where many rulers and states had their own courts and competed with rivals as cultural centers germany and austria In Austria and the German lands, there were a number of important patrons of music, one of the foremost in the mid-18th century being the Habsburg rulers of Austria, although the war over Silesia—the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War—were extremely costly, causing Empress Maria Theresa to economize on her court music In this period Johann Georg Reutter continued to write church music and opera, and Gottlieb Muffat wrote for the harpsichord and the organ The elector Palatine also maintained considerable musical talent in his court at Mannheim, recruiting musicians such as the Bohemians Johann Stamitz, Franz Xaver Richter, and Christian Cannabich, as well as a number of Italians By contrast the Prussian court at Berlin tended to favor more academic music, with Carl Heinrich Graun being the Kapellmeister (director of music) for Frederick the Great In charge of the Berlin opera, he also wrote The Death of Jesus, a Passion cantata He was later joined by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the son of Johann Sebastian Bach Mention should also be made of musicians in Hamburg such as Georg Philip Telemann, director of the Leipzig Opera in 1702, and the Hamburg Opera from 1732 to 1738 The great age of classicism in Europe started in the 1770s with renewed confidence and increasing wealth at many central European courts This period saw the Austrian cities of Vienna and Salzburg emerging as centers for this new musical style, with G C Wagenseil, a composer of many symphonies, quartets, and piano concertos, and also J B Vanhal Another musician during this period was Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and an important composer in his own right Franz Josef Haydn managed to get a position in the choir at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, and then joined the household of the famous Esterhazy family, as their Kapellmeister from 1766 It was not long before the Italian Antonio Salieri emerged as an important musician at the Habsburg court, with his youthful prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart quickly rising to prominence Mozart traveled to Italy when he was young, and there he heard many other musicians, remaining in contact with many of them throughout his life As a result he had a wide knowledge of contemporary European music 287 compositions and was able to compose new music, including 21 operas His work included Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute, as well as 27 concertos, piano trios, and serenades He worked at the Austrian court in Vienna under Emperor Joseph II, dying from renal failure A cousin of Mozart’s wife was Carl von Weber Also a youthful prodigy, he wrote a number of concertos and then the operas Sylvana and Abu Hassan the enlightenment The forces of the Enlightenment, which came to influence events around the French Revolution, led to the romantic era, which saw a decline in the prestige and wealth of the Austrian court and the rise in importance of France Franz Josef Haydn died in 1809 on exactly the same day that Napoleon i entered Vienna after defeating Austria In spite of this decline, there were still a number of Austrian musicians who helped Vienna retain its prominent position, albeit briefly Italian Luigi Boccherini composed several hundred compositions for string quartets Franz Schubert was a prolific composer, writing 145 songs in 1815 alone, including nine in one single day These included some of his bestknown works, although critics feel his finest music dates from the 1820s Another important German composer of this period was Robert Schumann, who produced a choral work titled Paradise and the Peri and was director of the Dusseldorf Orchestra from 1849 until 1853 By this time new composers had emerged, notably Ludwig van Beethoven, who developed from a classicist from the 1780s into the leading romantic composer of the 19th century He rose to international prominence with his symphonies, and his music was seen as breaking from the classical tradition and being unpredictable, clearly influenced by Haydn and Mozart Beethoven used a much greater range of tempos, rhythms, harmonies, and key changes than most of his contemporaries Beethoven initially admired Napoleon I and dedicated his Third Symphony, to him, before renaming it the Eroica Symphony when he became disillusioned after Bonaparte crowned himself emperor Beethoven later went on to compose his Fifth Symphony, known as The Emperor Symphony, and the Ninth Symphony, The Choral Symphony His other work included the opera Fidelio, originally entitled Leonora He is also well known for his popular piano pieces Moonlight Sonata and Für Elise Some of Beethoven’s contemporaries included Johann Ladislaus Dussek, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and the pianist Ferdinand Ries