Piano Forum

Pages: [1] Go Down

Topic: Sonatas of Clementi and Hummel (Read 1737 times)

nightwindsonata

PS Silver Member
Full Member
Posts: 157

Sonatas of Clementi and Hummel

on: December 08, 2021, 04:43:24 PM

Hello,

Has anyone on this forum any experience playing the Sonatas of Clementi or Hummel? I've gotten pretty interested in their work (studied scores and stuff for a piano literature class), and I'm pretty fascinated by the opportunity to play a classical sonata that's not by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven; but their writing looks to be extremely dense at times (especially Hummel). Has anyone played their solo music, and if so, was it more technically sensible than one would think from looking at the sheet music? For instance, Hummel's Sonata No. 5 in F-sharp minor is very Lisztian in its approach, but judging from the sheet music it appears to be AS difficult as early Liszt, if not even more so (though still adhering to largely classical forms and rhetoric).

Logged

1st-year Master's Program:
- Ravel Piano Concerto
- Liszt Ricordanza
- Liszt 3 Liebestraums
- Liszt 3 Sonnets

- Rhapsody in Blue
- Dante Sonata
- Schubert Sonata D.780
- Mozart Piano Quartet in Gm

visitor

PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 5294

Re: Sonatas of Clementi and Hummel

Reply #1 on: December 08, 2021, 05:09:21 PM

I did some more that just prelim work ona Hummel sonata and tabled it to come back to it near future when got busy w other stuff , it's great music and sad it gets ignored vs some of the instrumental concertos
He's a bridge composer sort of like Dussek, think romantic approach in scale and form and development ideas but with a slant towards classical idiom , ie think if Beethoven towards after his early period began his forward approaches while using more if Haydn's language for construction

As such it should be manageable from a ,if you can do late Haydn, or say the late Mozart c minor sonata with the c minor fantasia as an intro or prelude to it, should be pretty good as far as your skill kit

If you feel a need to get more of his style under you whole prepping your self to handle it with more finesse I suggest working thru his etudes which have a distinct classical feel to them while looking forward to what Chopin would eventually do with them

He was probably along with Beethoven and Steibelt one of the preeminent virtuosos of his time (his own piano method book is also a great resource )

Haven't done any of the serioso larger clementi but if you're able to grasp Hummel , Muzio shouldn't pose much difficulty

Would also recommend looking at Steibelts work , it's not bad and quite good most of the time actually