Johann Baptist Vanhal, Early Innovator of the Classical Style Johann Baptist Vanhal has emerged as one the most significant innovators in the development of what we now call the Classical or Viennese style. The most well-known exponents of the style today are, of course, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, but Vanhal deserves a place beside these masters as an original creator, especially in the early part of his career. Born into servitude in Nechanice in 1739, his gifts as a musician were recognized and developed from childhood. After achieving proficiency on the organ and violin, in 1760–61 he relocated to Vienna, and quickly enjoyed enough success in the city’s aristocratic circles as a teacher and performer to purchase his freedom from bondage. He also began a lengthy and lucrative relationship with the publishing house Huberty in Paris, which published his six Simphonies Quatuors, op. 1 in 1769. The Baron I. W. Ries...