“MUSICIANS’ PARADISE” IN MANNHEIM DURING THE REIGN OF KARL THEODORE

Abstract

Statement of the problem. In the history of music culture of the mid-18thcentury, the emergence of Mannheim, as one of the centers of orchestral and ensemble art among the unanimously acknowledged Western European cultural capitals (Berlin, Vienna, Paris), was quite unexpected and sensational. A town that in 1719 housed a population of about 5000 rose to the top of the European musical Olympus in the 1750–60s and gained their resistible in formal status among artists as the “musicians’ paradise”. Such rapid rise to the European recognition can be explained by a whole mix of musical, educational and socio-economic factors of the cultural policy of the Palatinate Electorate, which resulted from the reforms of one of the “most educated princes of Germany” Karl Theodor. His work continues to be underestimated and underresearched in national musicology and requires a more detailed study. Analysis of recent research and publications. Among the latest works in Ukrainian and Russian, whose authors touch upon this issue, it is necessary to point out the dissertations and publications of V. Horbal, V. Darda and А. Dvornitskaya. Focusing on the issues of orchestral performance, the viola concerto genres in the works of Mannheim composers and the musical culture of Mannheim of a particular period, each of the researchers only sketchily mentions the personality of Karl Theodore. The purpose of the article is to reveal the role of Karl Theodor in the development of the music art of Mannheim and identify the main economic factors that influenced the formation of cultural policy in the Palatinate. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the identification of economic factors in Karl Theodor’s cultural policy and a comparative analysis of the financing of court musicians of the Palatinate and Prussia. The methodology of the research is based on the general scientific principles of historical reality cognition, where the central method is that of historicism and comparative analysis. The integrity and comprehensiveness of the study were implemented using a systematic method. The results of the research. The research explicates the role of KarlTheodor in the structure formation of the musical-theatrical complex and the court chapel of the Palatinate. It also reveals the main stages of the symphony orchestra formation under the direction of J. Stamitz and C. Cannabich and their contribution to creating a music-educational system to train the orchestra musicians. A comparative analysis of the level of funding for the court chapels of Prussia and the Palatinate has been carried out. The main financial and economic factors of Karl Theodor’s cultural policy and their influence on the process of forming the staff of the Mannheim court chapel have been determined. Conclusions. The importance of Karl Theodor’s contribution into the development of music art of the Electorate of the Palatinate is to create an effective system of mixed public and private funding of the court chapel and a high level of material support for musicians. Guaranteeing high socio-economic standards and comfortable conditions for creative growth of talented artists, Karl Theodor managed to unite them into a single community to create a new “truly European, universally recognized performing and compositional styles” (Würtz, 1992: 37).