August Alexander Klengel


August Stephan Alexander Klengel was a German pianist, organist and composer.

Biography

Klengel was the son of landscape painter. He showed an early talent for music, and studied piano under Johann Peter Milchmeyer.
In 1803, Muzio Clementi, a renowned teacher, visited Dresden. He accepted Klengel as pupil, and took him with him on his travels. In 1805, they went together with Ludwig Berger to St Petersburg. Clementi next travelled to London, but Klengel remained in St Petersburg until 1811, giving piano lessons. He next moved to Paris in 1812; in 1814, he returned to Dresden; in 1815, he visited London, where the Philharmonic Society commissioned him to write a piece, and he wrote for them his Piano Quintet. In 1816, he was appointed court composer to the King of Saxony, in Dresden. Except for brief visits to Paris and Brussels, he remained in that city for the rest of his life.
His Canons and Fugues for Piano, in All the Major and Minor Keys were first published in 1854, after his death. In them, Klengel attempted to synthesise the lessons he had drawn both from Bach and from Clementi.

Compositions

These include: