Both Mozart's and Beethoven's Favorite Composer

[Philip Daniel]

That's why he revolutionized music so much with what was whimsical back in the day.

I heard that beethoven didn't like how Haydn taught, but venerated his music.

Yeah, that's what I said !
OT: BTW, like my new avatar? It's Jean-Philippe Rameau

[Max]

Bach's contrapuntal compositions were considered to be old-fashioned in the 18th century, when pre-classical style interested the most. That's it in a nutshell.

They were considered old fashioned at the time he composed them!

[Medtner]

Bach's contrapuntal compositions were considered to be old-fashioned in the 18th century, when pre-classical style interested the most. That's it in a nutshell.

It wasn't concidered old-fashioned, but people thought it was to complex, that it wasn't natural (music used to be for people in higher classes only back then, but during that time it was changing, people wanted something "normal", because they were "normal" too). That point of view gave birth to the three styles of the pre-classical period: Empfindsamkeit/Sturm und Drang (C.P.E. Bach), Rococo (François Couperin "Le Grand") and Style Galant (J.C. Bach). Especially this last style, because of it's "simplicity", appealled to the "normal" people a lot. This style influenced composers like Mozart (who combined Style Galant with bits of Late Baroque).

[spyroninja]

I heard that although haydn was beethoven's teacher, they didn't like each other.

I don't think that's true at all. Beethoven revered Haydn, and the influence is very apparent early on in Beethoven's career. His earlier works very much resemble Haydn, and Mozart to some degree, too.

[Jeliness2]

Well, I had read that Beethoven had thought that Haydn's composition style was too "old-fashioned".

[pianola]

i remembered that Mozart once said: "Handel understands effects better than any of us, when he strikes, he strikes like a thunderbolt."
i also remembered that Beethoven said: "Handel is someone i can STILL learn from"

[jcarson]

I knew Beethoven liked Handel, but Mozart surely thought Bach as the best didn't he?
"Now there's music from which a man can learn."
-W.A.Mozart