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Gottfried van Swieten Patron of Haydn and Mozart

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1962

Edward Olleson
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Extract

The Picture of Gottfried van Swieten which is found in musical literature can scarcely be described as wholly favourable. It has long been recognised that his tastes in music influenced Mozart profoundly, but his close-fistedness has been blamed for contributing to the composer's poverty, and finally for giving Mozart only the cheapest possible funeral. In his dealings with Haydn, Swieten is acknowledged as the leader of that group of the nobility which sponsored the Creation and the Seasons, but this credit is more than balanced by criticism of his libretti to the two oratorios. At the best, it would seem, van Swieten's presence in Vienna was a mixed blessing.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association , Volume 89 , 1962 , pp. 63 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Musical Association, 1962

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank the members of Birmingham University who played in the orchestra which recorded the van Swieten symphony.

The musical examples from Mozart's Suite in C major, and Haydn's Seasons were transferred from gramophone records onto magnetic tape by courtesy of the World Record Club, Ltd., and E.M.I. Records, Ltd., without whose permission such re-recording would have constituted an infringement of copyright.

References

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3 ibid., p. 1194.Google Scholar

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8 The Public Advertiser, June 14th, 1769, &c.Google Scholar

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12 Anderson, op. cit., p. 1200–2.Google Scholar

13 ibid., p. 1384.Google Scholar

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16 H. C. Robbins Landon, The Collected Correspondence of Joseph Haydn, London, 1959, p. 20.Google Scholar

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27 Excerpts from the first movement of thιs symphony are printed ιn R. Bernhardt, ‘Aus der Umwelt der Wiener Klassiker, Freiherr Gottfried van Swieten’, Der Bär, Jahrbuch von Breitkopf & Hartel, 1929/30, pp. 164ff.Google Scholar