Start the year right by celebrating great piano
composers who, themselves, began their lives in January. Several of them rate
high with Tomoko.
Probably her favorite composer, Mozart, was
born in Salzburg on January 27, 1756. Tomoko was married in Salzburg, and
visited Mozart’s landmarks there.
One of the earlier composers, who competed
with Mozart, is Musio Clementi, who was born in Rome on January 23, 1752. He
was influenced by Scarlatti, Haydn and Bach; in turn, he influenced Beethoven
and Chopin, two more favorite composers of Tomoko. Clementi produced is own
brand of pianos and was a music publisher.
Another special composer on Tomoko’s list is
Franz Schubert, who was born in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria, on January 31, 1797.
This early Romantic composer died when he was only 32, but he left over 600
secular vocal works as well as symphonies operas and many piano compositions.
Almost a hundred years later, Parisian Francis
Poulenc was born on January 7, 1899. He wrote light-hearted pieces such as the
piano suite Trois Mouvements Perperpetuels, and in his later years composed
religious pieces.
