Department No. IV · Room 4 · Floor 2
Two centuries of music that refuses to become ordinary. Eight masters are kept on display below; all twelve — from Bach to Tchaikovsky — are shelved in Lives, and three graded programmes await in the Listening room.
For the newcomer · c. 40 minutes.
Mozart by daylight, Chopin by lamplight, Mendelssohn without a wedding.
Composer I
Mozart wrote as others breathe: symphonies, operas, concertos, chamber music, sacred music — all of it finished to a standard most composers reach once. He died at thirty-five, leaving the Requiem unfinished on his desk.
Begin with. Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K.550 (1788) — urgency without heaviness · Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K.525 (1787) — daylight made audible · The Magic Flute, K.620 (1791) — a fairy tale that turns serious.
Composer II
Beethoven took the forms Mozart perfected and forced them to carry struggle, triumph, and silence. His late works — composed in near-total deafness — remain the strongest argument that hearing is not the same as listening.
Begin with. Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1808) — four notes that conquered the world · Piano Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight”, Op. 27 No. 2 (1801) — the quiet before the storm · Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 (1824) — the “Ode to Joy” finale.
Composer III
Chopin wrote almost nothing but piano music, and made the piano say everything: Polish dance rhythms, operatic song, storms, and whispers that require the room to fall silent. Frail, exacting, and — at the keyboard — fearless.
Begin with. Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 (1832) — the famous one, deservedly · Étude in C minor “Revolutionary”, Op. 10 No. 12 (1831) — fury disciplined · Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 (1835) — a novel in nine minutes.
Composer IV
Mendelssohn was the responsible genius: he conducted, founded the Leipzig Conservatory, and at twenty revived Bach’s St Matthew Passion after a century’s neglect. His own music is luminous, fleet, and impeccably made.
Begin with. Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 21 (1826, aged seventeen) — including the Wedding March · Symphony No. 4 “Italian”, Op. 90 (1833) — sunshine with salt air · Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (1844) — the concerto that abolished the wait for the soloist.
Composer V
Twenty-nine years with the Esterházys, upwards of one hundred symphonies, and the string quartet standardised between duties. The full life is shelved in Lives.
Begin with. Symphony No. 94 “Surprise”, Hob. I:94 (1791) — the joke explained in the slow movement.
Composer VI
Melody at dictation speed, from the “Trout” to the “Unfinished”. The full life is shelved in Lives.
Begin with. Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished”, D. 759 (1822) — two movements where others manage four.
Composer VII
Twenty years over the First Symphony; granite finish throughout. The full life is shelved in Lives.
Begin with. Wiegenlied, Op. 49 No. 4 (1868) — the lullaby everybody knows, correctly attributed.
Composer VIII
Ballets, cannons, and a finale that fades instead of bowing. The full life is shelved in Lives.
Begin with. 1812 Overture, Op. 49 (1880) — bells, hymns, and artillery, in due proportion.
Press play. The Usher selects a piece at random from eleven masters. Pause when you must; skip when you must not. Choosing is not permitted — there is no list, and the list, if it existed, would be withheld.
Nothing playing. The second row is silent.
Clara Schumann declines, as she is conducting.
Twelve lives from Bach to Tchaikovsky, with dates, character, and three works apiece for the beginner.
Four graded programmes — a first visit, a rainy afternoon, a grand evening, and a Sunday morning — with etiquette.
First Visit · Rainy Afternoon · Grand Evening · Sunday Morning