Joseph Woelfl (17731812), a friend of the Mozart family from childhood, was one of the best-known musicians of his day: he was regarded as a rival of Beethoven in Vienna and a worthy successor to Haydn in the musical life of London. When the invention of the pedal harp around 1800 allowed it to be used in combination with the piano, Woelfl was one of the many composers who took advantage of the new sonorities now made possible, in a series of works noteworthy for their elegance and charm, in a style which bridges the Classical and Romantic.