From the second half of the Eighteenth century the German term Harmonie indicates an ensemble composed of a number of performers ranging from 5 to 15, usually pairs of oboes (after 1770 also clarinets), horns and bassoons to which flutes, basset horns, trumpets, trombones, double basses, contrabassoons and even violas could be added.

In the period between 1780-1830 the Harmonie were very popular: an important turning point came when Emperor Joseph II in 1782 instituted the Königliche-Keiserliche Harmonie, made up of 8 musicians (2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and 2 horns – the same of the UNIMI Wind Octet) which gave way to a cultural fashion for which every aristocratic palace in the Empire had to have a Harmonie (often formed by the wind sections of the small orchestras that the nobles employed): these were dedicated to entertainment music on special occasions, for dinners or serenades.

Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn also composed for Harmonie and the repertoire was enriched with arrangements of operas, ballets, orchestral compositions or other chamber music. The Königliche-Keiserliche Harmonie of the Emperor was formed by the best instrumentalists including the famous clarinetist Anton Stadler, together with, among others, the composers and oboists Johann Nepomuk Wendt (1745- 1801) and Joseph Triebersee (1772- 1813): they are the authors of the transcriptions for Harmonie of Mozart’s operas performed by the UNIMI Wind Octet.