Clementi: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Muzio Clementi was ‘The Father of the pianoforte’, a performer, teacher, publisher and manufacturer of pioneering importance. But in addition to the works for piano, he also wrote a series of symphonies which, along with Cherubini’s D major Symphony (Naxos 8.557908), are the only works by an Italian composer to stand comparison with the great Viennese symphonies of the time. Colourful, characterful and atmospheric, these important works show the influence of Haydn, but also, in their orchestral richness, of Beethoven and Schubert.