Slovak music culture and music professions during Classicism era

The Classicist period in Slovakia developed between 1760 and 1830. At that time Slovakia was a part of the territory of the Hungary. Musical culture during the reign of Maria Theresa, Joseph II and Francis I evolved in three stages under the infl uence of the European musical tradition and contacts with foreign composers from Austria, Germany and Czechia. People could listen to all sorts of music in opera houses, concert halls, noblemen’s courts, petty bourgeois salons and in the countryside. Musical professions in Slovakia were comparable with those in Central Europe. Musicians’ jobs included those of performers, composers, teachers, writers, theoreticians and organizers of cultural life. Usually, one person held two or more of these positions. Composers wrote works which were performed at various occasions. Music teachers taught at state-run music schools, pedagogical colleges and parochial schools. Manufacturers of musical instruments created a number of new instruments, especially wind instruments, violins and organs, many of which were regarded as being highly signifi cant throughout Europe.