Did any piano pupil escape from the world of Czerny? Me neither. In my youth, I also practised serious finger exercises in Czerny's books on Fingerfertigkeit for hours and hours: strangely, I never thought about the composer Carl CZERNY (1792-1857). Last month I read about Czerny's merits for the first time. He was the teacher of Franz Liszt who paid tribute to Czerny with his 'Studies transcendantes' .
Czerny was born in the year of Mozart's death: 1791. Carl performed Mozart's Concerto (do minor) K491 at the age of nine. At the age of 10, Carl presented his talent to Beethoven while he played Beethoven's Sonata op.13 (The Pathétique). Debussy and Stravinsky loved Czerny's musicality. Czerny, who never married, would normally have made a carreer as virtuoso soloist. He didn't do any of this. Czerny dedicated his whole live to giving piano lessons, about 12 a day. Czerny's fortune went to charity.
Today, I first heard about Czerny's oeuvres: symphonies, chamber music, lieder, concertos, operas, masses,and last but not least piano music. The most of all these music pieces hasn't even been published yet.
Heir of the Mozart age and because he played the world premier of Beethoven's Concerto n° 1 and n° 5, many, many piano pupils over the world are educated in Czerny's musical concept with his books of mechanical exercises up to today. Czerny was an important bridge between classicism and romantism.
My creations as alternative, experimental composer, improviser and multimedia artist put aside, I still play new releases of classical piano standards. This isn't a contradiction. I love extremes and I love to cross the limits of the sky.
Source: Carl Czerny: sous la torture. By: Gaëlle PLASSERAUD, in: Le Pianiste # 19, p. 22
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