Empfindsamkeit

In music, this term applies to a style of music that arose between the baroque and classical periods. The empfindsam movement centered primarily in Berlin, and its foremost exponent was J.S. Bach's second son,Carl Philipp Emanual Bach (1714-88).

A sensitive style

Its aims were to achieve an intimate, sensitive and subjective expression; gentle tears of melancholy were one of its most desired responses. The term is usually translated as 'sensibility' (in the 18th-century or Jane Austen sense, which derives from the French sensibilité). One modern scholar, W.S. Newman, gives 'ultrasensitive' as an English equivalent.

German 'Empfindsamkeit' was part of a wider European literary and aesthetic phenomenon, largely British in origin (e.g. Shaftesbury's cult of feeling, and Richardson's novel Pamela, 1741), which posited immediacy of emotional response as a surer guide than intellect to proper moral behaviour. C.P.E. Bach, who was close to Lessing and other progressive literary figures, stated that music's main aims were to touch the heart and move the affections; to do this he specified that it was necessary to play from the soul ('aus der Seele')

Clavichord - instrument par excellence

In 1785, Christian Schubart (1739-1791; a well respected writer on music and composer) wrote praising the clavichord as the empfindsame instrument par excellence:
... this lonely, melancholy, inexpressively sweet instrument... whoever does not prefer to bluster, rage and storm, whose heart overflows often and readily in sweet feelings, he passes by the harpsichord and the piano and chooses clavichord'

How it sounds...

Music in this style often sounds more 'lyrical' than music from the baroque era. The slow movements often exude a dark melancholy by using unusual, poignant harmonies. The 'sighing' figure is also commonly employed, as is chromaticism. Usually,the final movements are short, very light and amusing, like a light souflée at the end of a heavy meal. This sounds unusual to us these days, because we are more used to hearing brilliant, rousing 'finales' so these funny little last movements in 'empfindsam' style sonatas can leave one feeling slightly unsatisfied. Maybe this is one reason why this wonderful music is not often heard in the concert hall.

From Duo Wq 72 for Harpsichord and Violin by C.P.E Bach (1714-1788):

1st movement (Adagio ma non troppo)

3rd (final) movement (Allegro)