Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria and died in 1791 in Vienna, Austria, which was at that time part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Mozart is one of the best-known composers of the Classical period. During the Classical period, innovations in form and orchestration were being developed in several centres in Europe at the same time, including Mannheim, a city in what is now called southwest Germany. The “Mannheim School” refers to playing techniques and effects developed by the court orchestra there, as well as two generations of composers who wrote for the Mannheim Orchestra.

Mozart arrived in Mannheim at the end of 1777 and stayed there for four months. During his visit, he would have been exposed to some of the most progressive musical ideas in Europe at that time, including the “Mannheim Rocket”, a rapidly ascending series of notes based on a broken chord or triad. Mozart features the “Mannheim Rocket” in the opening melody of the fourth and final movement of Symphony No. 40, the Allegro Assai.