Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/343

 CHAPTER XIX

HAYDN. THE SONATA AND THE ORCHESTRA

143. General Survey.—The half-century following 1750 proved to be in several ways extremely important in music-history, but we look in vain for much evident connection between its events and those of general history, or rather, to put it more exactly, the conditions of the time affected music most on its lower and commonplace level, which was not the plane upon which vigorous and constructive geniuses were at work. The latter were the agents that made the period memorable, simply because they rose so much above their fellows.

The world of politics was full of turmoil, but with little effect upon musical art except to subject its exercise to local and temporary interruptions, as, for example, in parts of Germany and Austria during the exhausting Seven Years' War (1756-63), and at Paris at the time of the Revolution (1789-95). The effects of the latter upon art in general, as of the complications connected with the achievement of American Independence (1761-83), were naturally not apparent until after 1800.

The long reigns were those of Louis XV. of France (1715-74), Maria Theresa of Austria (1740-80), Frederick the Great of Prussia (1740-86), George III. of England (1760-1820), Catharine II. of Russia (1762-96), and Louis XVI. of France (1774-92). The remarkable figure of Napoleon appeared in 1795, but his accession as emperor did not come till 1804.

The time was one of controversy and criticism in the world of thought, with a tendency to negations rather than construction. Morals and manners were artificial, and religion tended to lapse into deism or atheism. The average pessimism was relieved only by the display of ideality or of practical efficiency on the part of individuals. Altogether, the period was not one that might be supposed favorable for important artistic advance. Yet, on the other hand, it was precisely here that the truly modern spirit took its rise, breaking away from outgrown formulæ, throwing off restraints, and catching sight of far-off goals.

Briefly summarized, the chief movements of the period in music were these—the establishment of the principles of what is now called 'classical' form by a group of masters of whom Haydn and Mozart are typical examples; the reformation of