Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant compositional models in the genres of symphony, Italian serious opera, and violin concerto; both Wolfgang and his father Leopold Mozart considered him an intimate friend. He was a pioneer in the composition of music for wind ensemble, the outstanding examples of which are his three wind octets. It may be fair to say that his greatest composition is the oratorio Isacco figura del Redentore, first performed in Florence in 1776. His violin concertos are perhaps the finest composed between the generation of Vivaldi and the Mozart violin concertos of 1775.

He was also one of the most gifted and most prolific composers of eighteenth-century symphonies, although his contributions to this genre have been ignored by musicologists in western Europe and North America almost as completely as his operas have been.

Wind Octet No. 1 in E-flat major. Donauschingen 1777 or 1778

1. Allegro maestoso
2. Larghetto un poco sostenuto
3. Tempo di Menuetto

L'Orfeo Bläserensemble (Period instruments) conducted by Carin van Heerden

Early Harmoniemusik was scored for six instruments, even as few as four on some occasions, as indicated by the clarinet and horn bands of England and France. The clarinet was the preferred treble instrument in the west, while the Germans and Austrians generally preferred oboes. By the early 1780's the most common instrumentation, known as the Vienna tradition, consisted of 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns, and 2 bassoons, or more concisely, 2222.2 According to tradition, in 1763 Frederick the Great was first to standardize his military bands into the octet, from which Harmonie developed. However, there seems to be no reference to prove such a claim. In fact, Roger Hellyer, a leading authority on Harmoniemusik, found no mention of clarinets in Berlin before the 1791 wedding of the Duke of York to Princess Friederike, for which Rosetti was commissioned to write two partitas for 2222.3 While eight players became the norm, there were notable exceptions. Instrumentation in the 19th century required up to twelve players, perhaps due to the increased harmonic demands of music of the Romantic period. On the occasion of the coronation of Kaiser Joseph II at Pressburg, the Harmonien of Prince Grassalkowitz and Prince Esterhazy combined to perform a piece for 21 wind instruments written by Georg Druschetsky.

Frequently a contrabass line was added which brought the octet to nine players. The part was not designed as a solo line, but rather enhanced the sonority of the ensemble.

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