The Secret Behind Our Legacy of Magnificent Music

In 1772, Joseph Haydn and his musicians were spending a long summer performing at the country retreat of Hungary’s Prince Esterhazy. The musicians were restless and wanted to go home, but Esterhazy expected them to stay there as long as he did.

To change the prince’s mind, Haydn wrote a symphony. In the finale, each player, one by one, ends his music, snuffs out his candle, and exits—until only two violinists are left (one being Haydn) to quietly end the piece. Now known as the Farewell Symphony, it persuaded Esterhazy to release the troupe. [1]

The prince’s failed effort to control the musicians was about as heavy-handed as European governments got with respect to music in those glorious days between, say, 1700 and 1820. (Think, from Vivaldi and Telemann to Mozart and Beethoven.) The results were magnificent.

Over that period musical performances were enriched and diversified on multiple dimensions. The piano replaced the harpsichord, the cello replaced the bass viola da gamba, Bach brought the organ’s sounds to new heights—to mention just a few changes. Ways to share music—orchestras, quartets, sonatas, concertos, oratorios, and operas—proliferated.  The styles we know as Baroque, Classical, and Romantic began to solidify, and the stunning masterpieces that we love today emerged.

It was not planned, it was not forced, it was not “orchestrated.” It was, as Friedrich Hayek said about the world-wide economy, a spontaneous order.

Spontaneous Order in the Economy and Music

When we think of the word “spontaneous” these days, we think of something that happens suddenly, like spontaneous combustion from an unlit haystack or the spontaneous outcry of an angry crowd. But the original meaning of the word (and the way Hayek used it) emphasizes the lack of a conscious plan or direction. It stems from a Latin word meaning “of one’s free will.” [2]. A complex spontaneous order—such as a modern economy—was not created or designed by anyone but came about by the purposive actions of many.

We are beginning to understand this with respect to economies. As Adam Smith pointed out, pursuit of self-interest leads to favorable exchanges that promote wealth. Even so, Hayek wrote:

“[C]ritics still pour uncomprehending ridicule on Adam Smith’s expression of the ‘invisible hand’ by which, in the language of his time, he described how man is led ‘to promote an end which was no part of his intentions’.” [3]

Yet that is what led to today’s prosperity. And that—the invisible hand—also allowed the flowering of European music.

Although composers and musicians had royal and noble patrons like Esterhazy, they had to make trades if they wanted successful careers. There was a rich, competitive market for music that pushed its creators to ever greater achievements (some say, to perfection). And the market was sometimes harsh.

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his famous Brandenberg Concertos to obtain a job. He sent the manuscripts to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in hope of being appointed to the royal court of the region. But the Margrave didn’t even answer.  They were sold for $24 when the Margrave died. In 1849, a librarian found the manuscripts for these six concertos in the Prussian royal library. [4]

George Frederick Handel became famous in Britain for writing Italian-language operas, which he loved. So did the public, for a while. But when John Gay’s musical, The Beggar’s Opera, appeared in 1728, the tide turned. The Beggar’s Opera, written in English, satirized Italian operas. Handel’s business withered—he went bankrupt in 1737. He also had a mild stroke at the time.

But then he changed his projects. He began writing oratorios—dramatic choral presentations that told stories but were not staged elaborately like theatre. Most topics were Biblical, so they could even be sung in churches.

He was successful, and four years later Handel wrote his most famous work, The Messiah.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spent much of his teens and early twenties “on tour” throughout Europe. While he was a brilliant prodigy, he was on tour because he was trying to obtain a full-time position in one of the great musical capitals. He considered his home, Salzburg, a “backwater” town.[5] 

It is well known that he died in relative poverty (at the age of 35). However, the market itself was not at fault. As Biography says: “Mozart associated himself with aristocratic Europeans and felt he should live like one.” He could have lived on his income but he wanted to exceed it. After he died, his widow sold his manuscripts and was able to send their children to a private school. [6]

Conclusion

Competition could be hard in the 18^th century, whether we are talking about the economy or music. But spontaneous order—people pursuing their interests as best they could—created the wealth we have today  and our magnificent world of classical music.

The image of Leopold Mozart and two children, Marianne and Wolfgang, comes from the British Museum and is published with a Creative Commons license,  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. 

Notes  (Comments follow the notes.)

[1] “Haydn’s ‘Farewell’ Symphony,” Classical Archives, https://www.classicalarchives.com/feature/farewell_video.html.

[2] Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary cites its origin in the Latin word sponte (of one’s free will, voluntarily).

[3] Friedrich A. Hayek, “Rules and Order,” Law, Legislation and Liberty, Vol. 1 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973), 37.

[4] Revelle Team, “Secret Stories Behind the Greatest Classical Compositions: Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto,” String Ovation, Nov. 14, 2017, https://www.connollymusic.com/stringovation/bach-brandenburg-concerto.

[5] Paul Griffiths, A Concise History of Western Music (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006). 139.

[6] “Wolfgang Mozart,” Biography, April 27, 2017, https://www.biography.com/musician/wolfgang-mozart.