This simple and beautifully decorated 4-line song is perfectly tailored for the accompanist’s repertory, quickly mastered (you can fake a lot of the accompaniment if you’re really in a hurry) and ready for use. The light staccato in the accompaniment and the double dottings in the cantilena give the music a graceful, smiling quality--a happy liebesbotschaft. There’s considerable intensification at the third line (m17) when the soprano calls the bass into dialog and the harmony surges dramatically away from the home key (mm 21-24) before returning to the opening line, now with the bass’ contribution. This gives the song shape and “eventfulness.”
The piece is best suited, I think, to a short adagio (two 8s on each side).
Op 335 #39, 1st Version: 3/4 song in bel canto style, 4 sets of 8-count phrases
This is my performance of #39 with the quarter @80, quicker than Czerny wants but more likely to be the tempo you’ll be asked to play it for a typical short adagio.
There are many ways to re-shape #39 into a 4/4 adagio (or andante, for that matter). The simplest process is to double the length of each measure’s downbeat. I find that #39 is equally beautiful in 4/4 and at Czerny’s speed. I think that’s mainly because Czerny’s scales and fioriture have more room to “breathe” in a 4/4 measure, especially with the bass joining in at the third line. And now you have a substantial piece for a long adagio, or even two sides of plies if you repeat it.
Op 335 #39, 2nd Version: 4/4 song in bel canto style, 8 sets of 8-count phrases
This is my performance of #39 as a 4/4 adagio, for which I provide a score. The downbeat of each of Czerny’s measures is doubled in length by repeating to make the measure 4/4. The process is completely mechanical except for the deployment of Czerny’s fioriture within the measure. My score shows my preferences. Also, I’ve spelled out the way I should like to execute Czerny’s double dotting only through the first phrase (my mm 3-6), beyond which I notate in single dotting to keep the measures from getting too cluttered.