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Hovering high up, at the very edge of the roof, are the small and endearing angels of the Musikverein. Known also as putti, amoretti or cupids, these are heavenly figures made of sandstone. Characterized by sensuality, the message they bring is the passion that flows through music. These little angels have now regained their lustre, after a thorough renovation programme a few years ago.
Gallery
The ceiling of the Großer Musikvereinssaal not only holds fascination for acousticians around the world but also has art historians in raptures. Theophil Hansen planned the Musikverein as a “Gesamtkunstwerk“ or unified work of art and spared nothing in terms of the wealth of ornamental detail. Hansen was introduced by the Viennese painter Carl Rahl to August Eisenmenger, whom he commissioned to design the ceiling paintings in the Musikvereinssaal. Apollo and the nine muses of the Arts were chosen to ornament the ceiling of the auditorium. Apollo, the god of the arts and music who embodies brightness and finesse in all things, was placed by Hansen at the centre of the auditorium – as the centre of harmony, surrounded by the richly coloured aerial figures of the muses.
In December 1857, the Musikverein celebrated the arrival of a "wonderful, truly imperial Christmas present”. Emperor Franz Joseph I. had given permission for the historic city walls to be razed and thus opened the way for the large-scale expansion planned for the city. Thus the Vienna Ringstraße period began. Numerous buildings – including an opera house, galleries and museums – were to be constructed along the Ringstraße by imperial decree. The Friends of Music had an opportunity to construct a home that would be an integral part of the Ringstraße’s ensemble of architecture. Their plans were appropriately ambitious. Prominent architects, among them Theophil Hansen, August Siccard von Siccardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, were invited to propose designs for the new building. Siccardsburg and van der Nüll, the designers of the court opera, declined the invitation. Hansen remained and proved to be in any case the very best choice. Theophil Hansen (1813-1891) went enthusiastically to work on the commission. Competing with the court opera’s design fired his imagination and encouraged him to seek a new style in the direction of “strict historicism”. In contrast to the architectural proponents of the earlier romantic historicism – among them Siccardsburg and van der Nüll – he explored aspects of High Renaissance architecture. Continuing this approach, he delved still further back via the “Neorenaissance” into classical antiquity. Hansen was quite literally at home here, as the Danish architect had studied and worked in Athens for eight years before arriving in Vienna in 1846. This period had been a formative one and, inspired by classical Greece, Hansen became an exponent of what he termed a “Greek Renaissance”. Hansen’s philhellenism can be seen throughout the Musikverein building: the caryatids in the Großer Musikvereinsaal, the ionic columns and the temple roof in the Brahms Saal, Apollo and the muses ornamenting the ceiling of the Großer Musikvereinssaal, and Orpheus on the pediment atop the front façade all reflect this Greek influence, as does the colour scheme for the building, a perfect example of antique polychromy. Today, numerous buildings along the Vienna Ringstraße bear Theophil Hansen’s signature, with the most famous among them probably being the Austrian Parliament. Hansen was not only one of the most important representatives of historicist architecture in Vienna but also one of the most thorough exponents of buildings as complete works of art: by marshalling all ornamental, chromatic and figurative opportunities to create a unified design, he aimed at the aesthetic harmonisation of both interior and exterior designs. In the case of the Musikverein, his efforts met with exemplary success.
The pediment frieze on the main facade depicts Orpheus, the son of the muse Calliope and the Thracian king and river god Oeagrus, at the height of his powers to represent the power of music in its supreme form. Apollo, honoured as the defender of the arts, presents him with the gift of a lyre with which he learns how to beguile humans, animals, plants and the very stones themselves. This myth teaches us that even the gods can be overcome by the power of music, and death be conquered.
Musikverein Mythos
Built in record time, the Musikverein was endowed by Theophil Hansen with a concert hall of phenomenal acoustic quality. Given its form, like a wooden shoebox, the Großer Saal itself functions like an outsized musical instrument. The ceiling hangs like a membrane above the auditorium, suspended from the roof on iron framing, and so creates a huge and defining resonating space. This adds to the acoustic complexity and therefore also to the beauty of the auditorium’s sound, as does the space below the auditorium.
Since 2011, the famous organ case, which dominates the Großer Musikvereinssaal, has contained one of the best concert organs in the world. The instrument is already the fourth to occupy the structure since the opening of the building in 1870 and forms part of an eventful history of Musikverein organs.
Queen of the instruments
Among the concert halls of the world, one is renowned as the jewel in the crown: the Großer Musikvereinssaal in Vienna. This is a space in which architecture becomes music and music, architecture: “Were it possible to conceive of Mozart’s great Jupiter symphony in concrete, visible form, this new auditorium in the Musikverein building would provide an appropriate depiction.” This was the reaction of music lovers at the opening of the Großer Musikvereinssaal.
The Große Musikvereinssaal
Although it was known for many years simply as the “Kleiner Musikvereinssaal”, this important auditorium was more appropriately renamed the Brahms Saal in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna in 1937. Johannes Brahms not only performed in person in this hall but he was also responsible for the very first concert to take place here, given by Clara Schumann on 19 January 1870. The standards set on that occasion still apply today. The Brahms Saal is one of the greatest attractions internationally as a performance venue for the world’s leading chamber music ensembles and Lieder singers.
Brahms-Saal
The artists’ entrance is situated on the left-hand side of the Musikverein. Musicians and Musikverein employees come and go from the building on a daily basis through this entrance, where there is also a porter’s lodge.
Exhibitions take place here each spring and autumn, comprising exclusively of items from the archive, library and collections of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Each of these follows a particular theme relating to music or cultural history in the period from the 16th to the 20th centuries. The exhibition space contains glass wall and table display cabinets and space for wall-mounted displays, while movable partitions enable the practical and flexible use of space. Information about current exhibitions can be found here
Archive·Library·Collection
This corridor runs between the Großer Musikvereinssaal and the Gottfried von Einem Saal. The term “Schulgang” commemorates the music conservatory, which the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna ran and saw as among its most important roles for almost 100 years. After the conservatory was transferred to state ownership in 1909, it moved to its new home in 1913 in Lothringerstraße, where it continues today as the University of Music and Performing Arts.
The former chamber hall of the Musikverein building was reopened following comprehensive renovation as the Gottfried von Einem Saal in 1996. The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde thereby honoured a composer with whom the Musikverein has a particularly close association. Gottfried von Einem (1918–1996) premiered numerous of his works at the Musikverein and bequeathed his valuable collection of manuscripts, books and letters to the archive of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.
Gottfried-von-Einem-Saal
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Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna © 2020
Currently the box office is closed, at least untilJanuary 15, 2021.We are available by phone at the following times:Monday to Friday from 10.00h to 12.00noonClosed on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays
Opening hours (September to June) Monday to Friday 9.00 - 14.00 h and 16.00 - 19.00 h
and 1 hour before the performance (Musikverein concerts only)
Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays The box-office will open one hour before concerts of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.
Opening hours (July and August) Monday to Friday 9.00 - 12.00 h (Tel: 9.00 - 13.00 h)
+43 1 505 81 90 (Mo - Fr 9.00 - 14.00 h and 16.00 - 18.00 h)+43 1 505 81 90 94tickets@musikverein.at
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Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in ViennaMusikvereinsplatz 11010 Wien
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