Johann Stamitz

Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (Czech: Jan Václav Antonín Stamic; 18 June 1717 – 27 March 1757) was a Bohemian composer and violinist.

His two surviving sons, Carl and Anton Stamitz, were composers of the Mannheim school, of which Johann is considered the founding father.

Most likely, his engagement there resulted from contacts made during the Bohemian campaign and coronation of Carl Albert (Karl VII) of Bavaria, a close ally of the Elector Palatine.

[1] Probably around the late summer of 1754, Stamitz paid a yearlong visit to Paris, perhaps at the invitation of music patron Alexandre Le Riche de La Poupelinière with whom he stayed, appearing in public there for the first time at a Concert Spirituel on 8 September 1754.

[citation needed] The chief innovation in Stamitz's symphonic works is their four-movement structure: fast – slow – minuet and trio – dashing presto or prestissimo finale.

He added innovative dynamic devices such as extended crescendos, simple tutti chordal textures and slow harmonic rhythm.