J.L. Dussek, Sonata "Élégie Harmonique"

Dussek, the first pianist to sit at the piano the way we do nowadays
As is common knowledge, in the recitals and concerts of our times, the piano is placed on the stage with its longest axis across the width of the stage so that the raised lid acts as a sounding board sending the sound directly to the audience. Thus arranged the instrument, when the pianist takes a seat in front of it, shows his or her profile to the audience, the right profile, for greater rigour... But it was not always like that.

The new concert hall
Before public concerts began, keyboardists and harpsichords, or clavichords, were arranged in any way in relation to the audience because those were intimate evenings in the small space of a room or salon of a nobility member. But when the public piano recital became popular, it was necessary to decide how the instrument (and the pianist) should be arranged in front of those new listeners. The emerging bourgeoisie, comfortably seated in the chairs of a concert hall, was eager to participate avidly in what nobility, aristocracy and clergy had been enjoying for a long time.

J.L. Dussek (1760 - 1812)

The profile of the beautiful Dussek
How to sit? with your back to the audience? facing the front? or sideways? Although not so obvious, there was a pianist who solved this question once and for all. He has a face and a name. Jan Ladislav Dussek is remembered as the first great virtuoso who sat at the piano showing his right side to the public, for the first time in history.
Born in Cáslav, Bohemia, in 1760, the very graceful Dussek (the Parisian public called him le beau Dussek) exhibited his beautiful profile at the age of twenty before ecstatic audiences in Europe, as he was also the first concert pianist to go on tour.

Dussek, composer
A great virtuoso of the instrument, he was also a fruitful composer. His more notable works include several large-scale solo piano pieces, 34 piano sonatas, many piano concertos, sonatas for violin and piano, and various works of chamber music.
He was a close friend of the prince and amateur pianist Ludwig Ferdinand of Prussia. Upon his death – in a battle against the Napoleonic troops in 1806 – he composed a sonata in his memory, which he entitled "Élégie Harmonique".

After the death of his friend and protector, the life of the beautiful Dussek became somewhat messy. He died obese and alcoholic in St. Germain-en-Laye on March 20, 1812.

Sonata in F sharp minor, opus 61, "Élégie Harmonique."
The piece has only two movements:

00:00   Lento patetico - Tempo agitato
07:58   Tempo vivace e con fuoco quasi presto

It is presented here in a solo audio version by American pianist and teacher Constance Keene.