Czerny Op 335 #22, Single Version

The chief musical feature of this slight but interesting piece is cantabile multi-voice chords with a thin, spare accompaniment in 8va skips. The chief pedagogical feature is the fingering of those octave skips, but this is also a study in contrasting textures. Czerny presents his material in binary form, and his A section is characteristically simple while his B section is adventuresome, another contrast which gives this little piece interest and substance.

Though marked “allegro,” Czerny’s dynamic markings (legato, dolce, piano) and note values make for andante-sounding music, and I think #22 is most useful in ballet class as accompaniment for something relatively slow at the barre--first tendus, maybe fondus…

Op 335 #22, Single Version: quiet 4/4 andante, 8 sets of 8 count phrases

Op 335 #22 Single Version Audio

This is my performance of Czerny’s study as written and at his tempo, but projecting different dynamics and character. I play some of Czerny’s quarter note accompaniment staccatto to give the music rhythmic interest and color (and of course if you’re playing the quarter notes staccato there’s no need for Czerny’s special fingering). The B section places the chordal writing in the piano’s low register, and I created a clear melodic line with the top voice in the LH mm 9-12 while keeping the voices under it muted.