Johann Christian Bach and the Early Classical Italian Masters

With its qualities of simplicity, pleasantness, and "naturalness," the keyboard music of early Classical Italian masters (and the Italianate Johann Christian Bach) provided the principal stylistic alternative to the north German empfindsamer Stil during the mid-eighteenth century. These two styles form the most important keyboard repertories of their era, and during the twentieth century have been the subject of many competing national claims for excellence and enduring influence. Each certainly has its strengths and weaknesses, and both contributed elements that were incorporated into the works of the great Classical-era composers.