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Music In The Hapsburg Empire 1750-1850, Alexander S. Klas

Young Historians Conference

This paper examines the role of music within the Habsburg empire in the century between 1750 and 1850. Music was used as a political tool beginning in the reign of Empress Maria Theresa to incite hostility against foreign enemies, reinforce public perception of the Habsburgs as leaders of the German nation, and stifle revolutionary sentiments among the populace. Drawing upon biographies and analysis of composers found in the Milton Cross' Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and their Music by Milton Cross and David Ewen from throughout the period, this paper demonstrates that patronage of music gave the Habsburgs a way …