Introduction
In 1772, Wilhelm Cramer, a virtuoso violinist from Stuttgart in the Duchy of Württemberg, settled in London, becoming a leading figure in concert halls and in the Court of King George III. Soon afterwards, his infant son Johann Baptist Cramer (1771-1858) joined him in England.
BY 1784, thirteen-year-old Johann Baptist Cramer was such a naturally gifted pianist that Muzio Clementi, his distinguished teacher, performed a duet with him in public.* Four years later, Johann toured Europe, and again in 1799, attracting the notice of both Haydn and Beethoven, who declared him the finest pianist of the day.
Cramer returned to England in 1800, and settled down. London was very proud of him, calling him ‘Glorious John’, but he preferred private music-making to the stage, and made his living as a teacher, composer and publisher: it was John who handled the publication of Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, and memorably nicknamed it ‘the Emperor’.*
Both Beethoven and Chopin used Cramer’s Eighty-Four Studies for the piano in teaching, and Schumann reckoned them the best of their kind; but his nine piano concertos and scores of sonatas, capriccios and variations have been sadly neglected, chiefly because his forward-looking harmonies and passage-work are often obscured by his nostalgic fondness for Bach and Mozart.
See our post Muzio Clementi. Clementi was apparently highly influential, though he had Cramer for only a year before Clementi’s own international career called him away. Other teachers in London included Carl Friedrich Abel, J. D. Benser, and Johann Samuel Schroeter.
See Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major at YouTube (Murray Perahia and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields).
Cramer was born in Mannheim on February 24th, 1771, and died at home in Kensington, London, on April 16th, 1858. His younger brother Franz, a violinist like their father, was appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1837, remaining in the post until his death in 1848.
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Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Settle. Thirteen. Year.
2 Both. Nine. Score.
3 Live. Living. Public.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Study. 2. Handle. 3. Tour. 4. Piano. 5. Score. 6. Music. 7. Make. 8. Kind. 9. Variation.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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