Childhood Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (baptised Mutius Philippus Vincentius Franciscus Xaverius) was born in
Rome in the
Papal States on 23 January 1752, and baptised the following day at
San Lorenzo in Damaso. He was the eldest of the seven children of Nicolò Clementi, a
silversmith, and Madalena, (Magdalena Kaiser). Nicolò soon recognised Muzio's musical talent and arranged for private musical instruction with a relative,
Antonio Baroni, the
maestro di cappella at
St Peter's Basilica.
Education At the age of seven, Clementi began studies in
figured bass with the organist S. Giovanni Cardarelli, followed by voice lessons from
Giuseppe Santarelli. A few years later, probably when he was 11 or 12, he was given counterpoint lessons by . By the age of 13, Clementi had already composed an
oratorio, ''Martirio de' gloriosi Santi Giuliano e Celso'', Mozart used the opening motif of Clementi's B-flat major sonata (Op. 24, No. 2) in his overture for
The Magic Flute. It was not unusual for composers to borrow from one another, and this might be considered a compliment. Though Clementi noted in subsequent publications of his sonata that it had been written ten years before Mozart's opera—presumably to make clear who was borrowing from whom—Clementi retained an admiration for Mozart, as reflected in the large number of transcriptions he made of Mozart's music, among which is a piano solo version of the
Magic Flute overture.
Teaching From 1783, and for the next twenty years, Clementi stayed in England, playing the piano, conducting, and teaching. Several of his students include
Johann Baptist Cramer,
Thomas Paul Chipp,
Ignaz Moscheles,
Therese Jansen Bartolozzi,
Johann Nepomuk Hummel,
Ludwig Berger (who went on to teach
Felix Mendelssohn), and
John Field (who, in turn, would become a major influence on
Frédéric Chopin).
Publishing and piano manufacturing In 1798, Clementi took over the firm Longman and Broderip at 26
Cheapside (then the most prestigious shopping street in London), initially with James Longman, who left in 1801. Clementi also had offices at 195
Tottenham Court Road from 1806. The publication line, "Clementi & Co, & Clementi, Cheapside" appears on a lithograph, "Music" by
William Sharp after John Wood (1801–1870), circa 1830s. Clementi also began manufacturing pianos, but on 20 March 1807, a fire destroyed the firm's warehouses in Rotten Road, resulting in a loss of about £40,000. That same year, Clementi made an agreement with Beethoven (one of his greatest admirers), which gave him full publishing rights to all of Beethoven's music in England. He
copy edited and interpreted Beethoven's music but has received criticism for editorial work such as making harmonic "corrections" to some of Beethoven's scores. In 1810, Clementi stopped performing in order to devote his time to composition and to piano making. On 24 January 1813, together with a group of prominent professional musicians in England, he founded the Philharmonic Society of London, which became the
Royal Philharmonic Society in 1912. In 1813, Clementi was appointed a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Meanwhile, his piano business had flourished, affording him an increasingly elegant lifestyle. As an inventor and skilled mechanic, he made important improvements in the construction of the piano, some of which have become standard.
Final years in
Westminster Abbey At the end of 1816, Clementi made another trip to the continent to introduce his new works, particularly at the
Concerts Spirituels in Paris. He returned to London in June 1818, after stopping off in
Frankfurt. In 1821, he once again returned to Paris, conducting his symphonies in
Munich and
Leipzig. In London in 1824, his symphonies were featured in five of the six programs at the 'Concerts of Ancient and Modern Music' at the King's Theatre. In 1826, Clementi completed his collection of keyboard studies,
Gradus ad Parnassum, and set off for Paris with the intention of publishing the third volume of the work simultaneously in Paris, London, and Leipzig. After staying in Baden and most likely making another visit to Italy, he returned to London in the autumn of 1827. On 17 December 1827, a large banquet was organised by
Johann Baptist Cramer and
Ignaz Moscheles in his honour at the Hotel Albion. Moscheles, in his diary, says that on that occasion, Clementi improvised at the piano on a theme by
George Frideric Handel. In 1828, he made his last public appearance at the opening concert of the Philharmonic Society. In 1830, he retired from the Society. Clementi moved with his wife Emma (née Gisborne) and his family to the outskirts of
Lichfield in
Staffordshire, and rented Lincroft House on
the Earl of Lichfield's Estate from
Lady Day 1828 until late 1831. He then moved to Evesham, where he died on 10 March 1832, after a short illness, aged eighty. On 29 March 1832, he was buried in the cloisters of
Westminster Abbey. Accompanying his body were three of his students: Johann Baptist Cramer,
John Field and Ignaz Moscheles.
Family He had five children; by his first wife, Caroline (née Lehmann), he had a son who died soon after his birth; by his second wife Emma (née Gisborne), whom he married on 6 July 1811 in St Pancras Old Church, he had two sons and two daughters. Among his descendants are the British colonial administrators
Sir Cecil Clementi Smith and
Sir Cecil Clementi, Air Vice Marshal
Cresswell Clementi of the
RAF,
Sir David Clementi who was a deputy governor of the
Bank of England, and Marjorie Clementi (1927–1997), a pianist and piano teacher who became Professor of the Piano at the
Royal Northern College of Music. Amongst his descendants in Italy was
Rodolfo Graziani,
Marshal of Italy and Viceroy of
Italian Ethiopia in
Fascist Italy, who was related to the composer via his mother, Adelia Clementi. One son, the Rev. Vincent Mucius Clementi (1812-1899), a
Church of England clergyman, emigrated to
Peterborough County, Ontario, where he was incumbent of the Anglican church at
Lakefield, Ontario. Two of his sons, Vincent Mutius Clementi (1835–72) and Theodore Bold Clementi (1837-1882), were Ontario Provincial Land Surveyors at Peterborough. ==Music==