This delightful study is in the character I’ve come to think of as “Czerny-happiness,” a kind of Bournonville-for-piano that is unique to its creator and ins...

At first #17 didn’t seem to me to have much to recommend itself except that in a collection of mostly quite difficult studies it’s rather easy, especially in...

As written, and a bit under Czerny’s tempo, #18 is muscular fondu music (one count per bar). You can muffle and undulate it or play it rather dry and “vivace...

In ballet class a measure of 3/4 is usually counted as a single count in a combination. Even if you can get to Czerny’s speed, #19’s slow 3/4 count is unlike...

Czerny’s regular phrase lengths and cadences in the tonic make #20 a ready-made one-pager: just play mm 1-32. But it would be well to make use of the LH mate...

When Czerny has the hands move in parallel with the same note values my strategy is to have the hands trade off: one hand plays the note pattern, the other p...

In my opinion, only if you can get at or near Czerny’s tempo can you keep #22 from sounding trite. It’s musical ideas are so slight that the interest is inev...

The first 32 measures of #23 make a stand-alone piece well suited to ballet class across a range of tempos, and not particularly difficult. Op 740 #23, 1st V...

Czerny’s researches into different note patterns and their sonorities on the piano led to the particularly happy device of #24: the RH playing an off-accent ...

This study well exemplifies the “working” hand/ “supporting” hand contrast in Czerny’s compositional process. You can project it lightly and fleetingly with ...

I’ve tried to bring into focus a musical “type” among Czerny’s studies that I think of as “gesture” rather than “texture,” and I’ve tried to lay out my ideas...

The headnote for this study reads “Independence of the Fingers,” and it certainly is a study in stamina and independence for the RH playing for four pages tr...

As noted elsewhere in my commentaries, a teacher may set a combination in a very slow three with each beat subdivided, amounting to a 3/2, but that’s rare. I...

This humble study seems almost a parody of the dexterity program: “Start by drumming your fingers.” Given the sophistication of the ensuing studies and the g...

This is another study useful not so much for its slight music but for its workout for both hands. As I’ve mentioned in earlier parts of this commentary, Czer...

I like the “hunting” motif in the LH and arranged a “one-pager” of #3 that tries to highlight its lightness and charm. But it is, necessarily, a finger exerc...

This long and very pretty “en carillon” piece makes an effective centre petite allegro at tempos well under Czerny’s, and a workout for both hands. But even ...

You might project this dry, rather abstract study with great speed and a lot of sustain pedal for gossamer chaines music, but you’ll get far more use of it i...

The ternary structure and 4-bar phrasing (except for the enjambment at mm 23-4) make it easy to shape #6 into a short piece for ballet class. The arpeggiatio...

Although the music of #7 is slight you should make room for it in your repertory. The RH figure is quite easy. Like its companion #8, #7 drills thumb and for...