The Golden Age

In spite of Germany's fragmentation into a bewildering array of kingdoms, dukedoms, bishoprics and other statelets, the 18th and early 19th century saw the emergence of some of German culture's most enduring achievement, in philosophy, literature and music.

Philosophy

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz (1646 - 1716) had prepared the way with his belief that a pre-ordained harmony formed the basis of the relationship between Man and God and between the body and the soul, but it was Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) who delved further into the possibilities and limits of human perception. Never venturing beyond his East Prussian home town of Königsberg (now part of the Russian Federation and renamed Kaliningrad), Kant became professor of logic and metaphysics at the city's university. In his Critique of Pure Reason (1781) he contended that, through a synthesis of empiricism and rationalism, the discerning individual could isolate the essence of an object among countless individual phenomena (the so called Thing in Itself - Ding an sich - theory). His Critique of Practical Reason (1788) dealt with the relationship between the individual and society as a whole.

Literature

Kant's view that all human beings should take responsibility for themselves and make the most of their intellect and potential was a decisive influence on the poets and philosophers of the Classical age in German literature, a period associated above all with the city of Weimar. The residence of the dukes of Thringia, Weimar had a reputation as a small but lively center of the arts, but it was towards the end of the 18th century, that it became the focal point of Germany's literary life.

Many important writers of the period lived here, while others such as Jean Paul, Johann Peter Hebel and Heinrich von Kleist stayed for varying periods of time. In 1772 Christoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813) was engaged by the liberal Countess Anna Amalia as a teacher. He was followed by Goethe, Herder and Schiller, all of whom were brought to Weimar by the Countess' son, Karl August. Little known outside Germany, Wieland wrote the first educational novel (Geschichte des Agathon, 1776), the first German-language opera libretto (Alceste, 1773), as well as the first German translation of Shakespeare.

At the beginning of their careers, both Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) and Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805) were associated with the movement known as Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) which, inspired by the teachings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, advocated the breaking of literary conventions in favor of a celebration of emotion and a return to Nature. But the talents of both men were far too great and too diverse to be contained within any one literary category.

Music

From the mid-18th century, a great period of German classical music began, with many composers encouraged and sustained by enlightened patrons.

One of a dynasty of composers and musicians, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) served as Kapellmeister and organist at Weimar and Cöthen, as well as filling the post of cantor at the Thomasner School in Leipzig. Perhaps his best-loved works are the six Brandenburg Concertos, written at Cöthen but dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg who had commissioned them. In 1747 he played before Frederick the Great and his improvisations on a theme proposed by the king took shape as The Musical Offering. His religious works have an enduring appeal, among them the Cantatas, the St John and St Matthew Passions, the Mass in B Minor and the Christmas Oratorio.

Born in Halle, George Frederick Handel (1685 - 1759) made his debut in the orchestra of the Hamburg opera, then earned himself the epithet "Il divino Sassone" (the divine Saxon) during tours of Italy where he played the organ as well as working on compositions. In 1710 he was appointed director of music at the court of the Elector of Hanover, but took frequent leaves of absence to try his fortune in London, where he presented his opera Rinaldo in 1711.

The musical abilities of Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) were first discovered by the master of the Vienna Boys' Choir. He was brought from his home in the Lower Austrian countryside and it was in the capital that he learnt the art of composing. For 20 years he was employed by Hungarian Prince Esterhazy as choirmaster, working at the Prince's palaces at Eisenstadt and near Lake Ferti (Neusiedlersee in German). His works range from pre-Classical compositions to music suffused with the sprit of Sturm und Drang, and embrace all the musical styles of his time. Some of his music was intended to entertain high society, whose darling he was, while other works bear the marks of intensive soul-searching. Among his greatest compositions are The Creation (1789) and The Seasons (1804). Haydn was also responsible for the music of Germany's national anthem.

Haydn was quick to recognize the child genius from Salzburg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), who performed his first concert at the age of six. Mozart spent his childhood and youth on musical tours throughout Europe, playing before some of the most important personages of the time. He was then employed as choirmaster by Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg, who failed to recognize his talent. Mozart's greatest success was the premiere of his opera Don Giovanni, performed in Prague in 1787. Mozart was the most important operatic composer of the period, committed to the ideas of the Enlightenment. The political dynamite to be found in Il Seraglio, The Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte or The Magic Flute may not be as relevant today, but they psychological and dramatic power remains intact. There is hardly another composer whose work remains so totally alive; one just has to think of the 25 piano concertos, some 40 symphonies, the Requiem and the chamber music.

Like Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) worked as a freelance composer. He was born in Bonn, the Rhineland city which remains intensely proud of its most famous son, and was first employed as a musician in the local Elector's orchestra. But, still a young man, he was drawn to Vienna, where Haydn had agreed to give him lessons, and it was here that he made his home. Beethoven created a musical language of an unmatched power of expression. His revolt against musical norms makes itself clear in his love of dissonance. Best known of his works are the five piano concertos, the opera Fidelio, the piano sonatas, the strong quartets and above all the nine symphonies. The music of the Romantic movement further developed his subjectivity, replacing rigidity of form with emotion and expression.

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