Composer Biographies

Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)

Essential Biographical Facts

Muzio Clementi was born in Rome, Italy, on January 23, 1752. His full name was Mutius Philippus Vincentius Franciscus Xaverius Clementi!
When he was fourteen years old, his father “sold him” to an Englishman named Peter Beckford. Beckford said,

If the famous Clementi, whom I found here [in Rome] in the year 1766 and bought of his father for seven years,is not still a Catholic, the fault is not with me—I assured the Pope I would not endeavor to convert him.[1]

Thus, from the age of 14 to the age of 21, Clementi was a servant in the home of the Englishman Peter Beckford; and his job was to provide music for his employer’s enjoyment.

How Much Did Clementi Practice?

According to a musician who had a lesson with Clementi when Clementi was visiting Paris,

This is how his life was ordered: he devoted eight hours a day to the harpsichord; and if, because of social obligations which he fulfilled to please Sir Beckford, he was forced to reduce the length of his daily practice, he took note of the deficit and repaid it the following day. Sometimes he was obliged to work twelve or fourteen successive hours in order to remain abreast of the daily régime he had imposed upon himself. It was the works of [Johann] Sebastian [Bach] and [Carl Philip] Emmanuel Bach, of Handel and Scarlatti that he practiced and studied continually; he did this from two different standpoints, that of finger technique, and that of instrumental composition.[2]

How much did Clementi charge for piano lessons?

Clementi charged one guinea for one hour. When you try to answer the question, “How much was our current money worth in the year, say, 1800,” different specialists come up with different answers because of the different approaches that can be taken.
According to some calculations, a guinea in 1800 is roughly equivalent to $100 (U. S.) in 2007. Thus, it’s probably not far wrong to think that Clementi charged about $100 per hour for his lessons, and he often taught for sixteen hours per day. If he taught five days per week for fifty weeks per year, his annual income would have been approximately $400,000.

Clementi Turned Down a Position for the Royal Family Because It Didn’t Pay Enough!

Mrs. Papendiek, was a lady-in-waiting to the queen; and in her recollections, she relates this remarkable story about Clementi:

It was thought advisable for the Queen to engage a music master for the Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth, who should remain at Windsor for those days, and besides giving these lessons, be ready to call to play in the evenings to amuse his Majesty…Who to fix upon now became the question. John Cramer was too young; Dussek was scarcely known; and Hulmandel, although a Wurtemberger, was from Paris. He had married a lady whom he had taught, and she being related to a member of the Convention, prudence, in these warlike times, passed them by. Clementi was applied to, but he was too crafty and shrewd to have anything to do with a court. He gave as his excuse that as he then had health and power to continue his teaching for sixteen hours a day, at a guinea a lesson, he did not wish to break the spell while the public were willing to employ him. These terms he never lessened, except in the instances of Miss Stowe and my cousin Charlotte.[3]

How Stingy Was Clementi?

John Field was undoubtedly Clementi’s favorite student. Field, “the awkward, tractable young Irishman,”[4] may have understood better than anyone how stingy Clementi was. Not only was Clementi a composer, he operated both a music publishing business and a piano manufacturing firm. According to Louis Spohr (1784-1859), “Field was often obliged to play for hours, to display the instruments to the best advantage of the purchasers.”[5]

Spohr also told this interesting story about the way Clementi and Field did their laundry:

It was generally reported that Field was kept on very short allowance by his master, and was obliged to pay for the good fortune of having his instruction with many privations. I myself experienced a little sample of Clementi’s true Italian parsimony, for one day I found teacher and pupil with turned up sleeves, engaged at the washtub, washing their stockings and other linen. They did not suffer themselves to be disturbed, and Clementi advised me to do the same, as washing in St. Petersburgh was not only very expensive, but the linen suffered greatly from the method used in washing it.[6]

What Did Clementi Write That I Should Know?

1. Clementi published a set of six sonatinas (Opus 36) that have been in continuous use since they were published in 1797.

2. Many students still play selected exercises from Gradus ad Parnassum. This was a collection of etudes for piano. Many people believe these exercises inaugurate the modern school of piano playing. It is certainly true that Clementi’s piano style included technical ideas that were not found in the keyboard music that preceded him.

The term Gradus ad Parnassum essentially means ‘steps to perfection.’[7] and it is also the title of a famous music theory book written by J. J. Fux in Vienna. The French composer Debussy (1862-1918) wrote a humorous piece entitled “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum.” In this piece, Debussy portrays a student who is dutifully practicing his technical exercises, but who becomes distracted and plays other things instead. Thus, the purpose of Debussy’s piece is to poke fun at Clementi’s exercises.

3. Clementi also composed many piano sonatas that are quite advanced. Beethoven was aware of Clementi’s composition, and his famous Sonata Pathétique, Opus 13 was modeled on Clementi’s Sonata in G minor, Opus 34, No. 2.

4. Students who have a scholarly bent should know that Clementi published a book entitled Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Pianoforte that gives insights into his beliefs about playing the piano. In this book, for example, Clementi lists various tempi (such as Allegro, Largo, etc.) in order from slowest to fastest; and in some cases, modern performers might be surprised to learn his idea of these terms.

Clementi asserts that performers should determine how sharply to play a staccato tone by considering the nature of the passage being played, he explains his view of how ornaments (such as trills and turns) are to be played, and, perhaps most importantly, he states, “When the composer leaves the LEGATO, and STACCATO to the performer’s taste; the best rule is, to adhere chiefly to the LEGATO; reserving the STACCATO to give SPIRIT occasionally to certain passages, and to set off the HIGHER BEAUTIES of the LEGATO.”
At this point, the “default” style of playing the piano is to play legato; that is, legato playing is assumed unless it is indicated otherwise by the composer. In the history of piano performance, this is an important benchmark.