University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna
Encyclopedia
The University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna is an Austria
n university
located in Vienna
, established in 1819.
Today, with a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of the largest in the world.
In 1819, it was established by the Society for the Friends of Music
. It was nationalized in 1909 as the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts. In 1998, the university assumed its current name to reflect its university status, attained in a wide 1970 reform for Austrian Arts Academies.
MDW facilities include the Schönbrunn Palace Theater, Antonio Vivaldi Room, Salesian Convent, St. Ursula Church, Lothringerstrasse (Franz Liszt Room) and the Anton Von Webern Platz (University main campus). Modern film studios were completed on the university campus in 2004, offering the Vienna Film Academy state-of-the-art equipment.
The University organizes around 10 competitions, including the International Beethoven Piano Competition. It also presents an acclaimed students’ film festival every two years.
The MDW may be considered a "feeder" institution to all major orchestras in Austria, with a particular association with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
.
was formed, with the foremost aim of establishing a conservatory. The Vienna Conservatory was founded in 1817. It was meant to be modeled on the Paris Conservatory, but, due to a lack of funds, it began solely as a singing
school. Antonio Salieri
was the Conservatory's first director. In 1819, it hired violin
ist Joseph Böhm
, and by 1827 offered courses in most orchestral instruments.
The conservatory's finances were very unstable. Tuition fees were introduced in 1829, but by 1837 the institution was bankrupt. The state eventually funded the conservatory from 1841 to 1844 and from 1846 to 1848. In 1848 political unrest
caused the state to discontinue funding, and the Conservatory did not offer courses again until 1851. With support from the state and the city, finances again stabilized after 1851. Despite growing state subsidy, The Society for the Friends of Music, which founded the Conservatory, remained in control of the institution. However, by a January 1, 1909 imperial resolution the school was nationalized and became the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts (k.k. Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst). (Until then its name was the Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.)
Until 1844, when Gottfried Preyer, professor of harmony
and composition
became director, the director of the conservatory was not a member of faculty, but a member of the Society for the Friends of Music. Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr.
was director from 1851 to 1893.
From 1907 Wilhelm Bopp had been the director of Conservatory. The Conservatory was still dominated by the aging Robert Fuchs
and Hermann Grädener
, both of whom, but especially Fuchs, Bopp considered to be anachronistic and out of touch. In 1912, attempting to rejuvenate the conservatory Bopp offered teaching positions to Franz Schreker
and Arnold Schoenberg
. Schoenberg declined the offer, but Schreker accepted it. His teaching duties were carried through with great success and by January 1913 he was awarded a full professorship.
Bopp was also instrumental in the 1909 nationalization of the Conservatory. The administration of the Academy was now assigned to a state-appointed president, an artistic director and a board of trustees.
After the end of World War I
, the State Academy was again reorganized. President Karl Ritter von Wiener resigned and conductor
Ferdinand Löwe
was elected director by the teachers. In 1922, Joseph Marx
took over. He wanted the Academy to be granted University
status.
After the Anschluss
, many teachers and students were dismissed on racial grounds. In 1941, the Academy became a Reich University (Reichshochschule). After World War II
, the institution became a State Academy again. In the process of Denazification
, fifty-nine teachers were dismissed; by November 1945, sixteen were reinstated. Only five of the teachers dismissed in 1938 were reinstated.
By laws introduced in 1948 and 1949 the institution was granted the status of "Art Academy." In 1970, the "Law on the Organization of Art Colleges" effectively gave all Art Academies University status, and in 1998 the title of "Art Academy" was changed to "Art University."
Famous graduates include Mariss Jansons
, Herbert von Karajan
, Donald Covert, Zubin Mehta
, Erwin Ortner, Barbara Moser and Heinrich Schiff
.
, Mariss Jansons
, Herbert von Karajan
, Donald Covert, Jean Sibelius
, George Enescu
, Carl Flesch
, Fritz Kreisler
, Leon Koudelak
, Gustav Mahler
, Zubin Mehta
, Erwin Ortner, Rudolf Buchbinder
, Barbara Moser, Christian Altenburger, Heinrich Schiff
, Carole Dawn Reinhart, Peter Planyavsky, Wolfgang Sauseng, Friedrich Cerha
, Helmut Deutsch, Mimi Coertse
, Angelika Kirchschlager
, Kurt Rydl
, Achim Benning
, Sophie Rois, Barbara Albert
, Ulrich Seidl
, Franz Bauer-Theussl, Ivan Eröd
, Kurt Schwertsik
, Wolfgang Holzmair
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
located in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, established in 1819.
Today, with a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of the largest in the world.
In 1819, it was established by the Society for the Friends of Music
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien , was founded in 1812 by Joseph von Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theatre, Vienna, Austria. Its official charter, drafted in 1814, states that the purpose of the Society was to promote music in all its facets...
. It was nationalized in 1909 as the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts. In 1998, the university assumed its current name to reflect its university status, attained in a wide 1970 reform for Austrian Arts Academies.
The university
With a student body of more than 3000, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW) is one of the largest arts universities in the world. The University consists of 24 institutes including the Max Reinhardt Seminar, Vienna Film Academy and the Wiener Klangstil institutes.MDW facilities include the Schönbrunn Palace Theater, Antonio Vivaldi Room, Salesian Convent, St. Ursula Church, Lothringerstrasse (Franz Liszt Room) and the Anton Von Webern Platz (University main campus). Modern film studios were completed on the university campus in 2004, offering the Vienna Film Academy state-of-the-art equipment.
The University organizes around 10 competitions, including the International Beethoven Piano Competition. It also presents an acclaimed students’ film festival every two years.
The MDW may be considered a "feeder" institution to all major orchestras in Austria, with a particular association with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....
.
History
Calls for a music conservatory in Vienna started in 1808. In 1811 an "outline for a music education institution" for Vienna was published. A year later the Society for the Friends of MusicGesellschaft der Musikfreunde
The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien , was founded in 1812 by Joseph von Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theatre, Vienna, Austria. Its official charter, drafted in 1814, states that the purpose of the Society was to promote music in all its facets...
was formed, with the foremost aim of establishing a conservatory. The Vienna Conservatory was founded in 1817. It was meant to be modeled on the Paris Conservatory, but, due to a lack of funds, it began solely as a singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
school. Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
was the Conservatory's first director. In 1819, it hired violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Joseph Böhm
Joseph Böhm
Joseph Böhm was a violinist and teacher.He was born in Pest. He was taught by his father and by Pierre Rode. His brother Franz Böhm was too the well-known violinist and the soloist in the Russian empire in an imperial orchestra....
, and by 1827 offered courses in most orchestral instruments.
The conservatory's finances were very unstable. Tuition fees were introduced in 1829, but by 1837 the institution was bankrupt. The state eventually funded the conservatory from 1841 to 1844 and from 1846 to 1848. In 1848 political unrest
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
caused the state to discontinue funding, and the Conservatory did not offer courses again until 1851. With support from the state and the city, finances again stabilized after 1851. Despite growing state subsidy, The Society for the Friends of Music, which founded the Conservatory, remained in control of the institution. However, by a January 1, 1909 imperial resolution the school was nationalized and became the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts (k.k. Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst). (Until then its name was the Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.)
Until 1844, when Gottfried Preyer, professor of harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
and composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
became director, the director of the conservatory was not a member of faculty, but a member of the Society for the Friends of Music. Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr.
Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr.
Josef Hellmesberger, Sr. was an Austrian violinist, conductor, and composer.Born in Vienna, he was the son of musician and pedagogue, Georg Hellmesberger, Sr. , was taught violin by his father at the Vienna Conservatoire. Hellmesberger hails from a family of notable musicians including: brother,...
was director from 1851 to 1893.
From 1907 Wilhelm Bopp had been the director of Conservatory. The Conservatory was still dominated by the aging Robert Fuchs
Robert Fuchs
Robert Fuchs was an Austrian composer and music teacher.As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in his lifetime....
and Hermann Grädener
Hermann Graedener (composer)
Hermann Graedener or Grädener was a German composer, conductor and teacher.-Biography:He was born in Kiel, Germany. He was educated by his father, composer Karl Graedener. He then studied at the Vienna Conservatory. From 1862 he was organist at the Lutheran City Church in Vienna, and from 1864...
, both of whom, but especially Fuchs, Bopp considered to be anachronistic and out of touch. In 1912, attempting to rejuvenate the conservatory Bopp offered teaching positions to Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, his style is characterized by aesthetic plurality , timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and...
and Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
. Schoenberg declined the offer, but Schreker accepted it. His teaching duties were carried through with great success and by January 1913 he was awarded a full professorship.
Bopp was also instrumental in the 1909 nationalization of the Conservatory. The administration of the Academy was now assigned to a state-appointed president, an artistic director and a board of trustees.
After the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the State Academy was again reorganized. President Karl Ritter von Wiener resigned and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Ferdinand Löwe
Ferdinand Löwe
Ferdinand Löwe was an Austrian conductor.- Biography :Löwe was born in Vienna, Austria where along with Munich, Germany his career was primarily centered. From 1896 Löwe conducted the Kaim Orchestra, today's Munich Philharmonic, where he returned from 1908 to 1914...
was elected director by the teachers. In 1922, Joseph Marx
Joseph Marx
Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic.-Life and career:Marx pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earning several degrees including a doctorate in 1909. He began composing seriously in 1908 and over the next four...
took over. He wanted the Academy to be granted University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
status.
After the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
, many teachers and students were dismissed on racial grounds. In 1941, the Academy became a Reich University (Reichshochschule). After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the institution became a State Academy again. In the process of Denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
, fifty-nine teachers were dismissed; by November 1945, sixteen were reinstated. Only five of the teachers dismissed in 1938 were reinstated.
By laws introduced in 1948 and 1949 the institution was granted the status of "Art Academy." In 1970, the "Law on the Organization of Art Colleges" effectively gave all Art Academies University status, and in 1998 the title of "Art Academy" was changed to "Art University."
Famous graduates include Mariss Jansons
Mariss Jansons
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons is a Latvian conductor, the son of conductor Arvīds Jansons. His mother, the singer Iraida Jansons, who was Jewish, gave birth to him in hiding in Riga, Latvia, after her father and brother were killed in the Riga Ghetto...
, Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
, Donald Covert, Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
, Erwin Ortner, Barbara Moser and Heinrich Schiff
Heinrich Schiff
Heinrich Schiff is an Austrian cellist and conductor. He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971...
.
Notable past teachers
- Anton BrucknerAnton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
- Robert FuchsRobert FuchsRobert Fuchs was an Austrian composer and music teacher.As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in his lifetime....
- Arnold SchoenbergArnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
: not a faculty member but taught a private theory course in 1911 - Franz SchrekerFranz SchrekerFranz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, his style is characterized by aesthetic plurality , timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and...
- Josef KripsJosef KripsJosef Alois Krips was an Austrian conductor and violinist.-Biography:Krips was born in Vienna and went on to become a pupil of Eusebius Mandyczewski and Felix Weingartner. From 1921 to 1924, he served as Weingartner's assistant at the Vienna Volksoper and as répétiteur and chorus master...
- Paul WeingartenPaul WeingartenPaul Weingarten. Ph.D. was a Moravia-born pianist and music teacher.He studied Music History at the University of Vienna, where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1910.He studied music at the Vienna Conservatory...
Notable former students
Claudio AbbadoClaudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
, Mariss Jansons
Mariss Jansons
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons is a Latvian conductor, the son of conductor Arvīds Jansons. His mother, the singer Iraida Jansons, who was Jewish, gave birth to him in hiding in Riga, Latvia, after her father and brother were killed in the Riga Ghetto...
, Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
, Donald Covert, Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
, George Enescu
George Enescu
George Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Enescu was born in the village of Liveni , Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical...
, Carl Flesch
Carl Flesch
Carl Flesch was a violinist and teacher.Carl Flesch was born in Moson in Hungary in 1873. He began playing the violin at seven years of age. At 10, he was taken to Vienna, and began to study with Jakob Grün. At 17, he left for Paris, and joined the Paris Conservatoire...
, Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
, Leon Koudelak
Leon Koudelak
Leon Koudelak classical guitarist.Leon Koudelak has toured internationally in most parts of Europe, Asia and the Americas. He inspired famous composers such as Tom Pegram, Apostolos Paraskevas or Michael Buchrainer to write guitar music...
, Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
, Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
, Erwin Ortner, Rudolf Buchbinder
Rudolf Buchbinder
Rudolf Buchbinder is an Austrian classical pianist.-Biography:Buchbinder studied with Bruno Seidlhofer at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1965 he made a tour of North and South America. In 1966 he won a special prize awarded at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition...
, Barbara Moser, Christian Altenburger, Heinrich Schiff
Heinrich Schiff
Heinrich Schiff is an Austrian cellist and conductor. He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971...
, Carole Dawn Reinhart, Peter Planyavsky, Wolfgang Sauseng, Friedrich Cerha
Friedrich Cerha
Friedrich Cerha is an Austrian composer and conductor.-Biography:Cerha was born in Vienna.He received his education at the Viennese Music Academy and at the University of Vienna...
, Helmut Deutsch, Mimi Coertse
Mimi Coertse
Mimi Coertse , is a South African soprano.-Early life:Coertse, born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, matriculated at the Helpmekaar Girls High School in Johannesburg. She began vocal studies in South Africa in 1949. In July 1953 she married the broadcaster and composer Dawid Engela. She left South Africa...
, Angelika Kirchschlager
Angelika Kirchschlager
Angelika Kirchschlager is an Austrian mezzo-soprano opera and lieder singer.-Career:Kirchschlager began her musical training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she studied percussion and piano. In 1984, she went to the Vienna Music Academy, where she studied with Gerhard Kahry and Walter Berry...
, Kurt Rydl
Kurt Rydl
-Biography:Kurt Rydl, who is nicknamed "The Bass" and "The Mega Bass", studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and in Moscow Conservatory. He has won many prizes at several competitions. Kurt Rydl is a guest on all major festivals in Bayreuth, Schwetzingen, Salzburg, Bregenz, Florence, Verona,...
, Achim Benning
Achim Benning
Achim Benning is a German actor and director.Benning finished his actor training in 1959 and was thereafter engaged at various German theatres. Starting in 1971, he began to work as a director, enabling him to become a director at the Viennese Burgtheater.-References:...
, Sophie Rois, Barbara Albert
Barbara Albert
Barbara Albert is an Austrian writer, film-producer and film-director.She studied filmmaking at the Wiener Filmakademie. Her first film to become known to a larger audience was Nordrand, which describes the reality of life of Yugoslavian children in Vienna.She heads the production company Coop 99...
, Ulrich Seidl
Ulrich Seidl
Ulrich Seidl is an Austrian film director, writer and producer.-Selected filmography:* 1990 Good News* 1992 Loss Is to Be Expected * 1995 Animal Love ...
, Franz Bauer-Theussl, Ivan Eröd
Iván Eröd
Iván Erőd, also Iván Eröd , is an Hungarian-Austrian composer and pianist.- Career :Erőd studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with Pál Kadosa and Ferenc Szabó . He emigrated to Austria in 1956 and studied there at the Vienna Music Academy, with Richard Hauser and Karl Schiske...
, Kurt Schwertsik
Kurt Schwertsik
Kurt Schwertsik is an Austrian contemporary composer. He is famous for creating the “Third Viennese School” and spreading contemporary classical music....
, Wolfgang Holzmair
Wolfgang Holzmair
Wolfgang Holzmair is an Austrian baritone.Holzmair studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He won 2nd prize in the baritone class of the 's-Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition in 1981, and a year later 1st prize in the Musikverein International Lieder Competition,...
.