He studied counterpoint and polyphonic writing, mastered the genres of sacred music – masses, litanies and motets, and the most common secular genres of that time: opera seria and opera buffa, of which the first was considered aristocratic, and the second was the most popular.
Under Sarti’s guidance in Bologna and later in Milan, he deepened his command of multivoiced contrapuntal technique and gained practical experience that connected theoretical mastery with active compositional practice. Cherubini benefited from Sarti’s reputation as one of the most distinguished composers and pedagogues of the period, absorbing not only academic knowledge but also the broader artistic discipline and stylistic traditions that shaped his early creative development.
