Clementi numbers among his pupils more great names in the art of
piano-forte playing than any other great master. This is partly owing
to the fact, it may be, that he began 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. Cramer, previously mentioned, were Zeuner, Dussek, Alex. Kleugel,
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 permanent history of piano-forte playing that we must find his chief
claim on the admiration of posterity. He composed not a few works 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 were written 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 has made such advances during the last half century, there are
several of Clementi's sonatas which tax the utmost skill of such players
as Liszt and Von Billow, to whom all ordinary difficulty is merely a
plaything. As Viotti was the father of modern violin-playing, 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 compositions which pay
large attention to manual skill. His works can not be said to burn with
that sacred fire which inspires men of the highest genius, but they are
magnificently modeled for the display of technical execution, brilliancy
of effect, and virile force of expression. The great Beethoven, who
composed the greatest works for the piano-forte, as also for the
orchestra, had a most exalted estimate of Clementi, and never wearied
of playing his music and sounding his praises. No musician has probably
exerted more far-reaching effects in this department of his art than
Clementi, though he can not be called a man of the highest genius,
for this lofty attribute supposes great creative imagination and rich
resources of thought, as well as knowledge, experience, skill, and
transcendent aptitude for a single instrument.
As far as a musician of such unique and colossal genius 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 was wont to say that no one could play till he
knew Clementi by heart. He adopted many of the peculiar figures and
combinations original with Clementi, though his musical mentality,
incomparably richer and greater 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 musical conceptions; that his
piano works display a greater polyphony, stronger contrasts, bolder
and richer rhythm, broader design and execution, by no means impair
the value of his obligations to Clementi, obligations which the most
arrogant 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 instruments; his imagination shot through and through
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 in music has thus
been singled out as furnishing a vivid illustration of the influence
exerted by Clementi in the department of the piano-forte.
Clementi lived to the age of eighty, and spent the last twelve years of
his life in London uninterruptedly, his growing feebleness preventing
him from taking his usual musical trips to the Continent. He retained
his characteristic energy and freshness of mind to the last, and
was held in the highest honor by the great circle of artists who had
centered in London, for he was the musical patriarch in England, as
Cherubini was in France at a little later date. He was married three
times, had children in his old age, and only a few months before
his death, Moscheles records in his diary, he was able to arouse the
greatest enthusiasm by the vigor and brilliancy of his playing, in spite
of his enfeebled physical powers. He died March 9, 1832, at Eversham,
and his funeral gathered a great 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 from the ingratitude of a
contemporary public. He began 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 Silbermann instrument. When he
died, the magnificent instruments of Erard, Broadwood, and Collard,
to the latter of which his own mechanical and musical knowledge had
contributed much, were in common vogue. Such was the career of Muzio
Clementi, the father of piano-forte virtuosos. Had he lived later, he
might have been far eclipsed by the great players who have since adorned
the art of music. As Goethe says, through 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 unwholesome excess, however, will begin to appear
frequently, for who can suffice to the swift progress and increasing
requirements of the ever-soaring present time?" But, measured by his own
day and age, Clementi deserves the pedestal on which musical criticism
has placed him.