Composer

Muzio Clementi

Story

Muzio Clementi was born in Rome, Italy, on January 24th in 1752. Being the eldest of seven children of my Roman father, Nicolò, who was a proficient silversmith and his Swiss mother, Magdalena Kaiser. He was born Rome, Italy.
When he was very young, his father became aware of my musical talent. He was taught the rudiments of music by a local church choirmaster named Buroni. When I was 7, he began to take organ lessons with Cordicelli. Then 2 years later, he gained a position as a church organist. In 1766, a wealthy Englishmen, Sir Peter Beckford, was on a trip to Rome. He was so impressed with Clementi that he decided to adopt him and bring him to his home in dorset, where he performed frequently. In England he received an exceptional education in music and academics. He made his first performance on the piano when he was 18 years old. His performance turned out to be a great success and that was the beginning of his thriving career. He began European tours in 1781. He went to France, Deutschland, and even Österreich, and Germany. When he was in Vienna, the Emperor, Joseph II, asked him to enter in a musical duel with Mozart. He performed one of his own compositions, which was the piano sonata in B-Flat major. Mozart played a dazzling series of variations. Guess who won? One year later and for the next twenty years or so, he stayed in England teaching, playing piano, and conducting symphonies. He also started manufacturing pianos but, sadly, a fire destroyed his piano factory in 1807 and he died in 1832 when he was 80 years old. he was buried at Westminster Abbey.