Vanhal had a unique fascination with using multiple horn crooks, employing three horns in different keys in his Symphony a1 and five horns with three different crooks in Symphony d2.
Performer Biography
Ivan Repušić, the conductor on this album, has been the chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra since the 2017/2018 season and has initiated a cycle of early and rarely performed Verdi operas.
Composer Biography
Vanhal's symphonies were highly regarded in London, even before Joseph Haydn's works were known there, and at least six were published in keyboard arrangements.
Historical Context
In 1772, Dr. Charles Burney, a renowned music historian, traveled through Germany and the Low Countries to gather material for his General History of Music.
Composer's Artistic Vision
After purchasing his freedom from being a bonded servant, Vanhal chose to work as an independent artist, rebelling against the idea of being beholden to a patron.
Compositional Technique
Vanhal's symphonies show an unusually high degree of stylistic change, and he often favored a three-movement cycle in his later works, a departure from the dominant four-movement structure of the time.
Composer Biography
Johann Baptist Vanhal, the composer, was born in the Bohemian village of Nechanicz into a family bonded to Count Johann Ernst Anton Schaffgotsch.
