Carl Ludvig Lithander - Piano Sonata in C Major [Dedicated to Muzio Clementi]

Carl Ludvig Lithander

(Röicks, Dagö, Estonia, 26 Jan/6Feb 1773 - Greifswald, 17 Dec 1843)

Piano Sonata in C Major

Finnish-Swedish composer and brother of Ernst Gabriel Lithander (1774-1803) and Fredrik Immanuel Lithander (1777-1823). Son of a Lutheran pastor ministering to a Swedish-speaking congregation in what was then a Russian province, Lithander was part of a musical family. Upon the death of his father, he settled in Sweden, where he continued his musical education at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. By 1795 he was teaching mathematics at military schools in Stockholm, while publishing his first works for fortepiano, including sets of variations. Although the bulk of his music, including two operas, dates from after 1800, he was considered one of the most progressive of the early Romantic composers that expanded Classical period forms and structures, setting the stage for Romantic period composers such as Franz Berwald. Lithander, who used several Swedish folk tunes in his compositions, wrote in the style of Mozart and Haydn. His piano sonata in C major is dedicated to Muzio Clementi. He died as a music director and an organist in Greifswald.