Conference 2015

"Beethoven and the Last Generation of Court Musicians in Germany"

Location: Beethoven-Haus Bonn

Date: December 3-6, 2015

Hosts: Beethoven-Haus Bonn, FWF Project “The Operatic Library of Elector Maximilian Franz”

From Dec. 3^rd to Dec. 6^th, 2015, the international conference “Beethoven and the Last Generation of Court Musicians in Germany” took place in Bonn, organized by the project team, Birgit Lodes, Elisabeth Reisinger and John Wilson in cooperation with the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, represented by Christine Siegert and Malte Boecker, and with financial support from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. During four intensive days, international experts discussed processes in musical life during the late 18^th and early 19^th century and their significance for the involved people.

The conference opened with the presentation of the results of the research project “The Operatic Library of Elector Maximilian Franz” and the keynote lecture of Mark Evan Bonds, titled “The Court of Public Opinion: The Crafting of Compositional Identity, 1780-1820”. The following three days were dedicated to four sessions:

Court Opera – Macro and Micro Perspectives

Social Change and the Emerging Music Market

Musical Careers – Networking, Bloodlines, and Personal Inclination

International Cosmopolitanism and Stylistic Continuities during the “Beethoven Generation”

The conference gave an important impetus for further research into the last decades of the 18^th and the first decades of the 19^th century, not only based on the often-discussed assumption that this was a time of great changes, but with a differentiated perspective – what exactly changed, and what of the old order remained? The phrase “Last Generation of Court Musicians” was carefully chosen to be consciously provocative and during the conference it was challenged several times – correctly: continuities can be noted until at least the first half of the 19^th century.

The papers were published under the title:

Beethoven und andere Hofmusiker seiner Generation. Bericht über den internationalen musikwissenschaftlichen Kongress Bonn, 3. bis 6. Dezember 2015, ed. Birgit Lodes, Elisabeth Reisinger, and John D. Wilson (Schriften zur Beethovenforschung, 29; Musik am Bonner kurfürstlichen Hof, 1), Bonn: Beethoven-Haus, 2018

Beethoven und andere Hofmusiker seiner Generation. Bericht über den internationalen musikwissenschaftlichen Kongress Bonn, 3. bis 6. Dezember 2015, ed. Birgit Lodes, Elisabeth Reisinger, and John D. Wilson (Schriften zur Beethovenforschung, 29; Musik am Bonner kurfürstlichen Hof, 1) Bonn 2018