ABSTRACT
Following its initial publication in 1801, twelve editions of Clementi’s Introduction to the Art of playing on the piano-forte were published by Clementi & Co. during the author’s lifetime, contributing significantly to the firm’s commercial success. Further editions were published in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the USA. From 1811 the Introduction was accompanied by a set of exercises and pieces in the Appendix. Much can be learned about Clementi’s working practices from his attention to detail in the early editions of the Introduction. Unusually, and eager to correct some small errors in the first edition, Clementi made some manuscript changes to the copies on sale at his firm, incorporating them into the printed version when a further print run was required a few months later. His oversight of Pleyel’s Paris edition sheds light on his international activities and a Spanish edition of 1811, published and advertised in London, appears to reveal Clementi’s interest in niche diaspora markets. Much can be learned about Clementi’s pedagogy from the revision for later editions of the fifty ‘lessons’ that formed part of the Introduction. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Clementi’s initial choice of repertoire was extremely conservative; thirty of the lessons were by the Baroque composers J.S. Bach, F. Couperin, Handel, Rameau, Scarlatti and others. Clementi later chose a higher proportion of contemporary repertoire, although he continued to experiment with different combinations of popular and ‘learned’ music, reflecting changing public taste, while also ensuring that pianists studied some ‘classics’. The editions of the Introduction are a barometer of performance tastes. As Clementi edited works for inclusion in later editions, he made changes to performance indications that enable us to gauge how the performance practice of the piano was developing in the first decades of the nineteenth century.
