A Journey to Italy

The Journey of Italy starts with "Italian Concerto" by J.S. Bach. Although Bach frequently traveled, he never ventured beyond a 150-mile radius of his birthplace, and never left Germany. However, the "Italian Concerto" shows such broad curiosity about different languages of music, and it is named as one of the iconic works by J.S. Bach. The Italian-born British pianist Muzio Clementi has been called "Father of the Pianoforte," his piano sonatas present a significant influence by Domenico Scarlatti's harpsichord school. Both composers' sonata offers a fluent and technical legato style, which brings the pianist a fresh grace and spirit into the performance. One of the most important poets of the Middle Ages and the most celebrated literary writer in the Italian language brought a great masterwork to the music world-- Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata by Franz Liszt. This piano work is a "must-played" for a pianist in a lifetime. The journey will also bring to the oldest remembered European musical themes, "Corelli's Theme." It originated from Spanish dance and developed by Italian Composer Corelli. Also, it has been used widely in more than 150 composers' instrumental works, which shows the secure connections of "classic" styles between the 17th century and modern generations. For example, Rachmaninoff used this theme in his piano variations full of variety and most challenging techniques.