Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) was an Austrian composer and pianist, one of the great keyboard virtuosos of the generation between Mozart and Chopin. Born in Pressburg, now Bratislava, he studied with Mozart and later knew Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert.

His output includes piano concertos, chamber music, masses, operas and many works for solo piano. His concertos and piano sonatas show the brilliant Classical style moving toward early Romantic virtuosity.

Hummel’s music is elegant, graceful and technically demanding, with a polished sense of form and a pianist’s love of figuration. It often bridges the worlds of Mozartian clarity and nineteenth-century display.

As a performer and teacher, he was hugely influential in his own time. Later fashion dimmed his reputation, but his music remains a key to the keyboard world just before the Romantic floodgates opened.