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MUZIO CLEMENTI (1752-1832) Recorded at Peter Katin's studio on 4,5 and Also available by Peter Katin: KEYBOARD SONATAS 26 April, 1993 played on a square piano made by Clementi & co in 1832 Piano: Clementi & Co (1832) restored by 24112: Schubert: Impromptus Andrew Lancaster 23007: Schubert Recital Sonata in F sharp minor, op. 25 no. 5 1 Piùttosto allegro con espressione [8:12] 23009: Liszt & Brahms 2 Lento e patetico [4:08] Producer: Joanna Leach 24116: Chopin First and Last 3 Presto [6:30] Engineer: David Turner RP001: Fifty years of Music Making Piano Technician: Martin Ness Sonata in B flat major, op. 24 no. 2 An Athene Recording 4 Allegro con brio [5:26] Full details of these and all other Divine Art, Original issue: Athene ATHCD4 5 Andante [3:53] Diversions, Athene, Minerva and Pilgrim’s Star 6 Allegro assai [4:26] recordings are on our website and online store at Cover photo: The Clementi piano (courtesy www.divine-art.com Sonata in G minor, op. 7 no. 3 of Mike Beville, Athene Records) 7 Allegro con spirito [5:43] 8 Cantabile e lento [3:52] The Divine Art Record Company 9 Presto [4:07] The Longman & Broderip and Broadwood Northallerton, England pianos referred to in the notes can be heard Tel: +44 1609 882062 Sonata in D major, op. 25 no. 6 on 23001 (John Field Nocturnes) and 23002 Email: [email protected] 10 Presto [3:38] (Josef Haydn Sonatas) played by Joanna 11 Un poco andante [3:03] Leach. WARNING: Copyright subsists in all recordings issued 12 Allegro assai [4:13] under this label. Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording thereof in any Sonata in F minor, op. 13 no. 6 manner whatsoever will constitute an infringement of such copyright. In the United Kingdom, licences for the 13 Allegro agitato [6:55] use of recordings for public performance may be 14 Largo e sostenuto [5:36] obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd, 1, Upper James Street, London W1R 3HG. 15 Presto [4:53]

diversions 24113 Total playing time: [74:35] Katin: Clementi on Clementi UPC 809 730 411 328 The opus numbers given are those according to the Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Muzio Clementi by A. Tyson. [2] [11]

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Quite a number of instruments have taken him throughout the world. Early Peter Katin writes: it appears that Chopin actually kept a square survived with hammer coverings intact and successes included performances of Until 1992, my experience of keyboard piano in a side room in Nohant, and played with original strings. While it is important Beethoven's G major concerto at both the instruments other than the modern piano and it for his own enjoyment in preference to the to preserve some of these as they are, the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival the harpsichord was virtually nil. Broadly noisy and overbearing grand. original materials do deteriorate and the Hall. Not long afterwards a performance of speaking, what I heard gave me no incentive instrument suffers a very noticeable degree Rachmaninov's third concerto at a Henry to take period pianos particularly seriously One visit to the Yehudi Menuhin School of tonal decay in consequence. The piano Wood Promenade Concert drew critical and for years they remained, in my mind, changed my attitude dramatically, when I was used here has been restored, the original declaration that he was a born virtuoso. His curiosities - and usually in such poor condition shown a restored Broadwood square piano. strings and hammer coverings having been repertoire interests have always been very that they seemed not only in danger of falling The sound and feel of this instrument was replaced using new but authentic materials. wide and as well as maintaining a span from to pieces, but probably beyond restoration. incredibly beautiful and I was highly impressed While one cannot state categorically that early classical to late romantic and This viewpoint has been strengthened by the by the variety of tone colours that could be the piano sounds as it would have done impressionistic schools, he has lately been display of pianos of more modern design such achieved. I decided to find out more about when new, it certainly gives a closer picture drawn to the attractions of authentic period as those played by Chopin and lovingly but these pianos and discovered that they can than one in “museum condition”. pianos. misguidedly “preserved” in Zelazowa Wola, indeed be restored, and while there may always Warsaw and Mallorca. be an element of uncertainty as to whether or © 1993 Andrew Lancaster His interest in such pianos resulted in this not the restoration results in a complete picture recording of five Clementi sonatas an I have also seen square pianos that have of the original instrument when new, I feel Peter Katin outstandingly successful venture which was convinced me that they are past hope -one, I that they are as completely convincing as an greeted by critical superlatives, and he believe, still sits in a museum in London, artist’s interpretation (or “re-creation”) of a “There exists no pianist of deeper sensitivity.” continued his series of square piano Ontario, bearing a DO NOT TOUCH label; great work, and no artist will say that he is - The Times recordings with two sets of Schubert having got permission to touch it when I lived one hundred per cent. sure that what he is Impromptus (Diversions 24112), another there some years ago I discovered that so doing is what the composer wanted. Peter Katin is one of Britain's most Schubert recital (Athene 23007) and music much of it was in an advanced state of decline distinguished pianists. His London debut by Chopin (Diversions 24116). that if I played more than the odd note it If the finished product is wholly satisfying, in 1948 started him on a career that has might well disintegrate. Interestingly enough, then the maximum amount of which a human [10] [3]

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being is capable has been achieved, which whatever is played on it - it will produce a aware of the limitations, as well as the held by bolts passing through the wooden is precisely the case with the square pianos very pleasant sound if the notes are played strengths, of the instruments then available. frame, contributes greatly to the strength and I have recently played. with no imagination at all, but like all fine Having the brilliant piano technician tuning stability of the instrument, allowing instruments, it needs to be understood, and F. Collard in his “team”, and with Clementi’s it to withstand the extra tension of heavier This brings me to the matter of how to play the greater the understanding, the greater is requirements as the motivating force, the firm strings. The action employed is the English them. They do not respond to the mechanical the response. Therefore phrasing, rubato and of Clementi and Company very quickly double action but with the added refinement onslaught our modern ears are used to, and the hundreds of other elements that go to acquired a formidable reputation, rivalling of checks to catch the hammers. they have their own unique dynamic and make up an interpretation must be re-thought even the great makers such as Broadwood. tonal range, but here I must dismiss any idea without prejudice. The covering of the hammers is cloth (not that they must be treated as delicate objects. The development of the piano was rapid at felt, which later became associated with One has to find out exactly what they are Muzio Clementi was born in Rome in 1752. this time, progressing from the relatively hammer coverings) except for the top able to do, which involves many adjustments At the age of thirteen he attracted the attention small, intimate pianos being produced in 1802 octave and a half which are still leather to the player‘s technical approach, and if that of Peter Beckford (a wealthy traveller) who to the very highly sophisticated and subtle covered. The heavier gauge strings and is successful the richness and reserve can be decided to patronise him for a number of instrument heard on this disc. It is a “Patent more substantial case produce a fuller, truly amazing. years: this is rather engagingly put in Square Grand”, having a sound board which singing tone of great beauty, while the light Beckford’s own words, “I bought Clementi runs the entire length of the case instead of positive action facilitates very expressive Arm-weight, wrist position, and most of his father for seven years!”. Clementi just occupying the right hand portion as is playing. importantly fingering, must be constantly moved to London in 1774 and died in usual with square pianos. modified to achieve the tonal effects of which Evesham in 1832. An extraordinarily The case is of beautifully figured rosewood the square piano is capable; even the absence inventive character, he played and taught The strings are terminated on hitch pins in a style now recognisably “William IV”. of a soft pedal challenges the player’s ability extensively, ran a very successful publishing carried on a substantial metal plate suspended It is a very glamorous piano, deservedly to vary the sound so that a new meaning can company (in 1807 he acquired the rights for clear of the sound board and shaped to greatly the status symbol of the period. The six be given to the phrase “making a virtue out some of Beethoven’s works) and composed reduce the extra free length of string between octave compass and greater sonorities make of necessity”. All this is of course tied up profusely, although relatively few of his the bridge and the pin. This feature, combined the piano very suitable for the dramatic and inextricably with the interpretation of compositions are heard these days - somewhat with the rigidity of the plate, which is securely lyrical sonatas recorded on this disc. [4] [9]

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effectively bounced into contact with the loving world at this time, the instrument on surprisingly, as he produced over seventy on a modern piano does not have the same strings by a leather covered projection at the which the majority of people would have sonatas as well as concertos and symphonies. effect on a square piano, but I have also been back of the key shank. While effective, the listened to all the piano music they ever heard, He appears to have had quite an influence on made aware that the reverse is also true - range of dynamics was limited and the lower and on which the composers of the time knew other musicians, and there are references to certain passages that sound somewhat trite dynamic range imprecise. In 1786 an their music would be predominantly his music in a few of Mozart’s works, on a modern instrument take on a quite employee of Longman and Broderip, John performed. although Mozart’s opinion of him was less different character when played on the Geib, invented and patented a superbly than kind, to put it mildly. Clementi. effective yet simple ‘double action’ which Clementi employed an intermediate lever to increase Muzio Clementi was regarded in his day as On the other hand John Field was persuaded The five sonatas here almost chose the velocity of the hammer and an escapement one of the greatest living pianists, a virtuoso to demonstrate the square piano to would-be themselves, once I realised that I could not to allow the hammer to fall well away from of enormous repute. He was also considered buyers, but Clementi’s view of Field was just choose them by sitting at my Steinway! the string even if the key was held down. a composer of the first rank and is generally about as unkind! In the middle of all this Therefore one result of this procedure was His mechanism enabled the action to be very acknowledged to have written the first music activity he also developed his business the discarding of one sonata which I had finely adjusted and greatly increased the composed in a style suited specifically for expertise by investing in a firm of instrument initially thought would be an ideal choice, dynamic range available, also improving the the piano as opposed to the harpsichord, his makers, and he eventually ran a business of and the addition of another which I had touch and expressiveness of the square piano. famous Sonatas Op.2, 1773. He was a piano his own. His concert tours in the early part previously not thought a lot of. All of them This action became ubiquitous, ultimately teacher of such standing that to have lessons of the nineteenth century were also useful in have totally different characters. superseding the single action formerly used. with him virtually set the seal of success on exploiting the Clementi piano (in earlier tours his pupils’ careers. In about 1802 he was he had played a harpsichord), which at that The F sharp minor has a superbly lyrical first It is important to remember that the square persuaded, in collaboration with some time had a range of five and a half octaves; movement - one very good reason for piano is an instrument in its own right, as is colleagues, to take over the then bankrupt it was not until 1810 that Clementi produced retaining both repeats - a tragic, almost the harpsichord or clavichord. Those who firm of Longman and Broderip. a six-octave model. I have used a splendid operatic slow movement, and a dance-like cavil at the tone as being different from that six-octave piano of 1832 for this recording. finale, containing those fiendish passages in of a modern piano are missing the point; this His mastery of the piano being of the highest In choosing the sonatas I have been very thirds in which Clementi as a player seemed is the sound that was familiar to the music level of the period meant that he was acutely conscious of the fact that what sounds right to revel, according to Mozart. The B flat [8] [5]

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major is the sonata in which one hears what reminding me of one of Haydn’s sonatas that books have been written on the subject! manufacture by instrument makers of the sounds like a definite reference to Mozart‘s I have often played. There is no slow time, and were not accepted by the musical Die Zauberflöte overture, although of course movement as such, but an exquisite I cannot make more comprehensive public, who either ignored them or were the overture came some years later. It contains “intermezzo” (my term for it) in which the comparisons of the ancient and the modern more positively disapproving. Many of these an uncomplicated slow movement of some player’s liking of embellishments can be put pianos, and in this case it would be early ideas, incorporated in a surviving piano charm, and also one of the two Rondos on to very good use. The Rondo has a slight, inappropriate, as the square piano was a of 1726, were effectively re-introduced later this recording, this one ending with a further humorous theme that can bring a smile with domestic instrument and the forerunner of in the century as the pianoforte evolved. reference to the Zauberflöte theme. each repetition, and is the only finale from the more economical (and sadly the five to end without a coda, using only unimaginative) upright piano. I think it is In the early 1760s a group of instrument The sonata in G minor is somewhat two quiet and simple phrases. enough to say that in playing a square piano makers left Germany, settling in London to perplexing, and the first movement seems one is in effect speaking a different language, avoid the seven years war. One of these was full of ideas which are almost unconnected The last sonata is in F minor, widely regarded and a very absorbing one. Johannes Zumpe, who built small square and certainly not developed, although the as one of the best, and it is certainly highly pianos. In 1768 J. C. Bach performed the apparent reference to Beethoven‘s Eroica dramatic throughout. The first movement © 1993 Peter Katin (revised 2004) first solo piano pieces to be heard at a concert theme is intriguing. Here I found that by conveys a restlessness, an agitation which in England, thereby conferring taking a more leisurely view than the word persists throughout, while the slow movement The square piano ‘respectability’ on the instruments, which “spirito” might suggest, these ideas sound is most profound, with long, tragic phrases, by Andrew Lancaster became immensely fashionable; so much so more complete and better linked. The slow ending without consolation. The finale Experiments were in hand very early in the that no one who considered themselves to movement is one of solemn intensity, and unleashes a torrent of energy, which at the eighteenth century, by Bartolomeo Cristofori be of any consequence would be without the finale is a kind of tarantella, a whirlwind end dashes away into a very dark distance. in Florence and others, to produce a keyboard one. The almost insatiable demand led to a of sound, which also shows the surprising Here, too, is a more disguised Eroica instrument capable of playing both loudly surge in the number of makers producing reserves of power in the piano itself. quotation, but one is never sure if similarities and softly, unlike the harpsichords and these instruments. really mean conscious copying from one spinets. These early piano designs were After this there is the charming sonata in D composer or another, and I am far from extremely successful, but were considered The earliest form had a very simple major, its first movement with its triplet bass convinced of its importance, even though far too complicated and difficult to mechanism, whereby a small hammer was [6] [7]

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RISED COPYING, PUB UTHO LIC PE . UNA RFO ED RMA ERV NC ES E, K R BR OR OA W DC ED AS RD TI O NG C , RE H E IR H IN T G F O O R R R E E N N W T O A D L N O A F T R H E I C S U R D E O C R O P R E D H I N T G F O P R S O T H H I G B I I R T E L D L . A

1993 D & J Recording Ltd. 24113

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FO 8 R F 1132 ULL 7304 TRAC T - 809 K DETAILS SEE BOOKLE

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