From historic changes in form to the choice of what texts to set to music, the art of music has long been a vital force in the expression of the human desire for liberty. https://oll.libertyfund.org/collections/music en One of the most gifted classical composers who died tragically young. Mozart was very much influenced by the Enlightenment and was active in Freemason circles in Vienna where enlightened ideas were discussed. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart Terry edited and commented in great detail on Bach’s Chorals in an edition published in 1915. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/charles-sanford-terry https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/charles-sanford-terry A prolific Venetian librettist who wrote the libretto for Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro (based upon a play by Beaumarchais) and Cosi fan tutte. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/lorenzo-da-ponte https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/lorenzo-da-ponte Hurley was the organist and choirmaster of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/edmund-g-hurley https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/edmund-g-hurley Ghislanzoni was a writer, especially of libretti for opera. He was inspired by the liberal ideas of Mazzini during the 1848 revolution. He wrote scores of opera libretti in particular Verdi’s Aida (he also worked on The Force of Destiny and Don Carlos). Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/antonio-ghislanzoni https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/antonio-ghislanzoni The Avett Brothers at UMBCIn recent months, financial services company Northwestern Mutual has used the chorus from a song by the Americana band “The Avett Brothers” in a commercial about managed wealth. The song, “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” soars: “I had a dream/ and one day I could see it.” For Northwestern Mutual it is a material dream, but for the band it has to do with moral objectivity. Wed, 08 Nov 2023 10:13:22 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-11-13-edmondson-christian-prudence-in-c-major https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-11-13-edmondson-christian-prudence-in-c-major Allegory of Joy and Melancholy (detail) Abraham Janssens, 1628On December 24 and 25, 1989, Leonard Bernstein led concerts celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. They included Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, in which solo singers and a chorus present part of Friedrich Schiller’s “An die Freude” (Ode to Joy). For this occasion, Bernstein made a slight but important change in the words, replacing “Freude” with “Freiheit” (freedom).  Mon, 03 Apr 2023 14:50:26 -0400 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-04-11-mcgath-schillers-ode-to-joy-and-beethovens https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-04-11-mcgath-schillers-ode-to-joy-and-beethovens Poster advertising the first performance of Don CarlosThe Protestant Reformation threw 16th-century Europe into turmoil. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was also the king of Spain, tried to maintain Catholic power in the face of religious schisms. Suffering from poor health and worn down by the conflicts, he abdicated from both thrones in 1556 and died soon afterward. His son Philip II of Spain took a firm line against Protestantism, which had taken root in the Spanish-held Low Countries Mon, 22 Aug 2022 11:15:31 -0400 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2022-08-24-verdi-s-don-carlo-the-beginnings-of-religious-liberty https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2022-08-24-verdi-s-don-carlo-the-beginnings-of-religious-liberty Playbill for a performance of The Marriage of FigaroWhen Mozart wanted to make his name known to Vienna’s opera-going public, he made a daring choice. He had Lorenzo Da Ponte write a libretto based on a controversial play by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Like the play, the opera was called The Marriage of Figaro.  Fri, 27 May 2022 11:09:38 -0400 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/McGath-Figaro-Aristocracy https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/McGath-Figaro-Aristocracy Beethoven’s opera Fidelio, which dates from 1805, addresses issues which are just as important today. Its plot concerns a whistleblower whom a corrupt prison governor has “disappeared.” His wife, Leonore, disguises herself as a young man named Fidelio and gets a job in the prison to find out if he is still alive. Fri, 13 May 2022 16:13:59 -0400 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/McGrath-Fidelio-Beethoven https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/McGrath-Fidelio-Beethoven Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) is one of the most important opera composers. His liberal political views and his strong Italian nationalism colored many of his works. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/giuseppe-verdi https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/giuseppe-verdi Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was one of the great European classical composers of the first half of the 19th century. He wrote a number of politically inspired works including an opera Fidelio which had as one of its themes the issue of individual liberty. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/ludwig-van-beethoven https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/ludwig-van-beethoven Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799) was a watchmaker and a court musician, before he turned to writing plays. He is best known for having dared to publish Voltaire and two anti-aristocratic plays of his own - The Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1781). During the American Revolution he acted on behalf of the French crown to supply guns and other weapons to the American revolutionaries. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/pierre-augustin-caron-de-beaumarchais https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/pierre-augustin-caron-de-beaumarchais Bacon edited a collection of Luther’s hymns. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/leonard-woolsey-bacon https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/leonard-woolsey-bacon Mariage de Figaro by Golovin“So it will never be performed?” said the queen. “Certainly not,” said Louis XVI. “You may be sure of that.” Mon, 16 Oct 2023 13:03:50 -0400 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-10-20-mcgath-marriage-of-figaro https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/2023-10-20-mcgath-marriage-of-figaro Bach was one of the most prolific and original composers in the Western classical tradition. His cantatas, passions and oratorios played an important part in Lutheran church music. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:15:31 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/johann-sebastian-bach https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/johann-sebastian-bach Oh! could we from death but recover Those hearts as they bounded before, In the face of high heav'n to fight over That combat for freedom once more. Could the chain for an instant be riven Which tyranny flung round us then, No; ‘tis not in man, nor in Heaven, To let Tyranny bind it again! But ‘tis past—and, tho’ blazon’d in story The name of our victor may be, Accurst is the march of that glory Which treads ‘er the hearts of the free. Far dearer the grave or the prison, Illumed by one patriot name, Than the trophies of all who have risen On liberty’s ruins to fame. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:00:20 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/thierry-on-the-need-for-songs-about-our-lost-liberties-which-will-act-as-a-barrier-to-encroaching-power-1845 https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/thierry-on-the-need-for-songs-about-our-lost-liberties-which-will-act-as-a-barrier-to-encroaching-power-1845 A stronghold sure our God remains, A shield and hope unfailing; In need His help our freedom gains, ‘er all we fear prevailing. Our old malignant foe Would fain work us woe. With craft and great might He doth against us fight; On earth is not one like him. Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:00:00 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/j-s-bach-and-martin-luther-on-how-god-the-feste-burg-helps-us-gain-our-freedom-1730 https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/j-s-bach-and-martin-luther-on-how-god-the-feste-burg-helps-us-gain-our-freedom-1730 Alas! what darkness dense! What horrid stillness! Here in this dark tomb, is nothing known But my deep anguish! Oh, most cruel torture! Oh, Heavenly Providence, how much longer Will this my misery last! In the bright morning of life My liberty, alas! was lost: These chains are the reward Of true and open speaking. But what avails my lamentations? Hopeless is my condition: The only solace for my torments Rests on my conscious innocence. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:00:00 -0400 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/beethoven-s-hero-florestan-in-the-opera-em-fidelio-em-laments-the-loss-of-his-liberty-for-speaking-the-truth-to-power-1805 https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/beethoven-s-hero-florestan-in-the-opera-em-fidelio-em-laments-the-loss-of-his-liberty-for-speaking-the-truth-to-power-1805 1) Liebster Gott, wann werd’ ich sterben? Meine Zeit läuft immer hin, Und des alten Adams Erben, Unter denen ich auch bin, Haben dies zum Vatertheil, Dass sie eine kleine Weil Arm und elend sein auf Erden. Und dann selber Erde werden. [Dearest God, when will I die? My time runs away continually, and the old legacy of Adam, which includes me as well, has this as its inheritance; for a little time to be poor and wretched on the earth and then to become earth itself.] 6) Herrscher uber Tod und Leben, Mach’ einmal mein Ende gut, Lehre mich den Geist aufgeben Mit recht wohlgefasstem Muth. Hilf, dass ich ein ehrlich Grab Neben frommen Christen hab’ Und auch endlich in der Erde Nimmermehr zu Schanden werde. [Sovereign over death and life, make my end a good one, teach me to resign my spirit with a well-composed courage. Help, that I might have an honorable grave next to righteous Christians and also at last, in the earth, nevermore be dishonored!] Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:52:13 -0500 nonadult https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/bach-asks-god-when-will-i-die-1700 https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/bach-asks-god-when-will-i-die-1700