Robert Newman
Banned
Seen recently in an article online - criticism of 'superman' status for Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart -
The Classical Period has always been dominated by Haydn and Mozart, so why do we need to waste time with names like Boccherini, Hoffmeister, Beck, Dittersdorf, Cimarosa, Stamitz, Richter, Vanhal, and even Hummel? Let’s simply adopt the obvious solution: if music ends in a minor key and uses chromaticism from this period, it must be by Mozart. If it employs monothematic sonata form and has a sense of humour it’s a lost work of Haydn. All worthy operas and concertos are of course Mozart’s; string quartets and symphonies are Haydn’s. In a pinch, if some doubt remains regarding attribution, we can always hedge our bets and say “Studio of Haydn.” After all, he had many students and lived a long life. If the music was composed after 1800 but before 1820 it’s by Beethoven unless it’s an opera, in which case it’s by Rossini or (when in German) Weber. After 1820 or so we have a brief window of opportunity to greatly expand Schubert’s output, after which no one except Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Schumann wrote orchestral music that anyone cares about until the mid 19th century. Some eras are inherently tidy.
LOL
David Hurwitz - ‘Let’s Just Say Bach Wrote It - Cleaning Up the Universe of Classical Music’ (2008)
The Classical Period has always been dominated by Haydn and Mozart, so why do we need to waste time with names like Boccherini, Hoffmeister, Beck, Dittersdorf, Cimarosa, Stamitz, Richter, Vanhal, and even Hummel? Let’s simply adopt the obvious solution: if music ends in a minor key and uses chromaticism from this period, it must be by Mozart. If it employs monothematic sonata form and has a sense of humour it’s a lost work of Haydn. All worthy operas and concertos are of course Mozart’s; string quartets and symphonies are Haydn’s. In a pinch, if some doubt remains regarding attribution, we can always hedge our bets and say “Studio of Haydn.” After all, he had many students and lived a long life. If the music was composed after 1800 but before 1820 it’s by Beethoven unless it’s an opera, in which case it’s by Rossini or (when in German) Weber. After 1820 or so we have a brief window of opportunity to greatly expand Schubert’s output, after which no one except Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Schumann wrote orchestral music that anyone cares about until the mid 19th century. Some eras are inherently tidy.
LOL David Hurwitz - ‘Let’s Just Say Bach Wrote It - Cleaning Up the Universe of Classical Music’ (2008)
