STAMITZ, JOHANN (WENZEL ANTON)

born June 19, 1717, Deutschbrod, Bohemia [now Havlckuv Brod, Czech Republic] died March 27, 1757, Mannheim, Palatinate German composer who founded the Mannheim school of symphonists, which had an immense influence on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Stamitz received early musical education from his father and appeared as a violinist at the coronation of the emperor Charles VII in Frankfurt am Main in 1742. He became a chamber musician to Prince Karl Theodor (Elector Palatine after 1743) and in 1745 was appointed concertmaster of the court orchestra at Mannheim. Stamitz brought the Mannheim orchestra to a standard unrivaled in its day for both precision and scope of expression. The orchestral effects of a gradual crescendo and diminuendo, though not his invention, became a hallmark of his style and were imitated by later composers. Another characteristic of his style was the use of sighing suspensions, particularly at cadences. These were incorporated into Rococo-style music throughout Europe. His use of the minuet and trio as the third movement of a four-movement symphony was similarly adopted by Classical composers, in place of the three-movement symphony previously common. He contributed to the evolution of the Classical sonata form by introducing contrasting themes within a single movement. It is difficult to overestimate Stamitz' influence. Although contemporary composers in Berlin, Vienna, and Italy likewise developed some of these features, it was the first generation of Mannheimers (Stamitz and his associates) who were most influential in establishing the mid-18th-century style of orchestral writing.