At the outset of the eighteenth century, Naples had gained ground as one of the most important musical centers in Italy. In 1729 Charles de Brosses wrote with great admiration in his „Lettres familières“: „Naples es la capitale du monde musicien.“

The Galant Style must be considered to be ground-breaking, and as preparatory for the Classical Style. For example, an unbroken teacher-student lineage can be documented which reaches from Gaetano Greco (1657-1728) to Nicola Antonio Porpora (1686-1768), further to Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), and then on to Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1826) and Carl Czerny (1791-1857).