| Italian composer and highly celebrated piano
virtuoso, one of the greatest piano teachers of his era, and an important
piano manufacturer. Born in Rome, he studied music in Wiltshire, England,
from 1766 to 1770; he then moved to London, where he taught piano, performed,
and established his piano manufacturing business and a music-publishing
house. As a composer he is best known for his études Gradus ad Parnassum
(Steps to Parnassus, 1817), a series of 100 studies that are still used
for teaching the piano. He also composed several symphonies and many sonatas
and sonatinas for the piano. Stylistically, Clementi’s music belongs
to the classical era (c. 1750–c. 1820). His students included the Irish
composer John Field and the German-French composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. |