Overview
Additional resources for this book are available on our Manifold site, which can be accessed via https://liverpooluniversitypress.manifoldapp.org/projects/clementi-and-the-woman-at-the-piano This book takes as its historical point of departure the radical appearance in 1779 of technically difficult keyboard music in a set of six sonatas (Op. 2) by Muzio Clementi. The difficult passages contained in this opus are unique amongst keyboard music published for a market that was understood at the time to consist almost entirely of female amateur keyboardists. Previously actively discouraged from practicing or improving their skills due to the restrictive ideologies in place, Clementi’s music increasingly affords female pianists a new kind of musical expression. Clementi and the woman at the piano: Virtuosity and the market for music in eighteenth-century London maps the social, musical, and gendered implications of technically difficult music and helps to underline important changes in Enlightenment culture and keyboard practice. Clementi’s activities initiated the now familiar and modern concepts of repetitive musical practice, the work-concept, virtuosity itself, and the division between amateur and professional. Additionally, Clementi promotes a radical new mode of expression for female pianists that is at first highly controversial but slowly gains acceptance due to a widespread promotion of his music, instruments, and methods. Clementi’s career is in many respects a perfect case study for the tensions between Enlightenment thinking and new Romantic ideologies.**
Full Product Details
Author: Erin Helyard (Artistic Director, Pinchgut Opera; Senior Lecturer, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney)
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Imprint: Voltaire Foundation
Volume: 2022:06
ISBN: 9781800856257
ISBN 10: 1800856253
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 13 June 2022
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.
Reviews
...Clementi, as virtuoso and keyboard composer, endearingly combined acquisitiveness with encouragement for women keyboard artists willing and able to follow his advice. -- Benjamin Ivry, International Piano
Author Information
Erin Helyard has been acclaimed as an inspiring conductor, a virtuosic and expressive performer of the harpsichord and fortepiano, and as a lucid scholar who is passionate about promoting discourse between musicology and performance. He is Artistic Director of the award-winning Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, Australia.
