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Czerny, Ries: The Pupils of Beethoven
Carl Czerny, Ferdinand Ries

Felicja Blumental, piano

Czerny, Ries: The Pupils of Beethoven

Price: € 11.95
Format: CD
Label: Brana Records
UPC: 0821158100523
Catnr: BR 0005
Release date: 01 December 2008
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Label
Brana Records
UPC
0821158100523
Catalogue number
BR 0005
Release date
01 December 2008
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

This CD partners the Piano Concertos of Carl Czerny and Ferdinand Ries, both of whom were pupils of the great master, Beethoven.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was born in Bonn and studied for a short period with Haydn in 1792. While he failed to become the child prodigy his father hoped for, he was hailed as a genius and master of improvisation at the piano. By 1794 he was known throughout Europe.

Beethoven’s early compositions reflect the influence of both Mozart and Haydn yet there were always flashes of what was to come. By 1800 Beethoven was aware of his advancing deafness, surely a horrible fate for a musician and unendurable for a composer.

Carl Czerny (1791 – 1857) was born in Vienna and studied with Beethoven at the age of 10. Precociously gifted as a pianist, he gave his first public performance at the same age and became a leading exponent of the piano music of Beethoven. Indeed he gave the first public performance of the Emperor concerto in 1812. He was extremely introverted however, and soon settled into a life of teaching and composing. Franz Liszt was one of his pupils. He is perhaps best known as the composer of piano studies and exercises, still widely used to this day.

In teaching Ferdinand Ries (1784 – 1838), Beethoven was returning a favour. Ferdinand’s father, Franz Ries had taught the young Beethoven and offered support following the death of Ludwig’s mother. Later, between 1801 and 1805, Beethoven taught Ferdinand without charge, supported him financially and arranged a prestigious debut concert at which the boy performed the premiere of Beethoven’s piano concerto in C minor.

Carl Czerny: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 214

Carl Czerny (1791 – 1857) was extraordinarily productive, composing over 1,000 works, many of them for the piano during a period of great change for the instrument. Physical frailty and a growing disinterest in performing in public resulted in him staying in Vienna where he was able to maintain contact with Hummel, Clementi, Chopin and Beethoven’s intimate circle.

It is unclear how many piano concertos Czerny composed but this is certainly the best known and most attractive. It is in the usual three movements with the first in binary form with the dramatic piano entrance, a monothematic second movement and a concluding rondo.

(Recorded in Vienna in 1968)

Ferdinand Ries: Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, Op. 55

Like Czerny, Ferdinand Ries (1784 – 1838) was prolific. His output included 8 symphonies, 26 string quartets and a large body of piano music including 8 piano concertos. The third in C sharp minor, was dedicated to fellow virtuoso Muzio Clementi and is his best-known work.

The concerto’s eventful first movement is generically romantic rather than Beethovenesque. The teachers’ influence can be heard more in the entrance of the piano in the bold chordal assertions. The delicate and introverted second movement ends not in the original key but in preparation for the finale with its sprightly theme in a major key. The concerto ends surprisingly in a reassertion of C sharp minor.

(Recorded at the Klessheim Palace, Salzburg in 1968)

Composer(s)

Carl Czerny

Carl Czerny was an Austrian composer, pianist and music teacher. He mostly known for his etudes. Czerny received his first teachings from his father - a well-known piano virtuoso - and at the age of 10 he was already a brilliant composer, which is why he continued his studies under Ludwig van Beethoven. Czerny also studied with Muzio Clementi, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Antonio Salieri. Yet, he seldom performed in concert.  Later, he became the teacher of Franz Liszt and composed over 1000 works, of which his educational works Schule der Geläufigkeit en Schule der linken Hand, as well as his many etudes, are still widely used in piano education today. He is regarded as one of the most important members of the Viennese...
more

Carl Czerny was an Austrian composer, pianist and music teacher. He mostly known for his etudes. Czerny received his first teachings from his father - a well-known piano virtuoso - and at the age of 10 he was already a brilliant composer, which is why he continued his studies under Ludwig van Beethoven. Czerny also studied with Muzio Clementi, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Antonio Salieri. Yet, he seldom performed in concert. Later, he became the teacher of Franz Liszt and composed over 1000 works, of which his educational works Schule der Geläufigkeit en Schule der linken Hand, as well as his many etudes, are still widely used in piano education today. He is regarded as one of the most important members of the Viennese Music practice of his time. Liszt even dedicated his 12 Etudes d'execution transcendante. Czerny's other works, among which his many symphonies, piano concertos, sacred music and chamber music, was lost into oblivion for a long time. It was not until the end of the 20th century that it received some attention again. His style can be described as typically Viennese Classicistic, but at times soem Romantic influences can be recognised.


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Ferdinand Ries

The life and work of Ferdinand Ries was inextricably bound up with that of his friend and teacher Beethoven. Just like Beethoven, he was born in Bonn. His father, the violinist Franz Anton Ries, was a friend of Beethoven and also his violin teacher. Ries first studied piano and violin with his father and subsequently he studied briefly with Peter von Winter in Munich. Then he settled in Vienna, where he recieved piano lessons from Beethoven and studied theory and composition with Albrechtsberger. He established himself as publisher of the music of Beethoven and supported him as copyist and secretary. In 1809, he left Vienna for a series of concert tours in Germany, Russia, Scandinavia and eventually London, where he spent 11...
more
The life and work of Ferdinand Ries was inextricably bound up with that of his friend and teacher Beethoven. Just like Beethoven, he was born in Bonn. His father, the violinist Franz Anton Ries, was a friend of Beethoven and also his violin teacher.
Ries first studied piano and violin with his father and subsequently he studied briefly with Peter von Winter in Munich. Then he settled in Vienna, where he recieved piano lessons from Beethoven and studied theory and composition with Albrechtsberger. He established himself as publisher of the music of Beethoven and supported him as copyist and secretary. In 1809, he left Vienna for a series of concert tours in Germany, Russia, Scandinavia and eventually London, where he spent 11 years, until 1824. From 1825 onwards, he directed the Niederrheinische Musikfest during several seasons. Ries died in Frankfurt.
Ferdinand Ries composed operas and no less than 60 songs, and his choral works inlcude a cantata and two oratorios. The orchestral music of Ries includes seven numbered symphonies and five overtures, two on works by Schiller, as well as eight piano concertos, amongst others 'Abschieds-Concert von England' (No. 7) and ‘Gruss an den Rhein’ (No. 8). Amongst his chamber works are pieces for ensembles of various sizes, from septet to octet, to five trios for piano, violin and cello, with alternative instrumentation for flute or clarinet instead of violin. The majority of his oeuvre has been overshadowed by that of Beethoven, just like that of other contemporaries.

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