IV.

Germany and Austria

By 1740 the symphony had become the principal genre of orchestral music, and important centers of composition arose in the German cities of Mannheim and Berlin and the Austrian capital, Vienna. The Bohemian composer Johann Stamitz brought the orchestra at Mannheim to internationally acclaimed brilliance and used its resources to the fullest in his symphonies. He was one of the earliest to add a fourth movement, a rapid finale following the minuet, and in his sonata movements second themes are often of sharply contrasting character.

In Berlin the composers Johann Gottlieb Graun and C. P. E. Bach (son of J. S. Bach) wrote three-movement symphonies with few sharp thematic contrasts but with strong emphasis on development and emotional expressiveness.

Four-movement symphonies predominated in Vienna, with the first movement being given special prominence. There, composers made greater use of wind instruments and gave special care to melodic integration; for example, a transition between themes might make use of short segments from a main theme. Among important Viennese composers were Georg Matthias Monn and Georg Christoph Wagenseil. Also influential was another of J. S. Bach’s sons, Johann Christian Bach. J. C. Bach studied in Italy and worked in London, and his symphonies are full of graceful Italian melody.