Clementi and fortepiano: 17th – 21 September

[vinteuil]

I wonder if Clementi would have liked the sheer power of the modern Steinway, esp. in passages marked f con furia - fz con passione - ff con fuoco in the last movement.

... he might well have "liked". And he then might well have composed differently had he been able to hear what a "modern Steinway" can and can not do...

[doversoul1]

Pianorak

I wonder if Clementi would have liked the sheer power of the modern Steinway, esp. in passages marked f con furia - fz con passione - ff con fuoco in the last movement.

Oh, I don’t know…

As I have always associated the fortepiano with something rather quaint and restrained (?) in more than one sense, this was indeed a being blown away experience. I wonder, though, if this had been played on the modern grand, it might have just possibly sounded … less extraordinary. I thought what made this performance sound so overwhelmingly powerful was a kind of sense of frustration, the power at the very limit yet desperate to go beyond. Mind you, I am no expert on these things, and my response is most likely to be the result of my imagination getting mixed up with Les Troyens I watched recently.

I think this CoW is definitely one of the best in the recent series.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I think this CoW is definitely one of the best in the recent series.

Absolutely!

[David-G]

... and my response is most likely to be the result of my imagination getting mixed up with Les Troyens I watched recently.

A very excellent condition for your imagination, if I may say so.

[decantor]

The term fortepiano is a strange one, invented in recent times to distinguish it from the modern instruments

You say that. But an 1835 Graf instrument at Finchcocks (shown in a photo in David-G's link in the post below) has the term fortepiano inscribed on it. The term was therefore contemporary with the instrument unless the inscription is a later addition. Personally, I had always understood that it was the word pianoforte that came later, to distinguish the more modern instrument from its immediate predecessor.

[David-G]

Very well spotted, decantor! My understanding is that the terms fortepiano and pianoforte were more or less interchangeable at that period. As an example, the maintenance instruction sheet pasted inside Longman and Broderip square pianos of the 1790s reads as follows: "Directions for the management of LONGMAN and BRODERIP'S Patent PIANOFORTES". I think the current distinction between the two terms is of relatively recent origin.

And incidentally, the Polish word for a grand piano is "fortepian".

I am now about a third of the way through today's programme, and it is truly excellent. Highly recommended to anyone interested in early pianos.

[aeolium]

Another wonderful programme, I thought, and some good music too (I particularly liked the first movement of the piano trio). The discussion about Clementi's fortepianos was very interesting - a great story about Beethoven hammering his Broadwood piano so that the broken strings were "mixed up like a thornbush in a gale".

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Extremely interesting indeed and fascinating to hear those instruments, though hearing the twangy and often out of tune sounds does not endear me to listening to them repeatedly.

[Pianorak]

Extremely interesting indeed and fascinating to hear those instruments, though hearing the twangy and often out of tune sounds does not endear me to listening to them repeatedly.

EA - No twangy or out of tune sounds on the following!

. . . Note: Thursday
Sonata in F sharp minor Op.25`5 for piano [1790] Performer: Peter KATIN – Piano
ATHENE, ath-CD4, 1-13

And don't overlook ATH CD7 - Schubert D946, D969 and D780
and ATH-CD5 - Schubert Impromptus D899 and D935 both played on a Clementi square piano of 1832

Schubert/Katin/Clementi : an awsome threesome!

Although no HIPP fan, the above performance of the Schubert D946 is one of my favourites.

[MickyD]

Me too, Pianorak - I once asked Mr Katin if he would be able to give us the Mendelssohn Songs without Words on that piano - he told me that it had been discussed as a possible project, but apparently it sadly never came to pass.

[Peter Katin]

Me too, Pianorak - I once asked Mr Katin if he would be able to give us the Mendelssohn Songs without Words on that piano - he told me that it had been discussed as a possible project, but apparently it sadly never came to pass.

Yes, it was discussed ad nauseum but nothing came of it. I'd already decided which intruments to use, but the location wasn't really good, and there was a difficulty in taking four square pianos into a studio and making them "fit" tonally without too much or too little resonance. I tend to think that Finchcocks would have been ideal but it wasn't possible because of the many other things there.

[MickyD]

Yes, it was discussed ad nauseum but nothing came of it. I'd already decided which intruments to use, but the location wasn't really good, and there was a difficulty in taking four square pianos into a studio and making them "fit" tonally without too much or too little resonance. I tend to think that Finchcocks would have been ideal but it wasn't possible because of the many other things there.

Well, Peter, I live in hope that one day some enterprising producer will take up the project with you - I would love to hear the differences between four square pianos in this repertoire.

[salymap]

Finchcocks is a big house. What a pity Richard Burnett and friends couldn't move pianos etc around for this special recording.