CARL CZERNY (1791-1857) Austrian Pianist and Composer
Who among us does not cringe at the very mention of Carl Czerny? Who has not been bored to distraction for hours at a time playing his mind numbing exercises for the piano? And who has not suffered the pain of forcing his fingers to move faster and faster in myriad ways unintended by nature?
And yet, Carl Czerny was in fact a capable composer, strongly influenced by Beethoven, and his music represents one of the missing links between the classical and romantic pianistic styles. I say missing because his works, like those of many of the major composers of the transition era bridging classicism and romanticism, are virtually unknown today leaving one with an unsettling sense of "... and then there was Beethoven, and suddenly there were Chopin and Schumann and Liszt." as though these musical geniuses somehow appeared, uninfluenced, out of the ether.
Czerny's music, as you will hear, was not of the first rank. It is well crafted music, charming, with occasional touches of genius, but harmonically unimginitive and as such sounds dated. I find his "Figaro fantasy delightful. It is performed below by the brilliant pianist, Cyprien Katsaris. And the Rode Variations are lots of fun, particularly under the hands of a master pianist like Vladimir Horowitz who makes magic with every trill.
You will hear the strong influence of Beethoven and many similarities to Schubert. Some of his music comes across as unsatisfying, Beethoven and Schubert without the genius, but there are hints of Mendelssohn to come that are delicious.
It is interesting to note that in the two sonatas represented here, Czerny adds a fifth movement, a fugue, as a look backwards to the roots of classicism. The first Sonata predates Beethoven's use of the Fugue in his piano sonatas but the second was written after Beethoven's Hammerklavier with the magnificent fugue in the final movement. Can it be that Czerny inspired Beethoven's use of this ultimate in contrapuntal textures in the latter's works in sonata form?
Piano Sonata n°1 in Ab Major Op 7 (1810) Daniel Blumenthal, pianist Recorded in 1994
i. Andante, Allegro moderato ed espressivo, Andante rec 1994
ii. Prestissimo agitato
iii. Adagio espressivo e cantabile
iv. Rondo, Allegretto
v. Capriccio fugato, Tempo moderato
Piano Sonata n°2 in A minor Op 13 (1820) Daniel Blumenthal, pianist
i. Molto Allegro
ii. Adagio sostenuto iii. Scherzo, Presto
iv. Allegro agitato v. Allegro energico
Variations on a Theme by Rode "La Ricordanza" Op. 33 Vladimir Horowitz, pianist
Fantaisie Brillante on themes of Mozart's 'Figaro' Op 493 Cyprien Katsaris, pianist
Grande Sérénade Concertante for Clarinet, Horn, Violoncello and Piano Op 126 Claudius Tanski, piano Dieter Klöcker, clarinet Jan Schroeder, horn Martin Menking, cello
i. Introduzione: Adagio ii. Allegro grazioso (beginning)
ii. Allegro grazioso (conclusion)
iii. Adagio iv. Finale: Allegro vivace con fuoco
Piano Concerto in A minor Op 214 Felicja Blumental, piano Helmut Froschauer conducting the Vienna Chamber Orchestra
i. Allegro moderato (beginning)
i. Allegro moderato (conclusion)
ii. Adagio con moto
iii. Rondo: Allegro con anima (beginning)
iii. Rondo: Allegro con anima (conclusion)
This last performance is of another set of variations by Carl Czerny. Even though the pianist is not yet of professional caliber, I include it because there is precious little of Czerny's music available for me to share with you. And not yet because this young Russian pianist, who was 11 years old when this recital was taped by her father, seems clearly on track to become a serious virtuoso, Russian style. Her Father has posted a number of videos of this remarkable young woman pianist on YouTube, her recitals over the three years since the one below. I am planning a section on the future piano virtuosos and will include her performances if they remain available on YouTube. I promise you her Rachmaninov is very impressive.
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