Josef Anton Steffan (1726-1797): Sonata per Cembalo

World Première Recording Born in Kopidlno, Bohemia, this composer’s original name was Josef Antonín Štěpán; we also find his name in the Italian form, Giuseppe Antonio Steffani. Such is the case in the manuscript of the present work, “Sonata per Cembalo, da Giuseppe Steffano”. It seems that this work was not published in the 18th century, and as far as I know, hasn’t ever been printed. Strangely, this “sonata” contains only an “Allegro” movement, although sonatas back then practically always had three movements, or at least two. Did Steffan intend for this to be a one-movement sonata? Or perhaps the other movements were somehow separated from this one, and got lost? Or maybe he just never got around to completing the sonata. We will probably never know the answer. Nonetheless, we do have this movement, one that is quite charming. Steffan went to Vienna in 1741 as a fifteen-year-old, fleeing from the Prussian army that was sweeping through Bohemia. Once in Vienna, he was mentored by Count Schlick. He received lessons in composition and harpsichord from Georg Christoph Wagenseil. Before long, Josef Steffan was Wagenseil’s best student, and was one of the most brilliant harpsichordists in Vienna. In 1766, he received the commission of “keyboard master” of the princesses Maria Karolina and Maria Antonia – the latter changing her name to “Marie Antoinette” when she married the heir to the throne of France, the future King Louis XVI. In 1775, he lost his position at court, since an eye illness had caused him to become increasingly blind. During the last 22 years of his life, he was able to compose (one assumes he had an amanuensis to whom he dictated his works). However, he withdrew almost entirely from the social life of the city, and was soon forgotten. David Bolton, “The Digital Harpsichordist” Could it be true – you still haven’t seen my books?! Please do check them out at Amazon! How to Memorize Music – A Practical Approach for Non-Geniuses https://amzn.to/2ElbmKp How to overcome Stage Fright − The ultimate Guide for performing Musicians https://amzn.to/2ScII1J Play it with Feeling! - Expressing Emotion in Musical Performance https://amzn.to/2Sf61bc All available at Amazon.com Please subscribe to my channel! P.S. You might want to join my Facebook Group: "The Digital Harpsichordist":   / 33804732681244