CULTURE
Austria's
hills are alive with the sound of music. Composers throughout
Europe were drawn to the country in the 18th and 19th centuries
by the generous patronage of the Habsburgs. During this period
Vienna became to classical music what Seattle is to grunge. In
fact many of the Habsburgs were themselves gifted musicians and
would, history allowing, have made a funky quartet consisting
of Leopold I (composer), Charles VI (violin), Maria Theresa (double
bass) and Joseph II (harpsichord and cello). Back in the real
world, at various times Beethoven, Brahms, Gluck, Hayden, Mahler,
Mozart, Schubert, Schönberg and the Strausses all had their
heads in the clouds and their bums on piano stools in Vienna.
Today, institutions such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the angelic
Vienna Boys' Choir, the Staatsoper (State Opera), the Musikverein
and the Konzerthaus are unrivalled.
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire,
Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World
War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent
occupation by the victorious Allies, Austria's 1955 State Treaty
declared the country 'permanently neutral' as a condition of Soviet
military withdrawal. Neutrality, once ingrained as part of the
Austrian cultural identity, has been called into question since
the Soviet collapse of 1991 and Austria's increasingly prominent
role in European affairs. A prosperous country, Austria joined
the European Union in 1995 and the euro monetary system in 1999.
