Josef Myslivecek was born in Prague on March 9, 1737 as the son of a miller. After learning his fathers occupation he wrote his first compositions in the early 1760s, instructed by Václav Habermann and Josef Seger. Probably with the support of his patron Count Vinzenz von Waldstein, in whose Prague palace numerous of his early symphonies were performed, Myslivecek went to Venice in 1763. His breakthrough came with his second work Il Bellerofonte. This is all the more remarkable because at that time foreign compo- sers hardly had a chance against Italian dominance. Nor can his style of composition be assigned to any 'school'. Far from the Baroque, there are no similarities to the Mannheim School or others. With his very melodic style Myslivecek influenced the young Mozart, who already met him in Bologna in 1770 at the age of 14. Since the time of origin of the three wind octets of Myslivecek is unknown, we also do not know whether they were known to Mozart. In any case, a stylistic similarity to Mozart's wind music cannot be denied. The use of a minuet as the final movement of the first octet is most unusual (Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerto in C major, RV 473; Mozart: Bassoon Concerto KV 191, Violin Concerto KV 219). In the last years of his life he was unsuccessful, probably also because of his syphilis disease and the associated social isolation. He died completely impoverished in Rome on February 4, 1781. Thanks to the wealthy English traveller to Italy, John Hugh Smith Barry, Myslivecek was buried in the church of S. Lorenzo in Lucina. A marble panel still reminds us of the most important 'guest worker' of his time.