Musical Style

"There is a belief, which I do not share, that the greatest artists make their effect only when seen against the background of mediocrity that surrounded them: in other words, the dramatic qualities of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are due to their violations of the patterns to which the public was conditioned by their contemporaries. If this were true, the dramatic surprises in Haydn, for example, should become less effective as we grow familiar with them."
The author continues to go on to discuss that the works by these three composers are so well-written and dramatic that no matter how many times you've listened to it it still evokes the same emotions, to the same degree, as the very first.
According to this author, Bach's work used very straightforward and equal rhythms. There wasn't much variation in accent. However, Mozart's work had a lot of expresssion. He used many accents and shorter notes, as well as fermatas (held notes) and martelatos, which are short and accented, adding much emphasis and feeling to a specific note.