Weren't most big name composers from all "classical" periods prolific improvisers also? Stories of Bach's fugue battles come to mind so I don't think the two ha

Weren't most big name composers from all "classical" periods prolific improvisers also? Stories of Bach's fugue battles come to mind so I don't think the two have to be mutually exclusive. I think it's more that transcribed music is as close as we have to recorded music from periods before vinyl which inevitably draws a certain crowd of purist. To me it feels like a subculture within the classical space.