Carl Czerny - Grande Serenade in E flat major op. 126

Carl Czerny

Carl Czerny, lithograph

by Josef Kriehuber, 1833

 (21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857)

  Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose vast musical production amounted

to over a thousand works. His books of studies for the piano are still widely used in piano teaching.

 Grande Serenade in E flat major op. 126  

Stéphane Lemelin - piano, André Moisan – clarinet, Gerald onciul – horn, Thomas Wiebe – cello
Live performance, The World First Festival Carl Czerny Music, 2002, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
1.Introduzione: Adagio - 0:00
2.Theme and Variations: Allegretto grazioso – Adagio - 05:11
3.Finale: Allegro vivace con fuoco - 20:01

Czerny was as a pupil of Beethoven. He was selected by Beethoven for the premiere of the latter's Piano concerto no. 1, in 1806 and, at the age of 21, in February 1812, Czerny gave the Vienna premiere of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor".
Czerny composed a very large number of pieces (more than a thousand pieces 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.
“Every middle piano student and up will know Czerny on his /her fingers ...His piano studies have been training standard fare for more than two centuries now. Between those technicalities, musicality, sensitivity, creativity are always there.
Mr. Kuerti's initiative to create the Festival and go ahead till the preparation of this splendid 3-discs version, restores to everyone a major Beethoven contemporary, the shadow of whom has condemned many to an unjust rear plane. Czerny, Hummel, Ries, to name a few, followed the master, sometimes too close, sometimes not keeping the full level. They constitute, aside of their own individualities and contributions, their major claim, a sort of 'expanded Beethoven'.“ (from a review for the 3 cds “Czerny – A rediscovered genius”)