Cramér Piano Etudes, Sixty Pieces

Author: Cramer
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-04-01
Features: Johann Baptist Cramer was a German composer, pianist, and music publisher who resided in England. Born on February 24, 1771, in Mannheim, Germany, into a musical family, his grandfather Jacob and father William were both violinists in Mannheim. In 1772, William went to London to perform, and two years later, his wife accompanied young Johann to London. William taught his son to play the violin from a young age, but Johann's interest lay more in the piano. At the age of seven, he began studying with Benso, and soon after, switched to the renowned pianist Schmitt and Clementi, who were residing in England. Although he studied under Clementi for only a year, it greatly benefited the formation of his artistic character. From 1785, he studied theory and composition with the German composer Abel, who was living in London, and delved into the works of Clementi, Schmitt, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, D. Scarlatti, J.G. Müthel, P.D. Paradies, Haydn, and Mozart. As early as 1787, Cramer came into contact with Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, and from then on, he devoted himself to Bach, benefiting greatly from it throughout his life. On April 5, 1781, Cramer made his debut in London at his father's annual charity music concert. In 1784, he performed a duet for two pianos with Clementi at a concert. In 1788, Cramer left England for the first time to perform in major cities in France and Germany. In France, he performed many unpublished manuscripts of J.S. Bach. Some of his early piano sonatas were published during his time in France. In 1791, he returned to England and began to on the musical stage, performing frequently over nine consecutive seasons, becoming one of England's most popular young pianists. With ambitious aspirations, he dared to compete with the older piano masters. He excelled in various professional concerts and those organized by music agent Salomon. However, it was during Salomon's invitation to Haydn to visit London that the young Cramer met the sixty-year-old Haydn in a foreign land, forming a lifelong friendship. In 1799, Cramer left London for the second time to perform in the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria. In Vienna, he met Beethoven, who was a year older than him, and reunited with Haydn. Over the last three decades of the 18th century, he interacted with almost all the most famous musicians in Europe, including Dussek, Cherubini, Weigl, Hummel, and the aforementioned classical masters. Later, he also met Ries, Carl Krebs, Weber, Czerny, Moscheles, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Liszt. He vigorously promoted the works of the composers he admired, passionately performed Bach and Mozart, and introduced Beethoven's sonatas to the British audience. In addition to performing at public concerts, he also enjoyed playing these works at private musical gatherings to expand his social influence. After 1800, most of Cramer's musical career was spent in England. In addition to performing, he also taught private students, with the highest fee reaching one gold coin (approximately 21 shillings) per lesson. From 1816 to 1818, he traveled again for performances, visiting Amsterdam and his hometown of Mannheim. He continued to make new musical connections abroad but significantly reduced his public performances. The turn of the 18th and 19th centuries marked the peak of his performing career, especially in London, where he gained immense fame. The British audience enthusiastically praised his performances, calling him "Glorious John." He was one of the founders of the London Philharmonic Society in 1813. When the Royal Academy of Music was established in 1822, he was appointed as a director. In 1824, Cramer, along with Edison and, followed in the footsteps of Clementi in founding the "Cramer-Edison-Pearl Publishing Company," which primarily published piano scores and flourished greatly. After his farewell concert in London in 1835, Cramer began to withdraw from the musical stage, announcing his retirement. After retiring, he lived in Paris for ten years before returning to England in 1845 to spend the rest of his life. He died on April 16, 1858, in his residence in Kensington, Greater London, at the age of 87, and was buried in Brompton Cemetery. Cramer's piano performances were widely admired by generations of pianists in the 19th century. According to his student Ries, Beethoven considered him one of the finest pianists of his time. His expressive legato playing was revered by both contemporary and later pianists as a model. The Bohemian pianist Moscheles highly praised his legato, calling it "almost transforming Mozart's adagio into a vocal piece." He was renowned for his skill in improvisation and his effortless, swan-like fluency of the ten fingers. His classical-style playing differed greatly from the dramatic expressions of later performers. As a composer, Cramer's works were primarily for the piano, including over 100 sonatas, 8 concertos, more than 200 etudes, various forms of piano pieces (caprices, dances, rondos, fantasias, improvisations, variations, nocturnes, preludes), as well as quartets, quintets, divertimenti, and songs. His early sonatas were mostly chamber works for piano and string instruments or flute, with a light, lively, and accessible style. After 1800, his sonatas shifted toward solo piano, some being meticulously crafted and rigorous, while others retained a popular charm, and some even bore a romantic flavor with fantastical titles such as "Elegy," "Epilogue," "Part I," "Part II," "Part III," "Return to London," "Half," "A," "B," "C," "D," "," "Second," "Third," "Cramer's Pet," "Welsh Pleasures," and so on. These sonatas featured flexible harmonies and textures, often using large-scale, wandering accompaniment patterns. The later sonatas, though fewer in number, still contained many valuable and beautiful works. There is evidence that Beethoven drew inspiration from Cramer's sonatas, and Schumann also considered Cramer and Moscheles to be the most outstanding composers of sonatas of their generation. Cramer's 60 Piano Etudes were compiled by the 19th-century German pianist and conductor von B??lo from his 100 Progressive Etudes, which were originally composed by Cramer. These traditional piano pieces, edited and published by von B??ло, include works by Bach, D. Scarlatti, Beethoven, Cramer, Weber, and Chopin.