ermanent history of piano-forte playing that we must find his chief
claim on the admiration of posterity. He composed not a few works for
the orchestra, and transcriptions of opera, but these have now receded
to the lumber closet. The works which live are his piano concertos, of
which about sixty were written for the piano alone, and the remainder
as duets or trios; and, _par excellence_, his "Gradus ad Parnassum," a
superb series of one hundred studies, upon which even to-day the solid
art of piano-forte playing rests. Clementi's works must always remain
indispensable to the pianist, and, in spite of the fact that piano
technique has made such advances during the last half century, there are
several of Clementi's sonatas which tax the utmost skill of such players
as Liszt and Von Billow, to whom all ordinary difficulty is merely a
plaything. As Viotti was the father of modern violin-playing, Clementi
may be considered the father of virtuosoism on the piano-forte, and he
has left an indelible mark, both mechanically and spiritually, on
all that pertains to piano-playing. Compared with Clementi's style in
piano-forte composition, that of Haydn and Mozart appears poor and thin.
Haydn and Mozart regarded execution as merely the vehicle of ideas, and
valued technical brilliancy less than musical substance. Clementi, on
the other hand, led the way for that class of compositions which pay
large attention to manual skill. His works can not be said to burn with
that sacred fire which inspires men of the highest genius, but they are
magnificently modeled for the display of technical execution, brilliancy
of effect, and virile force of expression. The great Beethoven, who
composed the greatest works for the piano-forte, as also for the
orchestra, had a most exalted estimate of Clementi, and never wearied
of playing his music and sounding his praises. No musician has probably
exerted more far-reaching effects in this department of his art than
Clementi, though he can not be called a man of the highest genius,
for this lofty attribute supposes great creative imagination and rich
resources of thought, as well as knowledge, experience, skill, and
transcendent aptitude for a single instrument.

As far as a musician of such unique and colossal genius as Beethoven
could be influenced by preceding or contemporary artists, his style as
a piano-forte player and composer was more modified by Clementi than
by any other. He was wont to say tha