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| Composers Biography - Languages - |  |
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Johann Baptist Vanhal
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| Johann Baptist Vanhal was born in 1739 to a Czech peasant family, and received his early training from a local musician. From these humble beginnings he was able to earn a living as a village organist and choirmaster. It was a Countess, who heard him playing the violin, that took him to Vienna where she arranged lessons in composition with the great Dittersdorf. Further patronage helped him to travel and gain further knowledge of music. Though a temporary mental breakdown happened at the age of 35, he was now moving in exalted musical company, and it is reported he played quartets with Haydn, Mozart and Dittersdorf.So famous did he become that he was probably the first musician to earn a living entirely from composing without any other appointment. He had to be a prolific writer to meet the demands made upon him he, and attributed to him are 100 quartets, at least 73 symphonies, 95 sacred works, and almost countless instrumental and vocal works. He often had a tendency to explore, but his greatest gift was an unending flow of memorable melodies. Such was his success that within a few years of his symphonies being written, they were being performed around the world, and as far distant as the United States. In later life, however, he rarely moved from Vienna where he was also an active teacher.
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| His music has a more vivacious and rustic quality than Haydn. MIDI FILE -
from Sonata for clarinet and piano: 1th Mov. (3'17'') In that sense he had not moved to Haydn's four movement format, and they are all in a conventional fast - slow - fast configuration.
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