Leipzig, 1787

Practices weren’t that different elsewhere in Europe. If we look at a programme done in Leipzig in 1787 — Leipzig being by far the most important musical city in the German states — we find the same practice of opening each half with a symphony, but also one of ending it with the genre:

Note that this programme is substantially shorter than the one in London, as was generally the case. In Leipzig at this time a programme usually had eight works, and in London ten to twelve. But the basic scheme is the same: a sequence of genres that were repeated at the great majority of concerts, with exceptions only in holy seasons when sacred works were introduced. Instrumental and vocal works alternated among one another by convention; it was unusual to find two vocal works in a row, far less two instrumental ones. It’s important to see that a concerto usually occupied a middle position between two vocal works, usually operatic numbers. What did that mean about the concerto? A student of mine once made the observation that the concerto served as a kind of sorbet between two strong wines – something thought sophisticated in taste but not as vigorous as vocal music.

Note as well that every composer on these programmes was living at the time. In some cases works remained in use up to a decade after the composer died, but it was highly unusual for them to remain in the repertoire long after that. The first major exception was of course Handel after his death in 1759, but another one was Pergolesi, whose operas were repeated after his death in 1736. Opera excerpts by Hasse and Graun continued on stage and in the concert hall for an unusual length of time, but were gone by 1790.