To an unknown correspondent, Kalkbrenner writes that his mother-in-law has asked him to relay biographical information about his father, the composer Christian Kalkbrenner: my mother-in-law has charged me with sending you details about the life of my father, which you asked her about. His mother-in-law also asks after the recipient's health, having not seem him for some time. (Kalkbrenner likely enclosed the information about his father on separate paper, as it is not included in this letter).

German-born and raised, Kalkbrenner studied in Germany and Vienna where he met Beethoven, Haydn, and Hummel. But he spent most of his life in Paris and became much more famous than is usually appreciated today. Chopin considered Kalkbrenner truly a giant, who dwarfs all other artists, and dedicated his first piano concerto to him. It was only after the late 1830s that Chopin, Liszt, and Thalberg superseded him as pianists. And it was Kalkbrenner who preceded Liszt in creating transcriptions of all Beethoven's symphonies for solo piano. Kalkbrenner was also a prominent teacher, authored a famous method of piano playing in 1831, and even manufactured some pianos.