The most important and influential post that this Austrian composer held was as the composer to Count Joseph Batthyany the Archbishop of Hungary. He held this position for a short time, from 1776 until his death. As the first violinist he conducted from his chair performing instrumental secular works. Zimmermann composed approximately twenty five symphonies as well as numerous works in a variety of genres including works for the stage, masses, offertories, concertos, nocturnes, and sonatas. He is considered to be one of the first composers to actually capture theatrical qualities in his melodramatic compositions. The sacred music which Zimmermann composed demonstrated his capacity for fugal developmental with full harmonic sonorities. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi