The development of the Classical symphony is usually associated with Germanic composers, first through the efforts of the sons of J.S. Bach and the Stamitzes of the Mannheim school, then later with Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. But the symphony was by no means limited to this nationality or region, since others went to Paris to take advantage of its orchestral concerts, which promoted symphonies and concertos as the chief forms. Such composers as André-Modeste Grétry, François-Joseph ...
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The development of the Classical symphony is usually associated with Germanic composers, first through the efforts of the sons of J.S. Bach and the Stamitzes of the Mannheim school, then later with Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. But the symphony was by no means limited to this nationality or region, since others went to Paris to take advantage of its orchestral concerts, which promoted symphonies and concertos as the chief forms. Such composers as André-Modeste Grétry, François-Joseph Gossec, Dieudonné-Pascal Pieltain, Antoine-Frédéric Gresnick, and Ludwig August Lebrun are little known figures today, though their inclusion in Les Agrémens' 20th anniversary box set, The Parisian Symphony, provides a context for the symphony's growth in France and its subsequent importance to French Romanticism. These performances, led by the group's director and founder, Guy van Waas, are delivered in period style, with a bright, scintillating sound that is more closely...
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