The Natural Piano Blog

Piano was invented in Italy, but it replaced the harpsichord thanks to Germany and England.  Muzio Clementi, who started the specific teaching of the instrument, was born in Rome but worked in England. Ferruccio Busoni, ruler of the concert scene, was born in Empoli but worked in Germany.  Only in the twentieth century appeared the first Italian who could compete with the most important pianists of other nations: it was …

A fascinating performance of a "mysterious" music written for harpsichord in 1717

As the background music of this web site you can listen to this beautiful piece of music written for harpsichord in 1717 by François Couperin, whose "mysterious" title is probably meant to be evocative rather than a reference to a specific object, musical or otherwise.

The work, written in rondeau form employing a variant of the traditional romanesca in …