This book is a history of the cadenza in the Classical keyboard concerto. Whitmore focuses attention on the changing relations between performer and composer and between performer and audience in the course of the Classical period. The greater part of the book consists of an attempt to situate the concertos and cadenzas produced during the period within the broad historical development outlined in the first few chapters, placing particular emphasis on the contributions of C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.