Arietta (after Mozart)
Muzio Clementi (1801)
Description
A piece after Mozart. When this method appeared in 1801, Mozart had been dead for ten years. Clementi had met him: in 1781 the two had been set against each other at the keyboard before Emperor Joseph II in Vienna.
In F major and 6/8: 248 notes, around a minute. An arietta is a little song, and as the name says the piece exists only to let a melody sing plainly. The lilt of 6/8 carries the rhythm of that song directly.
A beginner piece. Feel each bar of 6/8 as two large beats and it matches the breathing of a song; count six and the music is chopped too fine for an arietta to flow. Divide the right-hand melody into units that can be sung in one breath, and let the left hand breathe at the same divisions.
A piano method Clementi published in 1801, comprising 50 lessons that arrange famous Baroque and Classical works for solo piano.
Browse all songs in Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte Op.42 →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Muzio Clementi was born in Rome and moved to England while still young, building a career in London as a pianist, composer, and instrument manufacturer. Often called the "father of the pianoforte," he wrote the study collection Gradus ad Parnassum and numerous sonatinas that remain staples of piano pedagogy. This site includes pieces from his Op. 42 tutor, built on "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" and melodies by Haydn and Mozart, along with movements from the Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 1.
View all works by Clementi →