Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel

He was educated at the University of Würzburg and in 1778 he became chaplain and musician at the court in Mainz.

After a visit to Italy in 1782, where he met Padre Martini, he returned to Mainz, becoming music director to the Electoral orchestra in 1793.

When the capella was disbanded, he went to Würzburg, Regensburg and later Aschaffenburg, where he served the Grand Duke of Frankfurt.

Many of the sonatas have a lyricism and loose-knit structure pointing towards Franz Schubert.

His works as well as his distinctive playing style (which impressed Beethoven in 1791) contributed to the development of a pianistic idiom.