Johann Nepomuk Hummel is often thought of as a rivel to Beethoven, but Hummel's piano music is closer to the Classical era than the Romantic era. The way Hummel used long melodic ideas, without sophisticated development or harmony, and stuck closely to conventional ideas of harmony and structure, have caused many to dismiss his piano music altogether. Christoph Hammer hasn't, and the pieces he chose for this disc are a few of the more lasting in Hummel's keyboard output. Hammer very ably demonstrates that these works are ...
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Johann Nepomuk Hummel is often thought of as a rivel to Beethoven, but Hummel's piano music is closer to the Classical era than the Romantic era. The way Hummel used long melodic ideas, without sophisticated development or harmony, and stuck closely to conventional ideas of harmony and structure, have caused many to dismiss his piano music altogether. Christoph Hammer hasn't, and the pieces he chose for this disc are a few of the more lasting in Hummel's keyboard output. Hammer very ably demonstrates that these works are better suited to the fortepiano than Beethoven's, which often seem to overwhelm the instrument's capabilities with their power, and that Hummel's would sound equally well on a modern piano. Hammer plays all of these works with a very fluid and naturally developed sense of drama. The sonatas are much less volatile and intense than Beethoven's, but the range of emotion that Hammer gives them has a depth of character that aspires to that of the Romantics. The Fantasie: La Contemplazione...
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