The French preceded the Viennese in adapting opera for Harmonie, but with a decidedly different twist. The Viennese customarily transcribed an opera in sequence, while abbreviating or cutting out certain sections, so that the bulk of the music was chronologically intact. These could contain as many as 24 movements. The French preceded this practice by arranging only the best-loved sequences into a suite. Sometimes a suite would contain movements from several works, not just one. Some suites included movements from a variety of composers, while others compiled selections from just one.8
In Vienna, which rapidly became the center of Harmonie, Johann Wendt was the most famous arranger, having transcribed numerous operas, including works of Salieri and Mozart. Wendt's success no doubt influenced his employer, the emperor, as the court library holds few original compositions from this period, even lacking Mozart's Serenades.9