Austria. A Musical Nation. The tradition in the 1900's. Music festivals

Austria's strong musical tradition dates back more than 200 years. Many great composers, such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Franz Schubert were born in Austria and during the 1700 and 1800's, Vienna in particular became an important center for the German-speaking music world. Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Johann Strauss all lived in Vienna.

Plaques and memorials throughout the country testify to Austria's glorious musical past. In Vienna, where Haydn spent the last years of his life, visitors can see the Haydn Museum. Haydn developed the symphony and helped make it one of the most important forms of musical composition. Haydn and Mozart, who is also honored in Vienna, were the leading composers of the classical period of music, from the mid-1700 to the early 1800's. The rooms in Vienna where Mozart composed one of his operas, The Marriage of Figaro (1786), are open to the public, and Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg also attracts music enthusiasts from all over the world.

Salzburg's Getreidegasse, the street where Mozart was born, attracts many visitors.

Of course, Austria's composers are best remembered through their enchanting music, and the pleasure of relaxing at a Viennese sidewalk cafe is often enhanced by the accompanying strains of a Strauss waltz. The beautiful songs of Schubert, Gustav Mahler, and other great Austrian composers are regularly broadcast over Austrian radio.

Dancers at the Concordia Ball, above, twirl to the strains of a romantic Strauss waltz. The ball is a major event in Viennese high society

The tradition in the 1900's.Austria's Arnold Schoenberg became one of the most revolutionary composers of the early 1900's. He developed a new system of composition called the twelve-tone technique and influenced many other composers, including fellow-Austrians Alban Berg and Anton Webern.

Today, the country continues to make important musical contributions. The Vienna Boys' Choir, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera, and Vienna Symphony Orchestra have won international fame, and Austria has many fine music schools, such as the Academy of Music in Vienna, which draws students from all over the world. The Vienna State Opera House presents operas to packed houses almost every evening for 1 months of the year, and enthusiastic crowds throng Austria's many music festivals, which are held nearly all year-round.

The Vienna State Opera House, right, is internationally renowned for its impressive staging of operas and ballets.

Music festivals. Every year in May and June, Vienna hosts the Vienna Festival, a celebration of music, art, and theater. However, the emphasis is on music, and the city's concert halls are filled with the sounds of Austria's favorite composers. Opera is also highlighted at the festival in superb performances at the State Opera House and the Volksoper.

Festivals in Salzburg take place throughout the year. At the annual summer Salzburg Festival, a great musical and theatrical event, performances featuring works by Mozart are presented in the converted stables and riding school of the Archbishops of Salzburg. Another festival house was carved into the face of a mountain behind the stables. Other festivals include Mozart Week, which is held in January, and the Easter Music Festival, held during Easter week.

Street musicians add a colorful note in many Austrian cities. Traveling gypsy musicians and struggling young musician students entertain pass-ers-by with everything from folk songs to classic call music.

Music festivals also take place in other cities and towns throughout Austria. At the summer festival in Bregenz, concerts are performed on a floating stage on Lake Constance; a festival in Linz honors the works of Anton Bruckner, an Austrian composer of the middle and late 1800's who once lived in that city; and Innsbruck stages the Tyrolean Summer Festival. Classical music offerings are presented in Innsbruck's concert halls, while brass bands, folk music, and dances can often be enjoyed outdoors.