Carl Czerny
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Carl Czerny (; ; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and his books of studies for the piano are still widely used in piano teaching. He was one of
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's best-known pupils and would later on be one of the main teachers of
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
.


Early life


Infancy

Carl Czerny was born in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
(
Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; ; "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna () in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th district), forms a large island surrou ...
) and was baptized in St. Leopold parish. His father was of
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
origin; his mother was
Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...
n. Czerny came from a musical family: his grandfather was a violinist at Nimburg, near
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, and his father, Wenzel, was an oboist, organist and pianist. When Czerny was six months old, his father took a job as a piano teacher at a Polish manor and the family moved to Poland, where they lived until the
third partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...
prompted the family to return to Vienna in 1795. As a child prodigy, Czerny began playing piano at age three and composing at age seven. His first piano teacher was his father, who taught him mainly
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
,
Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
and
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
. He began performing piano recitals in his parents' home. Czerny made his first public performance in 1800 playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor.Mitchell (1980)


Studies with Beethoven

In 1801, Wenzel Krumpholz, a Czech composer and violinist, scheduled a presentation for Czerny at the home of Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven asked Czerny to play his '' ''Pathétique'' Sonata'' and ''Adelaide''. Beethoven was impressed with the 10-year-old and accepted him as a pupil. Czerny remained under Beethoven's tutelage until 1804 and sporadically thereafter. He particularly admired Beethoven's facility at improvisation, his expertise at fingering, the rapidity of his scales and trills, and his restrained demeanour while performing. Czerny's autobiography and letters give many important references and details of Beethoven during this period. Czerny was the first to report symptoms of Beethoven's deafness, several years before the matter became public. Of his first meeting with Beethoven, he wrote: "I also noticed with that visual quickness peculiar to children that he had cotton which seemed to have been steeped in a yellowish ointment, in his ears." Beethoven selected Czerny as pianist for the premiere of the former's Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1806 and, at the age of 21, in February 1812, Czerny gave the Vienna premiere of Beethoven's "Emperor" Piano Concerto. Czerny wrote that his musical memory enabled him to play virtually all of Beethoven's piano works by heart without exception and, during the years 1804–1805, he used to play these works in this manner at Prince Lichnowsky's palace once or twice a week, with the Prince calling out only the desired opus numbers. Czerny maintained a friendship with Beethoven throughout his life, and also gave piano lessons to Beethoven's nephew Carl.


Later career


Teacher and composer

At the age of fifteen, Czerny began a very successful teaching career. Basing his method on the teaching of Beethoven,
Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian-British composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor (music), conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly ac ...
and
Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri, and ...
, Czerny taught up to twelve lessons a day in the homes of Viennese nobility. His 'star' pupils included Theodor Döhler, Stephen Heller, Anna Sick, and Ninette de Belleville. In 1819, the father of
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
brought his son to Czerny, who recalled:
He was a pale, sickly-looking child, who, while playing, swayed about on the stool as if drunk...His playing was... irregular, untidy, confused, and...he threw his fingers quite arbitrarily all over the keyboard. But that notwithstanding, I was astonished at the talent Nature had bestowed upon him.
Liszt became Czerny's most famous pupil. He trained the child with the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, Ignaz Moscheles and
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
. The Liszt family lived in the same street in Vienna as Czerny, who was so impressed by the boy that he taught him free of charge. Liszt was later to repay this confidence by introducing the music of Czerny at many of his Paris recitals. Shortly before Liszt's Vienna concert of 13 April 1823 (his final concert of that season), Czerny arranged, with some difficulty (as Beethoven increasingly disliked child prodigies) the introduction of Liszt to Beethoven. Beethoven was sufficiently impressed with the young Liszt to give him a kiss on the forehead. Liszt remained close to Czerny, and in 1852 his '' Études d'exécution transcendante'' were published with a dedication to Czerny. Czerny left Vienna only to make trips to Italy, France (in 1837, when he was assisted by Liszt) and England. After 1840, Czerny devoted himself exclusively to composition. He wrote a large number of piano solo exercises for the development of the pianistic technique, designed to cover from the first lessons for children up to the needs of the most advanced virtuoso. (see List of compositions by Carl Czerny).


Death

Czerny died in Vienna at the age of 66. He never married and had no near relatives. His large fortune he willed to charities (including an institution for the deaf), his housekeeper and the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna, after making provision for the performance of a
Requiem mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...
in his memory.


Compositions


Overview

Czerny composed a very large number of pieces (more than one thousand and up to Op. 861). Czerny's works include not only piano music (études, nocturnes, sonatas, opera theme arrangements and variations) but also masses and choral music, symphonies, concertos, songs, string quartets and other chamber music. The better known part of Czerny's repertoire is the large number of didactic piano pieces he wrote, such as ''The School of Velocity'' and ''The Art of Finger Dexterity.'' He was one of the first composers to use étude ("study") for a title. Czerny's body of works also include arrangements of many popular opera themes. The majority of the pieces called by Czerny "serious music" (masses, choral music, quartets, orchestral and chamber music) remain in unpublished manuscript form and are held by Vienna's Society for the Friends of Music, to which Czerny (a childless bachelor) willed his estate.


Piano music

Czerny's
piano sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movemen ...
s show themselves as an intermediate stage between the works of Beethoven and Liszt. They blend the traditional
sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...
elements with Baroque elements, such as the use of
fugato In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...
, and free forms of fantasy. Recordings of these sonatas have been made by Martin Jones, Anton Kuerti and Daniel Blumenthal. Czerny's piano nocturnes show some of the elements present in Chopin nocturnes, such as the rhythmic fluidity and the intimate character. Chopin met Czerny in Vienna in 1828 and may have been influenced by his nocturnes. Czerny composed approximately 180 pieces that bear the title "Variations". Among them is ''La Ricordanza'', Op 33, which
Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (November 5, 1989) was a Russian and American pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all time, he was known for his virtuoso technique, timbre, and the public excitement engendered by his playing. Life ...
recorded. Czerny used not only his own themes but themes from other composers as well, including
Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally whe ...
,
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
,
Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...
,
Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...
,
Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...
,
Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
, Heinrich Marschner,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
,
Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...
,
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...
,
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
,
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...
and many others. These works range from solo piano pieces to piano pieces for four, six, and eight hands, with some variations having optional accompaniment of orchestra or string quartet. Czerny sometimes combined his variations with other genres, such as fantasy, rondo, or impromptu. Czerny was one of 50 composers who wrote a '' Variation on a theme of
Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...
'' for Part II of the '' Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' (published 1824). He also wrote a coda to round out the collection. Part I was devoted to the 33 variations supplied by Beethoven, his '' Diabelli Variations'', Op. 120. Together with Liszt, Chopin, Henri Herz, Johann Peter Pixis and
Sigismond Thalberg Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. Thalberg asserted that he ...
, Czerny was a contributor to the compendium set of variations for piano, '' Hexameron'' (1837).


Other compositions

The seven symphonies of Czerny began to be recorded in the 1990s. In the 21st century, two new symphonies came to light (Symphony No. 6 and a large Symphony written in 1814); also two overtures (in C Minor and E Major) and some symphonic choral music (Psalm 130 and "Die Macht des Gesanges"). Czerny was a prolific composer of chamber music, normally including the piano: Trios for strings and Piano, Quintets for strings and Piano, Sonatas for Violin and Piano, and also Piano Variations with Flute, Horn, and other instruments. However, there are many works without piano, including string quartets, which have enjoyed a new appreciation in recent years. Czerny, a devout Catholic, also composed many religious pieces. These works include a number of Masses and hymns.


Publications

In 1842 Czerny published an autobiographical sketch, "Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben" ("Memories from My Life"). Other works by Czerny, apart from his compositions, include: his edition of
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
's ''
The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time ''clavier'' referred to a variety of keyboard instruments, ...
''; "Letters to a young lady, on the art of playing the pianoforte"; his three-volume "School of Practical Composition" (published as his Op. 600), of which the last volume is a treatise on orchestration; his edition of
Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (26 October 1685 – 23 July 1757) was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque music, Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical peri ...
's
sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...
(1840); and "On the proper performance of all Beethoven's works for piano" (1846), as well as several editions of Beethoven's works for piano.


Legacy


Influence

Czerny can be considered as a father of modern piano technique for generations of pianists, when it is taken into account that many of his students, such as Theodor Leschetizky,
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
and Theodor Kullak, also became teachers and passed on his legacy. The US music magazine '' The Etude'' presented in its issue of April 1927 an illustration (see above) showing how Czerny could be considered the father of modern piano technique and the basis of an entire generation of pianists. This list can be extended to the present day: examples of 'descent' are: * Wanda Landowska: pupil of Moritz Moszkowski ← Theodor Kullak ← Czerny; *
Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
: pupil of
Anna Yesipova Anna Yesipova (born Anna Nikolayevna Yesipova; ; ) was a Russian pianist. Life Yesipova was one of Teodor Leszetycki's most brilliant pupils. She made her debut in Saint Petersburg in 1874 attracting rave reviews and the artistic admiratio ...
← Theodor Leschetizky ← Czerny; *
Claudio Arrau Claudio Arrau León (; February 6, 1903June 9, 1991) was a Chilean and American pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque music, baroque to 20th-century classical music, 20th-century composers, especially B ...
: pupil of
Martin Krause Martin Krause (17 June 18532 August 1918) was a German concert pianist, piano teacher,James Methuen-Campbell (2001). Krause, Martin. ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press Music criticism, music critic, and writer. Career Krause was ...
← Liszt ← Czerny; *
Ernő Dohnányi Ernő or Erno is a Finnish language, Finnish and Hungarian language, Hungarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ernő Balogh (1897-1989), Hungarian pianist, composer, editor, and educator *Ernő Bánk (1883-1962), Hunga ...
: pupil of István Thomán ← Liszt ← Czerny; *
Georges Cziffra Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) * Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses * Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 1 ...
: pupil of István Thomán ← Liszt ← Czerny; *
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...
: pupil of
Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied m ...
← Martin Krause ← Liszt ← Czerny; *
Van Cliburn Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (July 12, 1934February 27, 2013) was an American pianist. At the age of 23, Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold ...
: pupil of Rildia Bee Cliburn ← Arthur Friedheim ← Liszt ← Czerny; *
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
: pupil of Alexander Siloti ← Liszt ← Czerny; * Leon Fleisher: pupil of
Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-born classical pianist, composer and Pedagogy, pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th ...
← Theodor Leschetizky ← Czerny; Czerny wrote an essay on the correct performing of the piano sonatas of Beethoven, "On the Proper performance of all Beethoven's works for piano" (1846).
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
wrote about it to
Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...
in a letter of March 1878: "I certainly think Czerny's large pianoforte course Op. 500 is worthy of study, particularly in regard to what he says about Beethoven and the performance of his works, for he was a diligent and attentive pupil ... Czerny's fingering is particularly worthy for attention. In fact I think that people today ought to have more respect for this excellent man"Letters of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, ed. Berthold Litzmann, 2 vols. New York: Longamnn, Green, 1927; rep., New York: Vienna House, 1973 In a letter written to
Otto Jahn Otto Jahn (; 16 June 1813, in Kiel – 9 September 1869, in Göttingen), was a German archaeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music. Biography After the completion of his university studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, ...
of 30 October 1852, Liszt wrote: "In the twenties, when a great portion of Beethoven's creations was a kind of Sphinx, Czerny was playing Beethoven exclusively, with an understanding as excellent as his technique was efficient and effective; and, later on, he did not set himself up against some progress that had been made in technique, but contributed materially to it by his own teaching and works."Autograph in the Liszt archives of the Musik-Verein in Vienna. Czerny had an influential role in defining the
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
of classical piano repertoire. Volume 4 (1847) of his ''Theoretico-Practical Piano School'' listed what he considered to be the most important piano works of the previous eighty years, including works of Mozart, Clementi, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and works of his own.


Reputation

From Czerny's death until the end of the 20th century, negative views about his work have predominated.
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
in the ''
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik The New Journal of Music (, and abbreviated to NZM) is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, Julius Knorr and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appe ...
'' (New Musical Gazette), said of Czerny's op. 424: "It would be difficult to find a failure of imagination greater than that of Czerny." Liszt included several Czerny compositions in his repertoire and also dedicated his twelve '' Transcendental Études'' to Czerny. He also collaborated with Czerny on the '' Hexaméron''. But even Liszt suggested, in an 1852 letter to
Otto Jahn Otto Jahn (; 16 June 1813, in Kiel – 9 September 1869, in Göttingen), was a German archaeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music. Biography After the completion of his university studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, ...
: "It is ... a pity that, by a too super-abundant productiveness, he has necessarily weakened himself, and has not gone on further on the road of his first Sonata (Op. 7, A-flat major) and of other works of that period, which I rate very highly, as compositions of importance, beautifully formed and having the noblest tendency." In "Men, Women and Pianos"
Arthur Loesser Arthur Adolph Loesser (August 26, 1894 – January 5, 1969) was an American classical pianist, musicologist, and writer. Early life Born into a musical family in New York City, Loesser received early piano training from his German-born father until ...
describes Czerny's music as "without depth, intensity, or wit, but always smooth and pretty and rather ear-tickling when played fast ... endless variety of patterns and endless monotony of import." More positive views have been offered by musicians such as Anton Kuerti, Brahms, and Leon Botstein.
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
wrote about his admiration for Czerny also as a composer: "As to Czerny, I have been appreciating the full-blooded musician in him more than the remarkable pedagogue."in ''Chronique de ma vie'', )


References

;Notes ;Sources * Botstein, Leon (2004)
"Beethoven's Pupil"
, American Symphony Orchestra programme note, accessed 23 September 2014. * Czerny, Carl, tr. Ernest Sanders (1956). "Recollections from my Life" (1842), in ''The Musical Quarterly'', July 1956, Vol. XLII, No. 3, pp. 302–317. * Kuerti, Anton (1997).
Carl Czerny: In the Shadow of Beethoven
, in ''Queen's Quarterly'', September 1997, Vol. 104, No. 3. Accessed 23 September 2014. * Loesser, Arthur (1990). ''Men, Women and Pianos: A Social History''. New York: Dover Publications. * Mitchell, Alíce L. (1980). "Czerny, Carl" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie, vol. 5, pp. 138–141. London: MacMillan. * Rowland, David (ed.) (1998). '' The Cambridge Companion to the Piano.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Thayer, Alexander Wheelock, rev.and ed. Elliot Forbes (1991). ''Thayer's Life of Beethoven'' (2 vols). Princeton: Princeton University Press. . * Walker, Alan (1988). ''Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years 1811–1847''. London: Faber. .


External links

*
Carl Czerny Music Festival and International Symposium 13–26 June 2002, Edmonton, Alberta

"An Underestimated Master: A Critical Analysis of Carl Czerny's Eleven Piano Sonatas and his Contribution to the Genre"
(dissertation by Levi Keith Larson for the requirements of U. Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015. Description and (personal/research) download.) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Czerny, Carl 1791 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Austrian male musicians 19th-century Austrian people 19th-century Austrian classical composers 19th-century Austrian classical pianists 19th-century German composers 19th-century German people 19th-century German male musicians Austrian male classical composers Austrian music theorists Austrian people of Czech descent Austrian Roman Catholics Austrian Romantic composers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Composers for piano German classical pianists German male classical composers German pianists German male pianists German music theorists German people of Czech descent German Romantic composers Austrian male classical pianists Musicians from Vienna Piano educators Pupils of Ludwig van Beethoven Austrian string quartet composers 19th-century German musicologists Scholars from the Austrian Empire