Carl stamitz biography

and the viola

Carl Stamitz is not a very familiar name to most music lovers but it has a special role in relation to the viola. He was a composer famous in his time as a violin and, especially, viola and viola d’amore virtuoso.

Born in 1745, eleven years before Mozart, Carl Stamitz was the elder son of Johann, the founder of the so-called Mannheim school, and was the most famous member of the Stamitz family, a family of musicians particularly active in Mannheim (Germany) in the 18ᵗʰ century.

Carl joined the Mannheim orchestra when he was fifteen and there he became familiar with that style of orchestral playing and composing.

In 1770, Carl Stamitz travelled to Paris and lived there more or less stably. He gave concerts several times at the Concert Spirituel with his brother Anton, also violin and viola player.

In the following years he travelled as a virtuoso, visiting the most important north European cities, including Frankfurt, Augsburg, where his first