The Original "Music Scholar"
This page is dedicated to the man who many believe was one of the greatest teachers of all time -- Carl Czerny.
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Czerny was born to a Bohemian pianist father of Czech origin in Vienna in 1791. Carl was a child prodigy with an ability to play piano at an early age of three, compose at seven and perform at ten. His father was his first piano teacher who taught him the works of Bach, Mozart and Clementi. After performing piano recitals at his home, he made his first public performance playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor in 1800.
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At the age of eleven, Carl Czerny was introduced to Beethoven. Impressed by his ability to play Sonata Pathetique and Adelaide, Beethoven took him under his tutelage. For the next three years, he devoted himself to learn from the world's most famous composer. Although he performed in public quite often, unlike most composers of his times, he felt the life of a concert pianist was not for him and decided to become a teacher instead. From the age of fifteen, he dedicated his entire life to teach, compose and write music. He soon earned great reputation for his teaching methods that even Beethoven himself asked him to teach piano for his nephew.
Some of the most famous nineteenth-century composers including Stephen Heller, Theodor Leschetizky, Sigismond Thalberg, Anton Door, Theodor Dohler and Franz Liszt were his students. Among them, Franz Liszt, Theodor Leschetizky and Theodor Kullak also became teachers and passed on their master's legacy to future generations. Today, Carl Czerny is considered as the father of modern pianistic technique.
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His early piano teaching method was largely based on Beethoven and Clementi's teaching style. However, he soon invented his own original method of teaching piano. Czerny piano exercises such as the 'School of Virtuosity', 'School of Velocity' and 'School of the Left Hand' are being widely practised and revered by composers and students to this day.
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MusicScholars Piano Studio uses Czerny exercises for students in Level 2 and up. Having been taught by a teacher born in the 19th century, I was brought up on many of these pieces and include these techniques in my basic teaching.
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Listen to some of Carl Czerny's music on my Video Page. They are quite delightful; I'm sure you'll enjoy them.
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