Part 7 (1/2)

II

Muzio Clementi was born at Roreat skill, as principally engaged on the execution of the eures and vases employed in the Catholic worshi+p The boy at a very early age evinced a hted his father, himself an enthusiastic amateur, and caused him to bestow the utmost pains on the cultivation of the child's talents The boy's first master was Buroni, choir-master a tone of the churches, and a relation of the fah bass froanist, Condicelli, and after a couple of years' application he was thought sufficiently advanced to apply for the position of organist, which he obtained, his age then being barely nine He prosecuted his studies with great zeal under the ablestdisplayed a rapid develope of fourteen he had composed several contrapuntal works of considerable ained great applause fro his studies of counterpoint and the organ Clelected his harpsichord, on which he achieved reh gradually co into use, was looked on rather as a curiosity than an instru-point of Cleh his acquaintance with an English gentleman of wealth, Mr Peter Beckford, who evinced a deep interest in the young musician's career After much opposition Mr Beckford persuaded the elder Clementi to intrust his son's further musical education to his care The country seat of Mr

Beckford was in Dorsetshi+re, England, and here, by the aid of a fine library, social surroundings of the y on his own part, he speedily e and literature The talents of Clementi made him almost an Admirable Crichton, for it is asserted that, in addition to the most severe musical studies, he made himself in a few years a proficient in the principal es, in Greek and Latin, and in the whole circle of the belles-lettres His studies in his own art were principally based on the works of Corelli, Alexander Scarlatti, Handel's harpsichord and organ music, and on the sonatas of Paradies, a Neapolitan coh repute in London for many years Until 1770 Clementi spent his time secluded at his patron's country seat, and then fully equipped with e, and with an unequaled command of the instrument, he burst on the town as pianist and composer He had already written at this time his ”Opus No 2,”

which established a new era for sonata conized to-day as the basis for all modern works of this class

Clementi's attain before him in London, and met with a success so brilliant as to be almost without precedent Socially and reat Handel hireat sonata above an in London, it is said that John Christian Bach, son of Sebastian, one of the greatest executants of the time, confessed his inability to do it justice, and Schroter, one of those sharing the honor of the invention of the piano-forte, and a leading e, said, ”Only the devil and Clementi could play it” For seven years the subject of our sketch poured forth a succession of brilliant works, continually gave concerts, and in addition acted as conductor of the Italian opera, a life sufficiently busy for the an his ave the first concerts of his tour at Paris, whither he was accoer Pacchierotti He was received with the greatest favor by the queen, Marie Antoinette, and the court, and made the acquaintance of Gluck, armly admired the brilliant player who had so completely revolutionized the style of execution on instrureat violinist, and played a _duo concertante_ with the latter, expressly cohted with the almost frantic enthusiasm of the French, so different frolish He ont to say jocosely that he hardly knew himself to be the sa and Munich, where he was most cordially welcomed, to Vienna, the then musical Mecca of Europe, for it contained torld-fay Mozart The Ereat lover of music, could not let the opportunity slip, for he now had a chance to deterreater player, his own pet Mozart or the Anglo-Italian stranger whose fame as an executant had risen to such diht a ht the most difficult works, and improvised on themes selected by the ih Mozart, who disliked the Italians, spoke afterward of Cleentleness, as ”aor taste”

Cleenerous, for he couldn't say tootouch and exquisite taste,” and dated fro a considerable difference in his own style of play

With the exception of occasional concert tours to Paris, Cleland, busy as conductor, composer, virtuoso, and teacher In the latter capacity he was unrivaled, and pupils ca these pupils were John B Cramer and John Field, names celebrated inIrish on a musical tour, where both master and pupil were received with unbounded enthusiasm, and where the latter re married a Russian lady of rank and wealth

Field was idolized by the Russians, and they clai to their music He is now distinctively remembered as the inventor of that beautiful for, the nocturne Spohr, the violinist, ives the following araphy”: ”Clementi, a man in his best years, of an extre manners, liked much to converse with me, and often invitedI soe piano-forte warehouse, where Field was often obliged to play for hours to display instrue to purchasers I have still in recollection the figure of the pale overgrown youth, whorown his clothes, placed hi out his arms over the keyboard, so that the sleeves shrank up nearly to the elbow, his whole figure appeared aard and stiff in the highest degree But, as soon as his touching instruotten, and one became all ear Unfortunately I could not expressman otherwise than by the pressure of the hand, for he spoke no language but his ue Even at that time many anecdotes of the remarkable avarice of the rich Clereatly increased in later years when I again enerally reported that Field was kept on very short allowance by hishis instruction by many privations

I myself experienced a little sample of Clementi's truly Italian parsimony, for one day I found teacher and pupil with upturned sleeves, engaged at the wash-tub, washi+ng their stockings and other linen They did not suffer themselves to be disturbed, and Cle in St Petersburg was not only very expensive, but the linen sufferedit”

From the above it may be suspected that Clementi was not only player and composer, butin England from the start, and it was not many years before he accumulated a sufficient aman & Broderip, ”manufacturers of musical instruments, and music sellers to their majesties” The failure of the house, by which he sustained heavy losses, induced hi and piano-forte reat success (the firm is still extant in the person of his partner's son, Mr Col-lard) proves he was an exception to the majority of artists, who rarely possess business talents Clementi met many reverses in his commercial career In March, 1807, the warehouses occupied by Cle a loss of about forty thousand pounds

But the e was indomitable, and he retrieved his misfortunes with characteristic pluck and cheerfulness After 1810 he gave up playing in public, and devoted hi and the conduct of his piano-forte business, which becae and valuable Himself an inventor and mechanician, he made many important improvements in the construction of the piano, some of which have never been superseded

III

Clereat nareatto the fact, it an his career in the infancy of the piano-forte as an instrument, and was the first to establish a solid basis for the technique of the instrument In addition to John Field and J B Crael, Ludwig Berger, Kalkbrenner, Charles Mayer, and Meyerbeer These musicians not only added richly to the literature of the piano-forte, but were splendid exponents of its powers as virtuosos But mere artistic fame is transitory, and it is in Clementi's contributions to the per that we must find his chief claim on the admiration of posterity He composed not a feorks for the orchestra, and transcriptions of opera, but these have now receded to the lumber closet The works which live are his piano concertos, of which about sixty ritten for the piano alone, and the remainder as duets or trios; and, _par excellence_, his ”Gradus ad Parnassum,” a superb series of one hundred studies, upon which even to-day the solid art of piano-forte playing rests Clementi's works must always remain indispensable to the pianist, and, in spite of the fact that piano technique hasthe last half century, there are several of Clementi's sonatas which tax the utmost skill of such players as Liszt and Von Billow, to who As Viotti was the father of , Clementi may be considered the father of virtuosoism on the piano-forte, and he has left an indelible mark, both mechanically and spiritually, on all that pertains to piano-playing Compared with Clementi's style in piano-forte composition, that of Haydn and Mozart appears poor and thin

Haydn and Mozart regarded execution as merely the vehicle of ideas, and valued technical brilliancy less than musical substance Clementi, on the other hand, led the way for that class of coe attention to manual skill His works can not be said to burn with that sacred fire which inspires nificently modeled for the display of technical execution, brilliancy of effect, and virile force of expression The great Beethoven, who coreatest works for the piano-forte, as also for the orchestra, had a most exalted esti hishis praises Noeffects in this departh he can not be called a reat creative ie, experience, skill, and transcendent aptitude for a single instruenius as Beethoven could be influenced by preceding or contemporary artists, his style as a piano-forte player and composer was more modified by Clementi than by any other He ont to say that no one could play till he knew Cleures and coh his reater than that of the other, transfigured them into a new life That Beethoven found novel means of expression to satisfy the importunate demands of his reater polyphony, stronger contrasts, bolder and richer rhythn and execution, by no ations which the ant and self-centered of men freely allowed Beethoven's fancy was penetrated by all the qualities of tone which distinguish the string, reed, and brass instruh with orchestral color; and he succeeded in saturating his sonatas with these rich effects without sacrificing the specialty of the piano-forte

But in general style and technique he is distinctly a follower of Clementi The most unique and splendid personality ina vivid illustration of the influence exerted by Clementi in the departe of eighty, and spent the last twelve years of his life in London uninterruptedly, his growing feebleness preventing hi his usual musical trips to the Continent He retained his characteristic energy and freshness of reat circle of artists who had centered in London, for he was the land, as Cherubini was in France at a little later date He was e, and only a few months before his death, Moscheles records in his diary, he was able to arouse the greatest enthusias, in spite of his enfeebled physical powers He died March 9, 1832, at Evershareat convocation of musical celebrities His life covered an immense arch in the history of music

At his birth Handel was alive; at his death Beethoven, Schubert, and Weber had found refuge in the grave froan his career by practicing Scarlatti's harpsichord sonatas; he lived to be acquainted with the finest piano-forte works of all time When he first used the piano, he practiced on the imperfect and feeble Silbernificent instruments of Erard, Broadwood, and Collard, to the latter of which his own e had contributed ue Such was the career of Muzio Clementi, the father of piano-forte virtuosos Had he lived later, he reat players who have since adorned the art of h the mouthpiece of Wil-helm

Meister: ”The narrowest man may be complete while he moves within the bounds of his own capacity and acquirements, but even fine qualities become clouded and destroyed if this indispensable proportion is exceeded This unwholesoin to appear frequently, for who can suffice to the swift progress and increasing require present tie, Clementi deserves the pedestal on which musical criticism has placed him

MOSCHELES

Cle--Moscheles the most Brilliant Cliue--Extraordinary Precocity--Goes to Vienna as the Pupil of Salieri and Albrechts-burger--Acquaintance with Beethoven--Moscheles is honored with a Commission to make a Piano Transcription of Beethoven's ”Fidelio”--His Intercourse with the Great Man--Concert Tour--Arrival in Paris--The Artistic Circle into which he is received--Pictures of Art-Life in Paris--London and its Musical Celebrities--Career as a Wandering Virtuoso--Felix Mendelssohn becoe to a Ha Lady--Settles in London--His Life as Teacher, Player, and Co the Musicians of his Age--His Efforts soothe the Sufferings of Beethoven's Deathbed--Friendshi+p for Mendelssohn--Moscheles beco Conservatorium--Death in 1870--Moscheles as Pianist and Coainst the New School of the Piano--His Powerful Influence on the Musical Culture and Tendencies of his Age

I