Wanhal, Johann Baptist (1739-1813)

The symphonies of Johann Baptist Wanhal (1739-1813), one of the most prolific and important of Haydns Viennese contemporaries, are among the most important works of their kind from the late-18th century. Bold and imaginative, powerful and lyrical, Wanhals symphonies are only now beginning to win wider recognition as the masterpieces they are. Composed around 1772-1773 when Wanhal was in his mid-thirties, G6, although sharing much in common with his other symphonies written around the same time, reverts to the kind of experimentation encountered in his earlier symphonies. The first movement features a rondo-like use of the main theme which is superimposed upon the sonata principle with its well-defined tonal scheme and pattern of exposition-development-recapitualtion. The musical organization is subtle and highly original, matched too by the beauty and technical ingenuity of the other movements. Paul Bryan Allan Badley