Music of Austria
Encyclopedia
Vienna
has been an important center of musical innovation. 18th and 19th century composers were drawn to the city due to the patronage of the Habsburg
s, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, Ludwig van Beethoven
and Johann Strauss II
, among others, were associated with the city. During the Baroque
period, Slavic
and Hungarian folk
forms influenced Austrian music. Vienna's status began its rise as a cultural center in the early 16th century, and was focused around instruments including the lute
.
. In Austria, it was called juchzn.
schrammelmusik
, which is played with an accordion
and a double-necked guitar
. Modern performers include Roland Neuwirth, Karl Hodina and Edi Reiser.
Schrammelmusik arose as a mixture of rural Austrian, Hungarian
, Slovenia
n, Moravia
n and Bavaria
n immigrants crowded the slums of Vienna. At the time, waltz
es and ländler
s mixed with the music of the immigrants absorbing sounds from all over central and eastern Europe and the Balkans. The name Schrammelmusik comes from two of the most popular and influential performers in Schrammelmusik's history, brothers Johann and Josef Schrammel. The Schrammels formed a trio called along with bass guitarist Anton Strohmayer and helped bring the music to the middle- and upper-class Viennese, as well as people from surrounding areas. With the addition of a clarinet
ist, George Dänzer, they formed the Schrammel-Quartett, and Schrammelmusik's form settled on a quartet.
Neuwirth is a younger performer who has incorporated foreign influences, most especially the blues
, to some criticism from purists.
from the Alpine
regions of Germany
, Switzerland
and Austria
. Alpunk fuses the chaotic, energetic rhythms of punk music to the accordion
-based folk music
for which the region is famous.
was the most popular Austrian solo artist throughout the 1980s. His songs "Rock Me Amadeus
" and "Der Kommissar
" were big international hits with "Rock Me Amadeus" reaching the Billboard Hot 100
in 1986. His sudden death in 1998 in the Dominican Republic
catapulted his music from the 1980s once again into the spotlight.
Although Austria is not exactly the biggest exporter of international rock
and pop
-bands, there are a few notable musicians and bands.
Opus
also made it in the charts worldwide as well,. In the last few years, several music groups toured Europe and had commercial success in the international charts. The most prominent being Christina Stürmer
, who is successful in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. SheSays
, who supported Bryan Adams
on his European tour and some other bands like AOR, and Cornerstone
, are notable for their recent contributions.
Blackened death metal
trio Belphegor
currently leads the Austrian metal scene, which also includes Hollenthon
, Pungent Stench
, Abigor
, Disharmonic Orchestra
, Visions of Atlantis
, Dornenreich
, Summoning
and Estatic Fear
.
Drummer Thomas Lang
was born in Vienna in 1967 and is now world renowned for his technical abilities, having played with artists such as Robert Fripp
, Geri Halliwell
and Robbie Williams
.
held in Vienna
every year in the Musikverein is one of Europe's most important classical concerts during the year.
Stahlhammer
, Christina Stürmer
, and L'Âme Immortelle
are three of the most popular Austrian acts.
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...
has been an important center of musical innovation. 18th and 19th century composers were drawn to the city due to the patronage of the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
s, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
and Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, among others, were associated with the city. During the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
period, Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
and Hungarian folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
forms influenced Austrian music. Vienna's status began its rise as a cultural center in the early 16th century, and was focused around instruments including the lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
.
Yodel
Yodeling, a form of singing that involves rapid and repeated changes of register, was developed in the AlpsAlps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
. In Austria, it was called juchzn.
Schrammelmusik
The most popular form of modern Austrian folk music is VienneseVienna
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...
schrammelmusik
Schrammelmusik
Schrammelmusik is a style of Viennese folk music originating in the late nineteenth century and still performed in present-day Austria. The style is named for the prolific folk composers Johann and Josef Schrammel.- The Schrammel brothers :...
, which is played with an accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
and a double-necked guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. Modern performers include Roland Neuwirth, Karl Hodina and Edi Reiser.
Schrammelmusik arose as a mixture of rural Austrian, Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
n and Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n immigrants crowded the slums of Vienna. At the time, waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es and ländler
Ländler
The ländler is a folk dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th century.It is a dance for couples which strongly features hopping and stamping...
s mixed with the music of the immigrants absorbing sounds from all over central and eastern Europe and the Balkans. The name Schrammelmusik comes from two of the most popular and influential performers in Schrammelmusik's history, brothers Johann and Josef Schrammel. The Schrammels formed a trio called along with bass guitarist Anton Strohmayer and helped bring the music to the middle- and upper-class Viennese, as well as people from surrounding areas. With the addition of a clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist, George Dänzer, they formed the Schrammel-Quartett, and Schrammelmusik's form settled on a quartet.
Neuwirth is a younger performer who has incorporated foreign influences, most especially the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, to some criticism from purists.
Alpine punk
Alpunk (Alpine punk) is a genre of punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
from the Alpine
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
regions of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Austria
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...
. Alpunk fuses the chaotic, energetic rhythms of punk music to the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
-based folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
for which the region is famous.
Rock and pop music
FalcoFalco (musician)
Johann Hölzel , better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian pop and rock musician and rapper. He had several international hits: "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home " and posthumously, "Out Of The Dark"...
was the most popular Austrian solo artist throughout the 1980s. His songs "Rock Me Amadeus
Rock Me Amadeus
"Rock Me Amadeus" is a 1985 song by Austrian pop musician Falco from his album Falco 3. It topped the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was Falco's only number one hit in either the United States or the United Kingdom, despite his popularity in Germany, his native Austria, and much...
" and "Der Kommissar
Der Kommissar (song)
"'" is a song first recorded by Falco in Austria in 1981, covered a year later by After the Fire and reworked in 1983 by Laura Branigan. Originally written by Robert Ponger and Falco, the Falco version reached the top of the charts in many countries....
" were big international hits with "Rock Me Amadeus" reaching the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1986. His sudden death in 1998 in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
catapulted his music from the 1980s once again into the spotlight.
Although Austria is not exactly the biggest exporter of international rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-bands, there are a few notable musicians and bands.
Opus
Opus (band)
Opus is a pop-rock group from Graz, Austria. Formed in 1973, the group remains active today. The band is especially well known for its 1985 single release, "Live Is Life."-History:...
also made it in the charts worldwide as well,. In the last few years, several music groups toured Europe and had commercial success in the international charts. The most prominent being Christina Stürmer
Christina Stürmer
Christina Stürmer is an Austrian pop/rock singer. After working at a bookshop in Linz and singing in several bands, she reached #2 in Starmania, an Austrian music casting TV show...
, who is successful in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. SheSays
SheSays
SheSays is an Austrian rock band, established in 2004.Its founding members were Gudrun Liemberger, Andy Liu, Valentin Rosegger and Cathi Priemer.- Members :...
, who supported Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
on his European tour and some other bands like AOR, and Cornerstone
Cornerstone (Austrian band)
Cornerstone is an Austrian rock band formed in 1998 in Moedling, Lower Austria. The band has gone through several phases, but its strongest success came 2008, when they signed a record deal with US-label ATOM Records and released their debut "Head Over Heels” in the same year. ATOM is working with...
, are notable for their recent contributions.
Blackened death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
trio Belphegor
Belphegor (band)
Belphegor is a blackened death metal band from Salzburg, Austria. They originally formed in 1991 under the name Betrayer before changing their name in 1993. They are named after the demon Belphegor.-Early years :...
currently leads the Austrian metal scene, which also includes Hollenthon
Hollenthon
Hollenthon is a melodic death metal band from Austria. The band includes many symphonic elements in their work, while their earlier material contains some black metal influence.-History:...
, Pungent Stench
Pungent Stench
Pungent Stench was a darkly humorous death metal band from Vienna, Austria, which formed in 1988. Their last known lineup consists of Martin Schirenc , El Gore , and Alex Wank...
, Abigor
Abigor
Abigor is an Austrian black metal band formed in 1993.-History:The band was formed in 1993 by P.K. and T.T. After the release of several demos, original vocalist Tharen left the band and was replaced by Silenius, who recorded vocals for all Abigor releases until the recording of Channeling the...
, Disharmonic Orchestra
Disharmonic Orchestra
Disharmonic Orchestra is an Austrian death metal/grindcore band that was formed in Klagenfurt, in 1987. Two demos were recorded. A gig in Germany with Pungent Stench led to a deal with Nuclear Blast in 1989. The first outcome of that deal was a split with country-mates Pungent Stench...
, Visions of Atlantis
Visions of Atlantis
Visions of Atlantis is a symphonic power metal band from Styria, Austria, founded in 2000. The original line-up consisted of Werner Fiedler , Mike Koren , Christian Stani , Chris Kamper , Nicole Bogner and Thomas Caser...
, Dornenreich
Dornenreich
Dornenreich is an ambient music band from Austria, founded in 1996. They initially played melodic black metal and changed to neofolk-influenced ambient with Her von welken Nächten...
, Summoning
Summoning (band)
Summoning is an Austrian black metal band. They are known in part due to their extensive use of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology as lyrical subject.-Biography:...
and Estatic Fear
Estatic Fear
Estatic Fear is an Austrian symphonic metal band. Their songs include elements of several different genres, such as Classical, doom metal, Gothic metal, black metal, and folk music.- History :The band was founded in the year of 1994 with the intent of combining both classical melodies, Dark metal...
.
Drummer Thomas Lang
Thomas Lang
Thomas Lang is an Austrian drummer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. He is the founding member of the Los Angeles-based progressive/avant garde metal trio, stOrk.Lang took up drumming at the age of 5...
was born in Vienna in 1967 and is now world renowned for his technical abilities, having played with artists such as Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
, Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
and Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
.
Current music
The Vienna Philharmonic is a world-renowned classical music ensemble and tours throughout the year all over the world. Their New Year's Day concertVienna New Year's Concert
The New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic is a concert of classical music that takes place each year in the morning of January 1 in Vienna, Austria...
held 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...
every year in the Musikverein is one of Europe's most important classical concerts during the year.
Stahlhammer
Stahlhammer
Stahlhammer is a Neue Deutsche Härte band from Austria that formed in 1992. They incorporate elements from hardcore, groove metal, industrial metal and symphonic metal into their songs. The band has to this date produced six albums, where the majority of songs are in German...
, Christina Stürmer
Christina Stürmer
Christina Stürmer is an Austrian pop/rock singer. After working at a bookshop in Linz and singing in several bands, she reached #2 in Starmania, an Austrian music casting TV show...
, and L'Âme Immortelle
L'Âme Immortelle
L' Âme Immortelle is an Austrian band. Many of L'Âme Immortelle's songs feature melancholy or lovelorn lyrics in German or English, and juxtaposed harsh male and emotional female vocals...
are three of the most popular Austrian acts.
External links
Audio clip: traditional Austrian music. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.- Schrammel-Quartett (from www.aeiou.at)
- Austria information - Includes Austrian music, culture and food
- Dancing with the Stars Austria