Charles Burney

Other composers were more measured.

The English critics Charles Avison, John Hawkins, and Charles Burney all complained about defective harmony and the absence of proper counterpoint—the learned, intellectually rigorous baseline writing that the German tradition valued most highly.

The Italian violinist and composer Francesco Geminiani admired his virtuosity while questioning his structural discipline.

And Benedetto Marcello, of course, turned him into a satirical caricature.