The origins of the Mannheim school go back to the court of the Elector Charles III Philip, who moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim in 1720, already employing an orchestra larger than those of any of the surrounding courts. The orchestra grew even further in the following decades and came to include some of the best virtuosi of the time. Under the guidance of Kapellmeister Carlo Grua, the court hired such talents as Johann Stamitz, who is generally considered to be the founder of the Mannheim school, in 1741/42, and he became its director in 1750.