occurred in 1790, when Prince Anton Esterházy succeeded his father Nikolaus and dismissed almost all of the latter's extensive musical establishment. But Prince Anton was hardly alone in doing this; during this same period, "the steady decline in the number of orchestras supported by aristocratic families represented a ... change that affected all composers and their works." This was a difficult time for musicians, who needed to find new ways to support themselves. For instance, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) never worked as a Kapellmeister but was supported by a somewhat unreliable combination of noble patronage, publication, and concert income. The case of Mozart Mozart never was a Kapellmeister in the sense given above. In 1787, he was given a paid position in the court of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II as (chamber composer), but authority in matters musical at the court was exercised primarily by Antonio Salieri. In reviews, diaries, and advertising, Mozart was commonly referred to as . It seems that Mozart's prestige, along with the fact that he frequently appeared in public directing other musicians, led to the use of "Kapellmeister" as a term of respect. In April 1791, Mozart applied to become the Kapellmeister at St. Stephen's Cathedral and was designated by the City Council to take over this job following the death of the then-ailing incumbent, Leopold Hofmann. This never took place, since Mozart died (December 1791) before Hofmann did (1793). Similar terms and equivalents Variant spellings capellmeister and capelle, to refer to the orchestra or choir, are sometimes encountered in English language works about composers who held the title. The word specified that the Kapellmeister worked at a nobleman's court (); a held a somewhat less senior position. Equivalent positions existed in other European countries and were referred to with equivalent names. In Finnish kapellimestari is still the primary word used of conductors. Composers who held the post of Kapellmeister (listed chronologically by date of birth) Arnold von Bruck ( 1500–1554) was Kapellmeister in Vienna for Ferdinand I, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia from 1527 to 1545. Mattheus Le Maistre (c. 1505–1577) was Kapellmeister at the court of the Electors of Saxony in Dresden from 1554 to 1568. Antonio Scandello (1517–1580) was Kapellmeister at the court of the Electors of Saxony in Dresden from 1568. Jacob Regnart (1540s–1599) was Kapellmeister at Innsbruck from 1585 to about 1596. Michael Praetorius (1571–1621) was Kapellmeister at Wolfenbüttel