Muzio Clementi
1752–1832. composer. in the Viennese Classicism tradition.
Pioneer of piano technique and pedagogy; Gradus ad Parnassum is his most enduring contribution. Overlap with early Romantic style.
Signature works: Gradus ad Parnassum, Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor Op. 26 No. 2, Sonatina in C major Op. 36 No. 1, Symphony in D major, Piano Sonata in B-flat major Op. 47 No. 2.
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Clementi: Piano duets
$25.99CDTactus
Oct 03, 2025TC750390 -
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Clementi: Piano Jewels / Leone
Clementi & Hummel: Capriccio & Sonatas / Mesaglio
Still today, an area of shadow, sorely in need of illumination, continues to surround the piano output of various composers living between the end of the 18th and start of the 19th centuries, indisputable protagonists at the keyboard and creators of new aesthetics in the period in which they lived, forgotten with their death and rarely considered by posterity if not within limited and unjust boundaries. They are considered almost unapproachable, even negligible, because of a critical vision incapable of seeing, broadly speaking, beyond the established triads: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven for Classicism, Chopin, Schumann and Liszt for early Romanticism. Thus, figures such as Cramer, Field, Czerny and Moscheles, who lived between the two centuries, and Hiller, Thalberg and Henselt, born in the 19th century, are eternally relegated to second place. Above all, however, justice is continued to be denied to Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) and Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), who had a direct and not insignificant relationship with the above-mentioned trinities, especially the former, steadfastly holding their own and reciprocating their esteem, apart from certain disagreements seen in some of their letters, and teachers in turn of some of the misunderstood figures mentioned above. In this admirable recording, the pianist Sebastiano Mesaglio, sensitive and zealous re-evaluator of what the history of the piano has passed down to us, offers through an aptly chosen selection of sonatas the chance to gain a clear understanding of what Clementi and Hummel’s contemporaries thought of them, quite rightly, and what we in turn should think.
Clementi: Piano duets
Clementi: Sonatas Op. 1 & Op. 1a / Bacchi
While Clementi’s sparkling music has been recorded by many celebrated pianists such as Arturo Benedetti MIchelangeli, few of them have paid much attention to the composer’s first published collection. This new recording by Carlo Alberto Bacchi is all the more welcome for being informed by his study of the composer’s complete oeuvre as part of the ‘Clementi Project’ which sees him performing many of the sonatas in concert as well as recording them for Piano Classics.
The inscription on Clementi’s tomb in Westminster Abbey commemorates him as ‘the father of the piano’. Clementi above all was responsible for devising a modern technique, of the kind still recognisable today, which would serve pianists on the larger instruments being manufactured in the early years of the 19th century. This technique is differentiated from harpsichord technique, and trained not just through lessons but through pianistic ‘methods’ and publications such as these sets of sonatas, which are arranged in order of progressive difficulty in order to introduced students to technical challenges step by step. Like Mozart, Clementi also manifested his musical talents at a very early age: at the age of 7, he was already studying organ, singing and counterpoint; he wrote a mass at the age of 11 and an oratorio at the age of 12.
The English nobleman and eccentric Sir Peter Beckford effectively bought the young Clementi on a seven-year contract and kept him at his West Country pile. When the contract with Beckford expired in 1774, Clementi moved to London and took off on a career that brought him fame across Europe – as a touring virtuoso, a teacher, publisher – and even sometimes composer. The six Op.1 sonatas were published in 1771, during Clementi’s period in service to Beckford. Although he was not yet 20 and almost completely self-taught, they show his mastery of material and his irrepressible invention. All the sonatas have a simple, playful and light-hearted character, and a two-movement form. The five Sonatas of Opus 1a, on the other hand, date from a decade later, even after the Op.6 Sonatas. They were published in Paris around 1781, and here we sense the stirrings of Clementi as ‘father of the piano’ in the cascades and doublings and expanded imagination.
Classical Accordion Revealed - Masterpieces by Mozart, Clementi, & Haydn
This album features major works by Mozart, Clementi, and Haydn, arranged for and played by virtuoso accordionist William Popp.
