Firrincieli/Tonda - Niccol� Jommelli, Muzio Clementi, Giovanni Rutini: Four Hands Music For Harpsichord

Among practices distinguishing the European music scene in the second half of the eighteenth century, the performance of music for two players on the same keyboard is certainly one of the more remarkable developments. The rendition of a four-handed piece on the harpsichord or the fortepiano can be considered an example of the direction that music was about to take: light-hearted, convivial, and educational, in which quality existed alongside the intention to satisfy the new 'galant' tastes of the aristocracy, as well as the needs of the rising middle class. The four-handed genre becomes, in this regard, an ideal setting to express the new musical feeling. On a historical copy of the famous harpsichord maker Martin Sassmann, Alberto Firrincieli and Mario Stefano Tonda perform the singular repertoire that sees protagonists Nicol� Jommelli, Muzio Clementi and Giovanni Maria Rutini, in these compositions reflecting their different peculiarities.