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Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii. The Frenchman David was one of the most famous Neoclassical artists of the late eighteenth century. To immerse himself in the world of Classical antiquity, he painted the Oath of the Horatii in Rome. Thanks to its emphasis on patriotic duty, the work became an instant hit in both Paris and Rome.

Louvre, Paris//© R_eunion des Mus_ees Nationaux/Art Resource, NY

The band for his Fireworks Music, for example, was supposed to be accompanied by 101 cannons. Although he wrote more than forty operas and much other secular music, the worldly Handel is, ironically, probably best known for his religious music. His Messiah has been called “one of those rare works that appeal immediately to everyone, and yet is indisputably a masterpiece of the highest order.”10

Although Bach and Handel composed many instrumental suites and concerti, orchestral music did not come to the fore until the second half of the eighteenth century, when new instruments such as the piano appeared. A new musical period, the classical era (1750–1830), also emerged, represented by two great innovators—Haydn and Mozart. Their renown caused the musical center of Europe to shift from Italy and Germany to the Austrian Empire.

Franz Joseph Haydn (FRAHNTS YO-zef HY-dun) (1732–1809) spent most of his adult life as musical director for the wealthy Hungarian princes, the Esterhazy brothers. Haydn was incredibly prolific, composing 104 symphonies in addition to string quartets, concerti, songs, oratorios, and Masses. His visits to England in 1790 and 1794 introduced him to another world, where musicians wrote for public concerts rather than princely patrons. This “liberty,” as he called it, induced him to write his two great oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons, both of which were dedicated to the common people.

The concerto, symphony, and opera all reached their zenith in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (VULF- gahng ah-muh-DAY-uss MOH-tsart) (1756–1791), a child prodigy who gave his first harpsichord concert at six and wrote his first opera at twelve. He, too, sought a patron, but his discontent with the overly demanding archbishop of Salzburg forced him to move to Vienna, where his failure to find a permanent patron made his life miserable. Nevertheless, he wrote music prolifically and passionately until he died a debt-ridden pauper at thirty-five (see the Film & History feature). Mozart carried the tradition of Italian comic opera to new heights with The Marriage of Figaro, based on a Parisian play of the 1780s in which a valet outwits and outsings his noble employers, and Don Giovanni, a “black comedy” about the havoc Don Giovanni wrought on earth before he descended into hell. The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, and Don Giovanni are three of the world’s greatest operas. Mozart composed with an ease of melody and a blend of grace, precision, and emotion that arguably no one has ever excelled. Haydn remarked to Mozart’s father that “your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by reputation.”

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NOVEL The eighteenth century was also decisive in the development of the novel. The novel was not a completely new literary genre but grew out of the medieval romances and the picaresque stories of the sixteenth century. The English are credited with establishing the modern novel as the chief vehicle for fiction writing. With no established rules, the novel was open to much experimentation. It also proved especially attractive to women readers and women writers.

Mozart as Child Prodigy. This painting, done in Paris in 1763 or 1764, shows the seven-year-old Mozart playing at the harpsichord while his composer father, Leopold, plays the violin and his sister, Nannerl, sings. Crowds greeted the young Mozart enthusiastically throughout the family’s three-year tour of northern Europe.

© Mus_ee Condé Chantilly//Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library

Samuel Richardson (1689–1761) was a printer by trade and did not