Christian Cannabich

Johann Christian Innocenz Bonaventura Cannabich (Mannheim, bapt. 28 December 1731 - Frankfurt am Main, 20 January 1798), was a German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister of the Classical era. A prolific composer of some 200 works, he continued the legacy of Johann Stamitz and turned the Mannheim orchestra into the best in Europe, reaching a degree of perfection theretofore never attained, particularly in the carefully graduated crescendos and diminuendos. Together with Stamitz and the other composers of the Manheim court, he was chiefly responsible for developing the orchestral texture that paved the way for the orchestral treatment of the Viennese classics. His treatment of the woodwinds, particularly the clarinets, and their use in...