Carl Stamitz

Carl Stamitz was born in 1745 in Mannheim, home of the most drilled and famous court orchestra in Europe, and he grew up inside it: his father Johann helped build that orchestra's reputation, and Carl played violin in its ranks as a young man.

In his late twenties he left to make his way as a traveling virtuoso on violin and viola, performing in Paris, London, and across the German states. He wrote at a tremendous pace to feed the concert market, symphonies and concertos by the dozen, in the clear, tuneful style of the era between Bach and Beethoven. The wandering life never made him rich, and he died in Jena in 1801 leaving debts.

His concertos for clarinet, then still a novelty instrument, are the best door into his music: graceful, good-humored pieces that show why audiences of his day liked him.