Enjoying the Culture 149A FRIEND OF JULIE’S was coming to live in Vienna. A key item on
his ‘to do list’ was to learn to play the piano. “Why piano?”
she asked. “It only makes sense to learn to play an instrument
and play beautiful classical music in the city that made it so
famous,” he replied.
Austria is known the world over for its music, opera and
composers such as Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert,
Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner and Schoenberg. The architecture,
fine arts and applied arts are also well known and much
admired. The country’s accomplishments in the arts are
attributed to Austria’s history under Habsburg rule. The
Habsburgs developed into a dynamic and effervescent force
throughout Europe that directly influenced the social, political
and artistic development of their empire.
Consequently, new and different artistic styles were
created: Baroque with its exuberant forms, Biedermeier with
its cozy snugness, Historicism with its cornucopia of artistic
influences from centuries gone by, and Jugendstil with its
sinuous ornamentation.
and Drama History of Literature
Austria’s literary history extends back to the 12th century,
going by a collection of poetry found in an abbey in
Styria. Courtly poetry also surfaced in the 12th and 13th
centuries. Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519) was himself
a poet who supported theatre and dramatic arts. Operas,