In November 1783, Beethoven, not quite thirteen years old, went on his first foreign tour. He performed in The Hague at the same concert as Karl Stamitz, twenty-five years his senior. A contemporary document reveals that Beethoven received 63 florins for his appearance, while Stamitz got only 14. Could it be that child prodigies were more attractive to audiences than adult musicians, or did pianists command higher fees than violists? We may never know the answer.

At any rate, Stamitz was nothing if not an artist with an established international reputation. He had cut his teeth in the famous orchestra of Mannheim; his father Johann (1717-1757) was the leader of the Mannheim school of composition, which played a crucial role in the evolution of classical music. Karl left Mannheim in 1770 (the year Beethoven was born), and for the next twenty years led the life of a travelling virtuoso, performing extensively and composing prolifically in all instrumental genres. Although a string player himself, he was very fond of wind instruments, as the present quartet for bassoon and strings attests. The quartet is like a conversation among four close friends with different personalities but similar interests; their happy camaraderie is never disturbed by any conflicts or disagreements.