Albrechtsberger, a nearly exact contemporary of Franz Joseph Haydn, was a renowned organist and revered pedagogue in addition to being a composer. Wolfgang Mozart considered his organ playing to be the benchmark by which other organists should be judged, and Haydn thought so highly of his teachings that he sent Ludwig van Beethoven to study with him for two years beginning in 1794.

Albrechtsberger favored a style that incorporated traditional contrapuntal methods, and his influence on the Viennese School was considerable as can be seen in the major fugal passages in late Mozart (ex. Symphony #41) and Beethoven, for example.