history. In 1774 Clementi was freed from his obligations to Sir Peter Beckford and he
moved to London. There he appeared as solo harpsichordist at benefit concerts for a
singer and a harpist and also served as a conductor from the keyboard at the King’s
Theatre. During 1779 and 1780 his newly published Sonatas opus 2 became very popular.
His fame and popularity increased and he was regarded as the greatest piano virtuoso of
the day.
In 1781 Clementi started a European tour and travelled to France, Germany and Austria.
In Vienna Clementi agreed with Emperor Joseph II to enter a musical duel with Mozart
for the entertainment of the Emperor and his guests. On 24 December 1781, in the
Viennese court, each performer was called upon to improvise and to perform selections
from his own compositions. The ability of both was so great that the Emperor declared a
tie.
On 12 January 1782 Mozart wrote to his father: ‘Clementi plays well as far as his
execution with the right hand goes. His greatest strength lies in his passages in thirds.
Apart from that he has not a kreuzer’s worth of taste or feeling – in short he is a mere
mechanicus.’ [‘mechanicus’ is Latin for automaton or robot] Mozart went on to say:
‘Clementi is a charlatan, like all Italians. He marks a piece “presto” but only plays
“allegro”. Clementi’s impressions of Mozart were, by contrast, all rather enthusiastically
positive.
The main theme of Clementi’s Sonata in B flat major captured Mozart’s imagination.
Ten years later, in 1791, Mozart ‘borrowed’ it for the overture to his opera ‘Die
Zauberflöte’ (‘The Magic Flute’), so every time his sonata was published Clementi
included a note explaining that it had been written ten years before Mozart began writing
his opera. Clementi’s admiration of Mozart’s music, which was not reciprocated, is
obvious from the large number of transcriptions he made of Mozart’s music including the
overture from this opera.
Clementi stayed in England for twenty years from 1782, playing the piano conducting
and teaching. Two of his celebrated pupils were Johann Baptist Cramer and the Irishman
John Field who in turn influenced Chopin. Clementi also began manufacturing pianos
but in 1807 his factory was destroyed by fire. In the same year he made a deal with
Beethoven, one of his greatest admirers. The deal gave Clementi publishing rights to all
of Beethoven’s music in England. Whilst Clementi has been criticised for making
harmonic ‘corrections’ to Beethoven’s music, his stature in musical history as an editor,
interpreter of Beethoven’s music and composer in his own right, is assured. Beethoven in
later life composed chamber music specifically for the British market because his
publisher was based there.
In 1810 Clementi stopped giving concerts in order to devote all his time to composition
and piano making. On 24 January 1813 in London, Clementi banded together with a
group of other musicians to found the ‘Philharmonic Society of London’ which in 1912
became the Royal Philharmonic Society. In 1830 Clementi moved to live outside