In the second part of the eighteenth century, a new musical style emerged in Europe. Called the Classical style, it had important pioneers in Italy and northern Germany; one of them was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the eldest son of Johann Sebastian, working in Berlin. But the Classical style was developed particularly by composers active in Vienna, capital of Austria. Here conditions seem to have been ideal for music. Geographically, Austria stands at the crossroads of four other musical nations — Germany, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), Hungary, and Italy — and Vienna was also central in political terms. As the capital of the mighty Hapsburg empire, Vienna was plunged into every European conflict of the time and exposed to every new cultural and intellectual current.

Vienna flourished under the Hapsburg empress Maria Theresa and emperor Joseph II. Maria Theresa was one of Europe’s most powerful monarchs over a period of forty years, and Joseph was one of the most enlightened. During his short but golden reign from 1780 to 1790, Joseph emancipated the peasantry, furthered education, and reduced the power of the clergy; he supported music and literature with his patronage and encouraged a free press. In a city of only 150,000 people, it is said there were 300 newspapers and journals during Joseph’s reign, representing every shade of opinion.

In this liberal atmosphere, Franz Joseph Haydn of nearby Eisenstadt became recognized as Europe’s leading composer; his symphonies were commissioned from far-off Paris and London. The young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was drawn to the capital in 1781 from Salzburg, a hundred miles to the west, to spend his brilliant last decade there. And in 1792 a young musician from the other end of Germany, who had composed a long cantata mourning Emperor Joseph’s death, decided to come to this great musical center to launch his career. His name was Ludwig van Beethoven.