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The first complete set of Clementi’s keyboard sonatas played on a period instrument.

An amazing collection of keyboard works by “The Father of the Pianoforte” Muzio Clementi. His music is full of wit, elegance, budding romantic emotions, brilliance and a spectacular display of virtuosity. As a teacher and pianist himself Clementi developed the piano technique in a revolutionary way, paving the way for later keyboard giants Mendelssohn, Chopin and Liszt.

Maestro Costantino Mastroprimiano has a keen feeling for the classical/early romantic style, humor and plenty of technique to spare, to do justice to these delightful and still unjustly neglected works.

Several magnificent historical instruments are used, from the famous collection of Edwin Beunk.

Extensive linernotes written by specialists.

Known as the ‘father of the pianoforte’, Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) played an incomparable role in the development of both piano repertoire and the instrument itself. As a composer and virtuoso pianist, his sonatas spanned the transition from Scarlatti’s keyboard style to the beginnings of the Romantic period; as a publisher and manufacturer, he was responsible for a number of developments to piano performance and construction.

This 18-disc collection of Clementi’s complete piano sonatas explores the development of his distinctive style and spans his entire career, from childhood to maturity. The composer’s deep affinity for the piano is particularly clear: in his mature works, he drew on elements of Scarlatti and Haydn’s keyboard music and blended them with striking virtuosity and flowing melodies, crafting supremely expressive music that made full use of developing fortepiano technology.

As Clementi’s activities in music publishing and piano manufacturing increased, his piano writing also matured, and later works display greater harmonic and structural experimentation. Clementi’s innovations are explored in this set by the critically acclaimed pianist Costantino Mastroprimiano, whose performances bring to life the composer’s captivating music as it would have been heard during his lifetime. This collection is the first opportunity for listeners to hear Clementi’s complete sonatas played on original fortepianos, and is an essential addition to any piano enthusiast’s collection.

This is a sequel to the 3-CD album with the Viennese sonatas by Clementi released last year. Fortepianist Costantino Mastroprimiano now continues with the composer’s earliest sonatas. They range from really early ones – Clementi may have been only 11 when he wrote the first piece – to mature and technically demanding works. At twelve and already an organist at the churches of Rome Italian Muzio Clementi was taken to England by a ‘patron’. This Peter Beckford was the dedicatee of Clementi’s first set of published works. They are sonatas which are musically uncomplicated. This issue also comprises Clementi’s Opera I and II, sets of sonatas composed after his extremely busy period with Beckford, studying and performing as a virtuoso pianist. Especially the three works for solo piano from Opera II are of exceptional virtuosity for that time (1779) and reflect Clementi’s own dexterity. Once again fortepianist Costantino Mastroprimiano takes the listener on an interesting journey through mostly unknown territory.

Period-performance practice. The fortepiano is a Kirckman, 1798 (Collection Edwin Beunk, Enschede).

Booklet notes.

Recording made in 2008.

Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) is one of the most colourful and influential musical figures of the past 200 years. Born in Rome, he grew up in Dorset, with the family of Peter Beckford, who in effect bought the boy from his father. The agreement was to provide him with an English gentleman’s education and upbringing. Clementi grew up during the period that saw the end of the baroque, and the beginning of the classical age in music. His influence upon younger composers was marked. Beethoven’s early piano sonatas show that he had a thorough knowledge of those by Clementi. Clementi was also a publisher, and struck up a lucrative business relationship with Beethoven. The works on this 3CD set are from his early years, and by and large do not contain the revolutionary music of the op. 40 and 50 sonatas. However, the op.11 sonata with its toccata movement is a remarkable work for 1784. It probably also existed as a piano concerto, as the left hand has some very difficult running figuration, providing almost orchestral texture and colour. Also of note is the first of four Capriccios Clementi composed. The last two are large works of 20 minutes duration each. This 1787 is a more modest affair, and is based on two popular songs of the time. It is easy on the ear salon music, very different to the groundbreaking works that would shortly follow.

Muzio Clementi is one of the more fascinating contemporaries of Mozart. Adopted by an English nobleman Peter Beckford – his family agreed this arrangement as it would ensure that their son’s musical talents were nurtured, (an odd decision as the education he was receiving in Rome was among the best possible!) and he would be brought up as an English gentleman.

So the young Clementi travelled from his native Rome to rural Dorset and a village called Stapleton. Beckford paid the family quarterly under 3 contracts until Clementi reached 21. In Dorset, he studied 8 hours a day Corelli, Scarlatti, Handel and Paradies, and got into the rhythm of a large country house, playing for guests, and instructing Beckwith’s daughters on the piano. The Beckwith library contained scores by J.S and C.P.E Bach, and these soon fascinated Clementi, exerting an influence on the sonatas on these discs.

Clementi moved to London in 1774, and remained there more or less for the rest of his life. At this time London Piano School was one of the most influential groups of pianists – J.B Cramer, J.L Dussek, and later Ignaz Moscheles and William Sterndale Bennett. Piano manufacturing was at its height (Clementi would one day own a piano manufacturer in London), and Broadwood in particular produced extremely powerful instruments that appealed to these composers. Clementi’s London sonatas exhibit a remarkable change in his style, especially so in the 0p.25 works – these sonatas were to influence the young Beethoven with whom he later became friends. The Op.33 set includes a work in C major that also survives as a piano concerto – one of many Clementi concertos adapted from sonatas that are sadly now lost. The Op.33 sonatas date from 1794.

No composer was more influential in establishing the dominant role of the piano in 19th century European music.

Period instrument performances on a 1798 Kirckman fortepiano.

Recording made in 2008.

Booklet essay by the artist.

The only complete Clementi cycle played on fortepiano.

Also named as the “Clementi” sonatas due to the newly invented technique that was for the first time used at that time, explained in the booklet note.

Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) was one of the most influential pianist composers of the late classical period. A friend of Beethoven, the teacher of John Field, and rival to Mozart as a piano virtuoso. He was also a publisher and a piano manufacturer. His upbringing was unconventional to say the least - his family ‘sold’ him to an English nobleman Peter Beckford, who took him to his country estate in Dorset where he received the education of a young Englishman, and taught music to the daughters of the Beckford family. Clementi eventually moved to London where he quickly made the acquaintance of Salomon, Dussek, Cramer and Haydn and made his name as one of the foremost composers for the piano of his time. He was also closely associated with the technical development of the piano towards the grand pianos we are used to today in concert halls.

His late sonatas inhabit an early romantic world, and are very impressive works that for-shadow Beethoven in places.The works in this 3CD set date from the years 1791-1802 when Clementi was based in London. The second of the op34 Sonatas in G minor is an especially striking work, and is followed by a wonderful free spirited Capriccio, which sounds almost improvisatory - a good example of Clementi’s forward looking nature as a composer. The op36 Sonatinas have proved the most long lived of all his compositions, and known to all aspiring pianists. They get more difficult (progressive) as their mood and character changes. Clementi’s pedagogic works ‘Gradus ad Parnassum’ and ‘Introduction to the art of piano playing’ remain in print today, and were admired by Beethoven.These 3 sonatinas appeared in the latter work.

The final volume of Brilliant Classics’ acclaimed Clementi series, this release is dedicated to the composer’s last and most mature works for pianoforte: the Sonatas Opp. 40, 46 and 50, and the 12 Monferrinas Op.49.

The works embrace a period of around 20 years and were a major landmark within Clementi’s output. Slow introductions abound, and although Opp. 40 and 50 were composed separately, it is highly likely that the latter was intended as a sequel to the former because of their shared stylistic detail. From Op.40 No.1’s formal experimentation to the quasi‐orchestral writing of Op.50 No.3, the compilation also includes various homages – most notably Op.46, whose high level of virtuosity comprises a fitting tribute to the great pianist Friedrich Kalkbrenner. Maestro Costantino Mastroprimiano is once again our guide, creating an absorbing programme that effectively encapsulates the achievements of Clementi’s distinguished career.

Throughout the ages Freemasonry has always viewed music as a fundamental and powerful aspect of their moral and ethical doctrine. Vice versa many composers found in the Freemasonry an expression of their own personal beliefs and philosophies. This CD presents an original selection of works by composers associated with Freemasonry: Spontini, Berlioz, Clementi, Sibelius, Puccini, Ciannella. New recordings, by various ensembles and orchestras, on original instruments when relevant. Booklet notes in Italian and English.

A society whose origins date back to the late-16th century, freemasonry has always viewed music as a powerful tool for communicating its fundamental message: to encourage a moral and ethical approach to life.While Mozart is undoubtedly the most famous composer associated with the movement, this engaging CD reveals some of the many others who were involved or whose work conforms to the society’s ideologies.

This collection begins with a world premiere recording on period instruments of two works by the Italian opera composer and conductor Spontini. As well as featuring various unpublished compositions by the contemporary Marco Ciannella, such as his Suite for flute and piano, the collection also explores Clementi’s little-known Symphony in B flat before visiting Puccini’s Crisantemi (a single, dark-hued elegy originally written for string quartet) and Sibelius’ Andante festivo – the composer’s most apparently religious statement, full-throated and hymn-like in sound. Although comprising highly varied music that reveals the diversity of styles embraced by freemasonry, this collection is also striking for its pervading sense of beauty – a beauty that is the essence of the society’s ‘column of harmony’. A charming assortment of carefully selected works that gives equal standing to the famous and less wellknown.