In the 250th Beethoven anniversary year, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has chosen this programme of works by contemporary composers to illuminate and contextualize Beethoven's extraordinary output for piano. In his explanatory note for the album, the pianist writes: 'Just as a mountain peak is always surrounded by other perhaps less lofty but no less fascinating summits, the major works of Beethoven are not isolated rock formations rising from the desert, but, as it were, "Himalayas", forming part of a range in which other mountains might be the best pieces by contemporaries such as Clementi, Hummel, Dussek, and WÃ¶lfl. These composers all knew Beethoven well and were in contact with one another. It is essential to know and to make known their music in order better to understand and more thoroughly appreciate the lingua franca of the music of the time, which in turn is part and parcel of the "spirit of the age", and to be aware of that which unites them, as well as to recognize that which differentiates them and renders each unique. In this year of plentiful Beethovenian commemorations, it appears to me natural, indeed essential, to pay admiring and enthusiastic homage to these composers, each of whom, in his own way, followed his route to the summit.'

Tracklist:

Piano Sonata In E Major, Op. 33 No. 3: I. Allegro
Piano Sonata In E Major, Op. 33 No. 3: II. Andante Cantabile
Piano Sonata In E Major, Op. 33 No. 3: III. Rondo. Allegretto
Piano Sonata In A Major, Op. 50 No. 1: I. Allegro Maestoso E Con Sentimento
Piano Sonata In A Major, Op. 50 No. 1: II. Adagio Sostenuto E Patetico - Canone. Andante Con Moto
Piano Sonata In A Major, Op. 50 No. 1: III. Allegro Vivace
Piano Sonata No. 3 In F Minor, Op. 20: I. Allegro Moderato - Adagio
Piano Sonata No. 3 In F Minor, Op. 20: II. Adagio Maestoso
Piano Sonata No. 3 In F Minor, Op. 20: III. Finale. Presto - Ancor Più Presto
Piano Sonata No. 24 In F-Sharp Minor, Op. 61, C. 211 "Elégie Harmonique": I. Lento Patetico - Tempo Agitato
Piano Sonata No. 24 In F-Sharp Minor, Op. 61, C. 211 "Elégie Harmonique": II. Tempo Vivace E Con Fuoco Quasi Pr
Musical Illustrations (After Beethoven, Clementi, Dussek & Hummel)

UPC: 095115212820
Label: Chandos
Release Date: 6.5.20
Format: CD

Clementi / Bavouzet - Sonatas (CD)