Value of Art: Mozart

The Classical Era saw the rise of a third source of patronage which was the significance of supporting the arts. Composers and musicians back then could make a living as freelance musicians through presenting their work in public theaters and concert halls. The time period that contained the increased popularity and salaries for musicians and composers was known as the Age of Enlightenment. Musical composers work shifted from royalty to sacred churches to Middle-Class listeners. As the listening public grew in number, so did the demands for music lessons, instruments, and printed music. As demands were made from the middle class, no longer were these demands just limited to the aristocrats. Composers were making a bigger and stable form of compensation for their musical work!

Composers such as Mozart were able to support themselves through work in the public theaters, concert halls, and as a freelance musicians, but to make money was definitely a struggle for them. Mozart especially, had job opportunities to perform for Archbishop Von Colloredo for many years. Mozart didn’t agree with what the Archbishop has said during the period of employment and no longer wanted to perform for him. Shortly after, Mozart reached out and found other kinds of work in Vienna to support his music career financially. Theater space for rent in Vienna was sometimes hard to come by, so Mozart booked himself in unconventional venues such as large rooms in apartment buildings and ballrooms in expensive restaurants. Mozart composed Don Giovanni which is an Italian libretto, alongside with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Don Giovanni was performed In Prague at the Estate Theater, on October 29th, 1787.

The public support for the arts encouraged the development of modern music style by allowing modern day artists to perform just how the famous composers did centuries ago. While artists in the classical period often had to crawl out of the shadow of performing in churches to perform for the public, it was the first stepping stone of public listening events. As time goes on, performances in public venues became more and more popular. In the 1800’s when composers would perform in the public eye, it would attract small crowds, but was getting more demographical attention than performing in churches and for royalty. Musical events such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Ultra Music Festival, were all formed by the gateways of the classical period.

In my opinion, I don’t support the arts as much as I should and I regret that. Musical art is fundamental to our humanity and it promotes true prosperity. Art needs to have a continuous amount of support because it reflects cultural, values, and beliefs and its true value is to help preserve the different communities in our world

Cite this page