> Bach's music does not feel like a work of genius Speak for yourself. > Mozart and Beethoven Both geniuses, for sure. But they didn't create the styles they

> Bach's music does not feel like a work of genius Speak for yourself. > Mozart and Beethoven Both geniuses, for sure. But they didn't create the styles they composed in any more than Bach did. There was _classical_ music (in the sense in which Mozart is "classical" and Bach and Brahms aren't) before Mozart. Some of it was written by Bach's sons, in fact. There was quite Beethoven-like music written before Beethoven -- most notably by Haydn, who to my ears is much more Beethoven-like than Mozart is. None of that detracts from the greatness of Mozart and Beethoven -- or of Bach. Artists don't exist in isolation, even if they're geniuses.