Born shortly after Handel wrote his oratorio Jephtha and dead shortly after Berlioz wrote his Symphonie fantastique, Muzio Clementi failed to write anything equal to the originality of those two composers -- or, certainly, equal to the best of his closer contemporaries, Mozart and Haydn. Yet Clementi remains a significant figure for his pioneering work on behalf of the newfangled piano, that percussive, expressive instrument that quickly displaced the harpsichord at the end of the eighteenth century. His full-scale sonatas and small studies exploited the possibilities of the early piano and groomed the technique of early pianists, and led him to be known as "the father of the piano." His influence on Beethoven has likely been underestimated.

Clementi was a child prodigy, with an appointment as an organist at age 9 and an oratorio to his credit by the time he was 12. In 1766 Clementi's father was persuaded to take the boy to study in England, the country that would remain Clementi's base for the rest of his life. In the English countryside the youth undertook a rigid course of studies, emerging in 1773 for a spectacular debut in London as a composer and pianist. Had Clementi matured anywhere else in Europe, he might have limited himself to the organ and harpsichord; but the piano was enormously popular in England, and Clementi furthered his career by capitalizing on the instrument's expanded capabilities. In 1780, he went on tour to the Continental capitals; in Vienna, Emperor Joseph II instigated a friendly musical duel between Clementi and Mozart.

Etudes and exercises -- the musical equivalent of the multiplication tables -- have two extremes: either they are too repetitive and boring even for the performer to practice or they are so musical sounding that it's hard to believe the performer is learning anything from them. The latter type would be exemplified by the piano etudes of Chopin and Debussy; the former by Hanon. Muzio Clementi's celebrated and didactic Gradus ad Parnassum contains 44 exercises, and most listeners, and pianists definitely, will be happy to hear that they fall closer to the musical end of the spectrum.

Clementi is obviously training the pianist in a particular technique through repetition, but there is always some melodic element and often an element of compositional structure as well. Nos. 9-11 and Nos. 12-15 are suites, and each has a piece using fugal counterpoint. Nos. 16 and 17 are perpetual motion exercises that mirror each other by changing the dominant hand. While Clementi's etudes do not approach the level of appeal or memorability those of Chopin or Debussy, they are able to capture the player's interest. They are also quite substantive, as Marangoni seems to dig right into them as if he were tackling a large project that needs to be finished. Often, he sounds as if he is enjoying himself and the fact that he's able to handle the challenges, although there are spots, such as in No. 17, where he momentarily loses steam..

Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/album/muzio-clementi-gradus-a d-parnassum-vol-1-mw0002045147 ).

Although originally created for Piano, I created this Interpretation of the Canon in E Major from "Gradus ad Parnassum" (Op. 44 No 73) for Violin & Viola.