Czerny: Der Pianist im klassischen Style, Op. 856, 48 Preludes & Fugues

Featuring

Emanuele Delucchi
Carl Czerny

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Composition History

Czerny's Op. 856, titled 'Der Pianist im klassischen Style,' was published in 1857, the year of his death, and dedicated to his former pupil, Franz Liszt.

Compositional Technique

In Op. 856, Czerny frequently employed classical counterpoint devices such as diminution and augmentation of the theme, and included independent contrapuntal intermezzos in some fugues.

Critical Reception

Robert Schumann was critical of Czerny's earlier Op. 400, accusing him of using an obsolete genre without renewing the classical models established by Bach.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Czerny's Op. 856 was subtitled as a 'preparatory study for the complete interpretation of all the most important compositions,' though this may have been a publisher's marketing strategy.

Composer Biography

Carl Czerny (1791-1857), a student of Beethoven, was deeply influenced by Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier from a young age.

Performer Biography

Emanuele Delucchi, the pianist on this recording, was the first Italian to perform and record Charles-Valentin Alkan's Piano Concerto and gave the first modern performance of Czerny's Op. 856 in 2017.