How important was individuality to the composers of the Clas essays

How important was individuality to the composers of the Clas essays In order to assess how important individuality was to composers of the Classical period the question of what exactly individuality is must first be tackled. It can be defined as the aggregate of qualities and characteristics that distinguish one person or thing from others and in a musical context I believe this would refer most specifically to style and overall effect. It is perhaps easiest to detect individuality by simply listening to a piece of music, (although conductors and performers interpretations must be acknowledged), and it is then possible to analyse the music in detail in order to locate the specific devices, harmonies and textures which give it this unique sound and effect. During the Baroque period a great deal of music was composed explicitly for a particular means or setting such as the church. It is therefore not entirely surprising that the word individuality has come to be associated less with this period and more with that of the Classical and composers such a s Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart. The Classical period and the emergence of the galant style, brought with them a much greater interest in public displays of music than had previously been prevalent. It is therefore likely that this was one reason behind composers striving for a more individual style. Less complicated (more homophonic) textures than in the Baroque period also allowed more scope for composers of the time to experiment with style and so take a more individual approach. There was more focus on melody, sharp contrasts, contrasting phrasing within movements, and antecedent and consequent phrases. The use of one mood to unify a whole movement was abandoned and many new musical forms were introduced. Of these one of the most prominent was the string quartet. The string quartet (A composition for four solo string instruments, usually two violins, viola and cello ) was born out of the divertimento &ndas...