Practicing stepwise broken thirds has always seemed uniquely valuable to me for gaining independence of the fingers and preparing for scales in thirds. Moreover the typical 6-note figure of stepwise broken 3rds (using 5 fingers equally) has built-in euphony, and when the melody line moves through different harmonies the effect is very pleasing, especially at speed–Scarlatti exploited this device notably.
One feature that makes studies in the 6-note broken 3rds figure particularly valuable for ballet class is that they’re in quick 6/8 (or 12/8), and that’s a meter used regularly in ballet class, a meter whose character of lightness and skip supports jetes and degages and balancoire. Czerny’s tempo is, of course, far too fast for such a character, so my arrangements of #11 reduce his speed by about 30%.
For most of his studies Czerny favors a ternary structure, with a repeated A section followed by a developed B section in the dominant and finishing with a repeat of the A section ending in the tonic. His B sections will present sequences and pedal points and his recapitulations will involve considerable variation, and he usually tags on a coda. You can take shortcuts with these studies if you’re in a hurry for finished repertory by eliminating these elaborations.
Op 299 #11, 1st Version: light, skipping 12/8, 8 sets of 8
This is my performance of my shortcut arrangement of #11, for which I supply a score.
I always try to get double use out of studies in compound meters, playing them in both their original meters and in new meters with a change of accent. This is easily done with #11: the 12/8 meter is re-accented with each RH sextuplet projected as two triplets. But you have to be careful to supply a LH accompaniment that keeps the duple meter very strong against the potential ambiguity of the RH.
Op 299 #11, 2nd Version: light, skipping 2/4, 8 sets of 8
This is my performance of my 1st Version of #11 renotated in 2/4. I supply a score to show my ideas for the LH.
Op 299 #11, 3rd Version: Children’s Songs, 16 sets of 8
This an elaboration of my 1st Version using DAW software to interpolate new tunes into Czerny’s note patterns while adjusting his harmonies.