9 March 1737 in Ober-Šárka near Prague – 4 February 1781 in Rome
Born the son of a prosperous Prague mill owner, Mysliveček initially trained in the family trade, achieving the rank of master miller in 1761. His true calling, however, was music: he studied composition in Prague under Franz Habermann and Josef Seger before travelling to Venice in 1763 to study with Giovanni Pescetti. In Italy, where he became known as "Il Boemo", he rose during the 1770s to become one of the most sought-after opera composers of his time and formed a close friendship with the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who held him in high regard as a compositional model. Following a decline in health and fortune, Mysliveček died impoverished in Rome.
Quintet in E-flat major, arranged for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon
This arrangement is based on movements from two wind octets for 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons, composed around 1775 and held in the princely library of Donaueschingen (D DO), shelfmark mus.1597, today preserved in the Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe. The same collection also contains contemporary harpsichord arrangements of these wind octets – even in their own time, these works were already being adapted for other forces.
