Empfindsamkeit (music)

The Empfindsamer Stil (literally sensitive style) was a style of musical composition developed in 18th century Germany, intended to express "true and natural" feelings, and featuring sudden contrasts of mood. It was developed as a contrast to the Baroque doctrine of affections, in which a composition (or movement) would have the same affect, or emotion, throughout.

Composers in this style include:

• Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, the eldest son of J.S. Bach
• C.P.E. Bach
• Johann Joachim Quantz

See also

• Sturm und Drang
• Galant
• Singspiel

Reference

• P.H. Lang, Music in Western Civilization (1941), pp. 585ff.
• W.S. Newman, The Sonata in the Classic Era (1963)