17 August--Haus der Musik

I can’t believe there are already only 10 more days until class ends. Time has gone by so fast here. Today we experienced an important part of Viennese culture: Music. From Mozart to Strauss and Schubert, many musicians came to Vienna over the years and contributed to the growth of Viennese music culture.

To study this, we went to the Haus der Musik, a museum dedicated to the science of sound in addition to housing a museum about a few of the influential composers who passed through Vienna. There were entire rooms dedicated to the composers that had contributed to the Viennese classical music scene: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, and Strauss. It was interesting to learn how each composer had altered the public’s perception of music. Mahler, for example, was the director of the Viennese Philharmonic and is largely responsible for much of our modern concert etiquette, like dimming the house lights at the start of a performance or not letting latecomers in until a piece has finished. Schubert aided the growth of Hausmusik, where individuals would gather in somebody’s house where the piano was the center of the party. This growth of Hausmusik accompanied Metternich’s reforms to transform Vienna into a quasi-police state, when Austria feared another ‘French revolution’ would happen in Austria. At this time, there were 52 piano makers in Vienna, compared to 1 today. We also saw relics from composers and conductors past, like Leonard Bernstein’s tux and Richard Strauss’s baton. The museum of sound wing of the house dealt with how sound is perceived by the brain. It also allowed us to superimpose sounds from everyday life, like a U-bahn station, a park, a baby crying, etc., to create a sort of dissonant choir. There was also one wall with several earpieces, through which one could hear different sounds a human body might make, from coughing to grinding teeth all the way to farting. In another room, you and another individual could compose your own waltz by throwing dice (not quite sure how that one worked). After, you even had the option to buy the score to the piece you had just written (but it cost 7 euros).

We also had the opportunity to watch the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform several pieces—via DVD of course. It was really interesting to see how little they needed the conductor. At one point, he even turned around and began conducting the audience. I appreciated being able to see such professionalism and musicianship, coming from an orchestral background myself. After this video, we got the opportunity to conduct the orchestra…with an infrared baton, of course. The orchestra would play exactly as fast as you conducted them. You could choose from a selection of pieces, including An Der Schoenen Blauen Donau waltz, the Radzesky (?) march, and Hungarian Dance no. 5.

This place is dedicated to the composers and their music that helped put Vienna on the map, culturally. Coming from a musical background, I was excited to see the composers who had shaped the face of music to what it is today.

Deutsches Tagewort: schmecken--expression of taste. "Mir schmeckt diese Speise nicht, aber ich esse sie trotzdem"