Ensemble culture of the eastern Germany based on the musical endeavor of Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)
It can be said that in the 18th century changes were seen in the history of music. During this period of time, there was a social enlightenment where the public musical culture began to rise within the established aristocratic society, which has been regarded as the accepted cultural means both socially and politically. Consequently, the old and new social culture met their confrontation in the area of musical genre, structure, and culture. This led to a number of different changes, where heightened interest and development in the instrumental music in addition to opera began to evolve. This study focuses on the characteristics of the town band compared to those of the court orchestra. I have also looked at the socio-musical background and the development of the system of performance as well as the musical background of the performers. The first part of this paper explains the musicians’ guild system and the musical training of Quantz. The second part of this paper explains the court music, specifically on the Dresden and Berlin court orchestra where Quantz mostly held his performance. In summary, the leading group in the area of ensemble music in the early 18th century consisted of town musicians and court performers. Until the establishment of general performance, the local or town band was part of an important musical culture for the civic society, where most of the musicians were Kunstpfeifer(‘town piper’). This evolving trend has an important implication since it was the focal point when brass musicians began to play an important role. Both the court opera and the court orchestra have contributed to the development of the court music in this time period, which later took a decisive role in the development and standardization of the modern orchestra. Therefore, the two systems, the town musical performances and the court music both can be considered as the forerunners in the modern culture of the public musical culture and the modern culture of the orchestra.