heck 2013).
Von Ritterburg’s salon would host such concerts weekly during the 1809 season (Morrow 1989, 17). Prince Joseph Franz Maximillian Lobkowitz (1772-1816) took part in concerts as a singer and had brought his orchestra in (one of the few Hauskapellen still active, which was unfortunately disbanded when Lobkowitz went bankrupt in 1811, see for example Hanson 1985, 110 and Morrow 1989, 27). From Morrow, we learn that Lobkowitz had actually loaned his orchestra for the Ritterburgs during the 1809 season (Morrow 1989, 15). From Reichardt’s description, one can see the mixture of professionals and dilettanti in performances. Lobkowitz’s private orchestra was already an exception as late as 1809, however, and mixing dilettanti and the professionals in the orchestra was common. In this case, amateurs probably played in string sections or timpani, since wind instruments were not popular among them and were handled by
professionals (Morrow 1989, 15). Reichart’s letter doesn’t inform whether Giuliani participated in the concert as a payed professional musician or a gentleman, and thus playing for free. Carl
Dahlhaus states that in aristocratic concerts, musicians were often given a chance to either get paid for their performance but be treated as a mere worker, or to play for free and be treated as a
gentleman and an amateur (Dahlhaus 1989, 49). Another example of a salon concert, in which Giuliani partook, provided by Reichardt describes the audience consisting of people “from all ranks”, perhaps referring to a gathering similar to the Salon of Fanny Arnstein (Heck 2013).
Besides music composed for amateurs, the main output of Giuliani's oeuvre is music intended for salons. Ambitious works from this genre are his Sonata Brilliant op. 15; Grand Overture op. 61, Gran Sonata Eroica op. 150 and two Gran Duetto Concertantes, opuses 52 and 130 for flute and guitar.
In the later Biedermeier era, the Schubertiades of 1820s arranged by Franz Schubert and his friends were informal middle-class social gatherings based around Schubert's music. After the performances, a grand feasting, games and dancing followed. The musical offering of these concerts usually began with a set of Schubert's lieder. This was followed by Schubert and his friends
performing piano duets or singing vocal quartets (Hanson 1985, 119-120).
Salons were an important contributor to the musical life of Vienna and in many ways, they reached much larger audiences than public concerts. Public concerts were tied to a concert season whereas salons held private concerts through the year. Also, during the first decades of the 19th century, concerts arranged in private outnumbered ones arranged in public. The concept of salon is important environment for Giuliani's music, as the guitar is a very intimate instrument and very suitable for smaller venues.