{{short description|Czech composer (1739–1813)}} thumb|upright|Johann Baptist Wanhal '''Johann Baptist Wanhal''' (12 May 1739 – 20 August 1813)<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531064033/http://library.duke.edu/music/vanhal/wanhal2.html|archive-date=2012-05-31 |title=His Life and Works |url=http://library.duke.edu/music/vanhal/wanhal2.html |work=Johann Wanhal |publisher=Duke University Libraries |access-date=2018-05-10 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> was a Czech composer of the Classical period. He was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, and died in Vienna. His music was well respected by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. He was an accomplished instrumentalist as well; a proficient organist, he also played the violin and cello.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/1089583-Johann-Baptist-Vanhal|title=Johann Baptist Vanhal|website=Discogs|language=en|access-date=2020-03-07}}</ref>
==Name== Wanhal and at least one of his publishers used the spelling '''Waṅhal''', the dot being an archaic form of the modern háček.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|p=18}} "Wanhal obviously preferred the German spelling himself, but it should instead be recognized as a logical and ... use of the old Bohemian dot-over-the-n (= modern day háček) as part of his germanized signature." "and he strenuously maintained the use of the háček (Weichheitszeichen) in the form of a dot over the n in the first editions issued by his chief Viennese publisher, Ignaz Sauer."</ref> Other attested variants include '''Wanhall''', '''Vanhal''' and '''Van Hall'''. The modern Czech form '''Jan Křtitel Vaňhal''' was introduced in the 20th century.<ref name="New Grove">"He himself spelt his name Johann Baptist Waṅhal; his Viennese contemporaries and most scholars until World War II used the spelling Waṅhal, but later in the 20th century a modern Czech form, Jan Křtitel Vaňhal, was erroneously introduced." Paul Robey Bryan, "Vanhal, Johann Baptist [Jan Křtitel]" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001), '''19''':592.</ref>
== Biography ==
=== Birth and youth in Bohemia: 1739–1760/61 === Wanhal was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, into serfdom in a Czech peasant family. He received his first musical training from his family and local musicians, the organist Anton Erban being one of his most prized mentors, and excelled at violin and organ at an early age.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wanhal.org/wanhal|title=Johann Baptist Wanhal Association|website=wanhal.org|access-date=2020-03-07}}</ref> From these humble beginnings, he was able to earn a living as a village organist and choirmaster. He was also taught German from an early age, as this was required for someone wishing to make a career in music within the Habsburg empire.<ref name="New Grove"/>
=== First period in Vienna: 1760/61–1769 === By the age of 21, Wanhal must have been well under way to become a skilled performer and composer, as his patron, Countess Schaffgotsch, took him to Vienna as part of her personal train in 1760. There, he quickly established himself as a teacher of singing, violin and piano to the high nobility, and he was invited to conduct his symphonies for illustrious patrons such as members of the Erdődy family and Baron Isaac von Riesch of Dresden. During the years 1762–63, he is said to have been the student of Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, even though they were born the same year. Baron Riesch sponsored a trip to Italy in 1769 so that Wanhal could learn the Italian style of composition, which was very much in fashion. To return the favour, Wanhal supposedly became Riesch's Kapellmeister.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|pp=15–18}}</ref>
=== Journey to Italy: 1769–1771 === The details of Wanhal's journey to Italy are scant, but it is known that he met his fellow Bohemians Gluck and Florian Gassmann in Venice and Rome, respectively. The Italian journey offers the only evidence of Wanhal writing operas. It is thought that he wrote music for the Metastasian opera libretti ''Il Trionfo di Clelia'' and ''Demofonte'', either by himself or in collaboration with Gassmann. Wanhal might have supplied some or all of the arias, but nothing can be evaluated, since these works have been lost. In additions to his documented travels in northern and central Italy, Wanhal may have intended to travel to Naples, but never seems to have arrived there.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|pp=17–18}}</ref>
=== Vienna and Varaždin: 1771–1780 === After his journey to Italy, Wanhal returned to Vienna rather than to go to Riesch in Dresden. Claims have been made that Wanhal became heavily depressed or even insane, but these claims are likely to have been overstated. During this period it is supposed that he acted occasionally as a de facto Kapellmeister for Count Erdődy in Varaždin, Croatia, although the small number of compositions by him remaining there suggests that this was not the full-time role that would have been expected if he had worked with Riesch; Vanhal might have preferred such employment with the Count precisely because of its part-time nature. There is no evidence of visits after 1779.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|pp=18–25}}</ref>
=== Return to Vienna and final years: 1780–1813 === Around 1780, Wanhal stopped writing symphonies and string quartets, focusing instead on sacred works and music for piano and small-scale chamber ensembles. His piano music, written for a growing middle class, supplied him with the means to live a modest, economically independent life. For the last 30 years of his life, he did not work under any patron, probably being the first prominent Viennese composer to do so. During these years, more than 270 of his works were published by Viennese printers. In the 1780s, he was still an active participant in Viennese musical life. In 1782, he met Mozart, who admired Wanhal's symphonies. He enjoyed playing music with Mozart and some of his friends who were composers, as testified in Michael Kelly's account of the string quartet Wanhal played in together with Haydn, Mozart and Dittersdorf in 1784. After 1787 or so, however, he seems to have ceased performing in public, but he nevertheless was economically secure, living in good quarters near St. Stephen's Cathedral. He died without heirs <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johann-baptist-vanhal-mn0001430224/biography|title=Johann Baptist Vanhal {{!}} Biography & History|website=AllMusic|language=en-us|access-date=2020-03-07}}</ref> in 1813, an elderly composer whose music was still recognized by the Viennese public.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|pp=25–26}}</ref>
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== Biography == Born in Nechanice, Bohemia, to a Czech peasant family, Wanhal 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. The Countess Schaffgotsch, who heard him playing the violin, took him to Vienna in 1760, where she arranged lessons in composition with Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf. Further patronage helped him to travel and gain further knowledge of music and by the age of 35, he was moving in exalted musical company: it is reported he played quartets with Haydn, Mozart, and Dittersdorf.<ref>James Webster and Georg Feder, ''The New Grove Haydn'', first published in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd ed. 2001 (New York: Palgrave; London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2002, {{ISBN|0-312-23323-X}}), 28.</ref> Wanhal tailored his output to economic realities of the day and ceased writing symphonies in the late-1770s.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} He wrote three operas: ''Il Demofoonte'' (1770), ''Il trionfo di Clelia'' (1770), and ''The Princess of Tarento''.<ref>[http://opera.stanford.edu/composers/V.html Opera Glass]</ref> In the 1770s, Wanhal met the contrabassist Johannes Matthias Sperger and wrote a double bass concerto for him.{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=September 2011}} The English music historian Charles Burney visited Wanhal in 1772. Mozart performed Wanhal's Violin Concerto in B flat in Augsburg in 1777. In or around 1784, Haydn, Dittersdorf, Mozart and Wanhal played string quartets together; Haydn and Dittersdorf played the violins, Mozart the viola, and Wanhal cello. The recorder of this event, the composer and tenor Michael Kelly, stated that they played well but not outstandingly together, but the image of four of the great composers of the time all joined in common music-making is still a classic image of the Classical era.
Wanhal was reported to have suffered from an unspecified nervous disorder, which eventually went away,<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|p=18}} Dlabacž said that Wanhal "was overcome by a mental disturbance that hindered his musical work."</ref> but which gave rise to the opinion held by Burney and others that the quality of Wanhal's compositions deteriorated with the disappearance of his condition.<ref >{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|p=18}} In 1772 Burney opined that "[Wanhal's] recent music lacks its former inspiration: because of his present cold, sedate, and wary disposition, his mind is now calm and tranquil. Therefore, his recent compositions are uninteresting because they lack the 'extravagance' they formerly had and are now limited by 'too great economy of thought.' The physicians who cured his 'insanity' did him a disservice."</ref> Scholars such as Paul Bryan find that "the quality and quantity of the serious works he [Wanhal] composed after 1770, ... belie that assertion."<ref >{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|p=18}}</ref>
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== Style == {{See also|List of compositions by Johann Baptist Wanhal}}
{{Listen|filename=JBVanhalSimphPerN22Highlights.OGG|title=Johann Baptist Wanhal: Simphonie Periodique, N. 22: Highlights from the 3 movements: Allegro-Andante (Piano)-Presto. |description=Porticodoro / SmartCGArt Media Productions – Classical Orchestra. |format=Ogg}}
Wanhal had to be a prolific writer to meet the demands made upon him, and attributed to him are 100 quartets, at least 73 symphonies, 95 sacred works, and a large number of instrumental and vocal works. The symphonies, in particular, have been committed increasingly often to compact disc in recent times, and the best of them are comparable with many of Haydn's. Many of Wanhal's symphonies are in minor keys and are considered highly influential to the "Sturm und Drang" movement of his time. "[Wanhal] makes use of repeated semiquavers, pounding quavers in the bass line, wide skips in the themes, sudden pauses (fermatas), silences, exaggerated dynamic marks ... and all these features ... appear in Mozart's first large-scale ''Sturm und Drang'' symphony, no. 25 in g minor (K. 183) of 1773."<ref>H. C. Robbins Landon, ''Mozart and Vienna: Including Selections from Johann Pezzl's 'Sketch of Vienna' (1786–90)'' (London: Thames and Hudson; New York: Schirmer Books, 1991, {{ISBN|0-500-01506-6}}), 48.</ref> This kind of style also appears in Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 83 in g minor, The Hen (1785), and Muzio Clementi's Sonata in g minor, Op.34, No.2 (circa 1795).
{{Listen|filename=Vanhalop10n1highlights.OGG|title=Johann Baptist Wanhal: Sonata for Flute and Bass, Op. 10 N. 1: Highlights from the 4 movements: Allegro-Adagio-Presto-Minuetto and Variations. |description=Porticodoro / SmartCGArt Media Productions – Flute and Bassoon. |format=Ogg}}
Around 1780 Wanhal seems to have stopped writing large-scale instrumental music, and rather contented himself with writing piano music for the growing middle class, and church music. In the former category his programmatic pieces, often related to recent events such as "the Battle of Würzburg", "the Battle of Abukir", and "the Return of Francis II in 1809". Judging from the number of extant manuscripts available, these works must have been highly popular. Wanhal was also the most prolific writer of Masses and other Catholic church music of his generation in Vienna.<ref>{{harvnb|MacIntyre|1986|p=8}}</ref> Despite this, it appears that he was never in the employ of any religious institution. This means that his late Masses are both testaments to a genuine personal faith, and evidence of how lucrative his focus on incidental piano music must have been.
Robert O. Gjerdingen sees a change in Wanhal's style as he redirected his attention towards the middle class, his music becoming didactic in the sense that it employed musical figures in a clear and self-referential manner, rather than the seamless continuity from figure to figure that had characterized his earlier pieces. In this, Gjerdingen sees Wanhal as prefiguring Beethoven.<ref>{{harvnb|Gjerdingen|2007|pp=278–282}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{harvnb|Bryan|1997|p=245}} To give one example, a 19th-century manuscript set of all the parts (except the trumpet) of the Symphony in C major, Bryan C6, was found in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.</ref> In later life, however, he rarely moved from Vienna, where he was also an active teacher.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == {{refbegin}} *{{cite book|last=Bryan|first=Paul Robey|title=Johann Waṅhal, Viennese Symphonist: His Life and His Musical Environment|year=1997|publisher=Pendragon Press|location=Stuyvesant, NY|isbn=9780945193630|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/johannwanhalvien00brya}} *{{cite book |last=Gjerdingen |first=Robert O.|title=Music in the Galant Style|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780195313710 }} *{{cite book |last=MacIntyre |first=Bruce C.|title=The Viennese Concerted Mass of the Early Classical Period|year=1986|publisher=UMI Research Press|location=Ann Arbor, MI}} *{{cite book |last=Weinmann |first=Alexander|title=Themen-Verzeichnis der Kompositionen von Johann Baptiste Wanhal (two volumes)|series=Wiener Archivstudien|volume=1|year=1987|publisher=Ludwig Krenn Verlag|location=Vienna}} {{refend}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Johann Baptist Vanhal}} * [http://www.wanhal.org/ www.wanhal.org] the Johann Baptist Wanhal Association * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120531064136/http://library.duke.edu/music/vanhal/ Duke University website] * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731160020/http://www.pendragonpress.com/book.php?id=462 |title=Dr. Paul Bryan: Thematic Catalog of Wanhal's music.}} * [http://www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Vanhal/wv_gattung.html www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Vanhal/wv_gattung.html] * [http://www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Vanhal/index.html www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Vanhal/index.html] * [http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Johann_Baptist_Vanhal/21127.htm Johann Baptist Wanhal (Vanhal) on NAXOS.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111065126/http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Johann_Baptist_Vanhal/21127.htm |date=2010-01-11 }} * {{citation|url=http://www.karadar.com/Dictionary/vanhal.html|title=Karadar Classical Music Dictionary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515114806/http://www.karadar.com/Dictionary/vanhal.html|archive-date=15 May 2009}} * [http://www.classical-composers.org/comp/vanhal www.classical-composers.org/comp/vanhal] * [https://www.artaria.com/collections/wanhal-johann-baptist-1739-1813 Wanhal works at Artaria Editions]
;Scores * [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=WanhalJ Works by Wanhal] at the Mutopia project * {{IMSLP|id=Vanhal, Johann Baptist|cname=Johann Baptist Vanhal}}
{{Classical period (music)}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanhal, Johann Baptist}} Category:1739 births Category:1813 deaths Category:Opera composers from the Austrian Empire Category:People from Nechanice Category:18th-century musicians from Bohemia Category:Classical-period composers from Bohemia Category:Czech opera composers Category:Czech male opera composers Category:String quartet composers Category:19th-century Czech male musicians Category:18th-century composers from the Holy Roman Empire Category:Composers for piano Category:Composers for flute Category:Composers for bassoon