Janitsch: Berliner Quartette

The galante era (or galant style) describes a fashion in early‑ to mid‑18th‑century music that prized elegance, clarity, and immediately appealing melody. It arose as a reaction against the learned counterpoint and dense textures of late Baroque music, favoring tuneful, balanced phrases over intricate polyphony. Typical features include homophonic textures with a clear melody supported by simple chordal accompaniment (often Alberti‑bass figures), short antecedent–consequent phrases, regular cadences, diatonic harmony, and light, graceful ornamentation. The galant taste spread quickly through opera, instrumental chamber music, and the nascent symphony, forming a crucial bridge between the late Baroque and the Classical style of Haydn and Mozart.