This book offers the reader an absorbing grand tour of the great musical centers of eighteenth-century Europe, from Naples to London, passing through Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Saint Petersburg, with a foray into the colonial New World. Against the backdrop of a Europe divided between a Catholic and a Protestant space, the author shows how the "gallant" and "cult" styles developed and mixed. In addition to considering in depth the work of Mozart, Haydn and the first Beethoven, he broadens the focus of his analysis to highlight the contributions of lesser-known, but certainly relevant, figures such as Johann Adam Hiller, François-André Philidor or Anna Bon .
