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.

Every student of classical piano has learned at least one of Muzio Clementi's "Progressive" Sonatinas, Op. 36. The pieces were originally published in 1797 and have all but replaced his Gradus ad Parnassum as his most famous work. Clementi intended them as teaching tools, meant for the youth among the burgeoning amateur pianist public. It is a credit to him that they are still used just as he intended. They are "progressive" in that the difficulty of the sonatinas increases with each subsequent one. The first contains little for the left hand to do, but in the sixth, there are more complex rhythms, phrasing, and accompaniment, with the left hand taking the melody in a couple of spots. The emphasis throughout all is on basic piano skills: dynamic control, even touch, and melodic phrasing. However, within each one there are more specific lessons on ornamentation, arm and wrist motion, arpeggios, and more. When the set was re-published in 1803 as a supplement to Clementi's Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte, he included specific instructions on how to play certain ornaments and interpret markings. For example, when discussing the use of staccato, he stated it should be reserved "to give spirit occasionally to certain passages, and to set off the higher beauties of the legato." Sonatina No. 1 in C major is the most widely known, with No. 3, also in C major, and No. 6 in D major following it in popularity. The theme of the opening of the first sonatina shows a strong resemblance to the opening of Scarlatti's Sonata K. 460. (Clementi had studied Scarlatti's works in his own youth.) The second movement of the Sonatina No. 2 introduces easy dotted rhythms to be played dolce, with the note "dolce means sweet, as in taste; now and then swelling some notes." No. 3 is a study of scalar runs, while sextuplet figures are extensively used in the final movement of Sonatina No. 4. No. 5 has an "Original Swiss Air" with six-bar phrases instead of the usual four-bar ones. No. 6 is just two movements, brief but lively. The sonatinas have distinct characters, formed by graceful, charming melodies without much drama and, surprisingly, without much of that bane of the Classical era: the Alberti bass.

Source: AllMusic (https://www.allmusic.com/composition/sonatinas-6-for-p iano-progressive-sonatinas-op-36-mc0002375165 ).

Although originally composed for Solo Piano, I created this Interpretation of the Sonatina in C Major (Op. 36 No. 3) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).