Karl Czerny

Czerny, Karl 

Born Feb. 20,1791, in Vienna; died there July 15, 1857. Austrian pianist, teacher, and composer. Czech by nationality.

Czerny was initially taught by his father, Wenzel Czerny; from 1801 to 1803 he studied with L. van Beethoven. He established the Viennese school of piano playing of the first half of the 19th century. His pupils included F. Liszt, T. Leschetizky, T. Döhler, T. Kullak, and A. de Belleville-Oury.

Czerny is the author of more than 1,000 compositions, including symphonies and religious and chamber music. The bulk of his oeuvre consists of works for the piano, among them arrangements and transcriptions of compositions by other composers. His numerous exercises are still used in piano teaching. Czerny’s compositions and his approach to pianistic technique reflect both classical and romantic influences and a striving for a lyric and expressive style of playing.

WORKS

“Recollections From My Life.” The Musical Quarterly, 1956, vol. 42, no. 3.

REFERENCE

Roizman, L. “Karl Cherni i ego redaktsii klavirnykh sochinenii I. S. Bakha.” Sovetskaia muzyka, 1940, no. 10.