There is a lot to love about these classical piano composers
who were born in February.
Michael Praetorius was born in 1571 in Creuzburg, Germany.
His father was a Lutheran pastor, so it is not surprising that Praetorius
served as an organist. His compositions were published as 17 volumes of music, mainly
of sacred music such as chorales,
George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in
Halle, Germany. His organ concertos may have been inspired by his home town,
which attracted famous musicians. Even small churches had good organists. Handel’s
father hired one of those organists to instruct Handel – and he was Handel’s
only teacher.
Gioachino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792, in Pesaro,
Italy. While he is most known for his 39 operas, such as Guillaume Tell,
he also wrote songs for piano. Rossini and his wife launched a weekly evening
salon, which featured more than 150 pieces he wrote for them, such as solo piano
pieces.
Felix Mendelssohn was born on February 3, 1809, in Hamburg.
Mendelssohn served as a pianist and organist as well as composing for those
instruments. His mother gave him piano lessons starting when hie was six years
old. His first published works were three piano quarters.
Leopold Godowsky was born on February 13, 1870, in Vilnius,
Lithuania. He proficiently played the piano and composed by age five. Godowsky was a
virtuoso pianist, and his technical knowledge informed his compositions for the
piano in terms of hands’ movements. He also taught at the Chicago Conservatory.
Our hearts go out to them.
