Tuesday, February 20, 2024

February 20 - Carl Czerny (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 20th are here:  Carl Czerny (2020), Nancy Wilson (2021), Johann Peter Salomon; Adalbert Gyrowetz (2022), and Charles-Auguste de Beriot (2023)

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Carl Czerny (20/21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian pianist, teacher, and composer.  Many sources give his birthday as the 21st, but some reliable sources including Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians give the 20th, and since there is no one else I want to write about, that is the date I'm using.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fingerfertigkeit


Carl Czerny, bane of piano students,

Must have been a man of utmost prudence

To stake his career and future reputation

On this sincere, but risky, calculation,


“If I can flood the market with my studies,

And spread the word through well-connected buddies,

Perhaps in years to come my etudes will

Be used in schools of music where they still

Appreciate the need for finger drill.”


And lo, it came to pass, and Czerny lingers

Wherever pianists exercise their fingers;

And students learn, with sullen animosity,

The many Czerny studies for velocity.

 

 

 

 

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