Clementi: Complete Orchestral Works (1992)

At first blush it seems odd that the complete orchestral works of Muzio Clementi would fit on just three discs. But that's the case. Although the prolific Italian lived 80 years, he was in his lifetime, and has remained ever since, best known as a pianist-composer with dozens of piano sonatas plus the monumental technique builder Gradus ad Parnassum to his credit. Also, some of the few symphonies he wrote are lost and likely to remain so. But, small though it may be, Clementi's orchestral works are very worth exploring for ... Read More

At first blush it seems odd that the complete orchestral works of Muzio Clementi would fit on just three discs. But that's the case. Although the prolific Italian lived 80 years, he was in his lifetime, and has remained ever since, best known as a pianist-composer with dozens of piano sonatas plus the monumental technique builder Gradus ad Parnassum to his credit. Also, some of the few symphonies he wrote are lost and likely to remain so. But, small though it may be, Clementi's orchestral works are very worth exploring for fans of the classical era. Clementi wrote in roughly the same style and language as Mozart, Haydn, and the young Beethoven. Perhaps only his Symphony No. 3, nicknamed "The Great National" because it quotes the British national anthem, and his Symphony No. 4 belong in that exalted league in terms of quality. But compared with symphonies by composers like Rosetti, Gossec, or Dittersdorf, even Clementi's earlier symphonies are as interesting and often more formally and melodically... Read Less