Status

In the beginning of music, musicians were like servants or slaves. Later, with Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven there becomes a liberation.

One of the most memorable musical moments of modern Europe was a performance of The Creation in the main hall of the University of Venice for Haydn in 1808 for his 76^th birthday. Here is a clip of The Creation performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAxXDt9dOrE

What Mozart and Haydn have in common is their massive contribution to raising both the status of music, by the quality of their compositions, status of the musician, and demonstration of what could be achieved in the rapidly changing social and cultural conditions of the late 18^th century. Mozart’s international reputation was at its highest right after he showed the first performance of La Clamenza di Tito in Prague and The Magic Flute in Vienna in September 1791, both high quality opera serias.

Here’s a clip of The Magic Flute by the Met Orchestra.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFdB8Zz8VOo&feature=PlayList&p=E616D683968748BF&index=1

Musicians were also looked at as heroes. One example is violinist Niccolo Paganini. Read more about this virtuoso here. http://www.paganini.com/nicolo/nicindex.htm

The next phase of musicians status is an apotheosis, almost putting them as royalty or god-like beings. One example of this is the knighting of musicians. The United Kingdom did this in an extremely formal honor, even though politicians tried to stop it.