“Innovation” versus “Tradition”: The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics at the End of the Long Nineteenth Century
“Innovation” versus “Tradition”: The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics at the End of the Long Nineteenth Century
This chapter uses the at times harsh Viennese reaction to a broad series of concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic in Vienna in 1897 to focus attention on the underlying competitive relationship between the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, tracing it back to the larger competition between the cities of Vienna and Berlin in the late nineteenth century. The Berlin Philharmonic, founded in 1882, was open to musical and technical innovations; this orchestra is identified here with the rising German Kaiserreich and the associated label “Made in Germany.” The Vienna Philharmonic, on the other hand, founded in 1842, defined itself in terms of tradition and is here understood within the context of the topos of Vienna as a “music city.” For this orchestra, World War I was a turning point that resulted in increased concert activities.
Keywords: German Kaiserreich, Habsburg Monarchy, competition between cities, orchestra, orchestra tours, music, economics, modernism, marketing, WWI
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