Chronological signifiers in the concertos of Johann Baptist Wanhal
Chronological signifiers in the concertos of Johann Baptist Wanhal

Summary/Abstract: Unlike most of his Viennese contemporaries, Johann Baptist Wanhal published a large proportion of his musical output including concertos. Nonetheless, many of his concertos were not published and present a significant challenge in terms of establishing their probable date of composition and, in some cases, their authenticity. This paper explores the relationship between Wanhal’s published and unpublished concertos and proposes that a number of structural and stylistic elements encountered in the works can be used to refine the chronology of some of the more problematic works. Among the factors considered are notational conventions, musical organization at the phrase level, the treatment of the third ritornello section and formal types employed in finales. The paper concludes that a more exact understanding of the chronology of Wanhal’s concertos sheds valuable light on his development as a composer as well as reflecting changing trends in concerto composition during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

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