- rudyapffelmusic
Czerny Op 335 #45, 4 Versions
For me the most formidable technical hurdle of this study is fingering the grace notes and hitting the right ones at speed (playing the correct intervals under the broken 8va). And then there's the large skips and spread-out voicings in the LH of the B section, and the close-quarters of the 2 hands. But for me this study is an irresistible character piece--a merry, singable “hopping” tune abruptly ended with a gruff bark.
Whether you make a simplified version or are able to master Czerny’s original you’ll have to insert a measure between mm 15 and 16 where Czerny enjambs. One solution is to repeat m 15 and project it as a cadence before launching into Czerny’s closing material, mm 16 ff.
Op 335 #45,1st version: fast galop, 16 sets of 8-count phrases
This is my performance of Czerny’s study as written (except for undoing Czerny’s enjambment at m15), and realized using DAW software. I present it both as homage to Czerny’s original and as a point of reference to my slower versions.
Op 335 #45, 2nd version: quick “Hopping Song,” 16 sets of 8-count phrases
This is my performance of Czerny’s study simplified and projecting the gaity of the music, and I provide a score. I leave out Czerny’s grace notes and play the lower voice of his RH’s broken 8vas as if they were the grace notes. I’ve slowed the tempo and marked the upper voice with a little pressure to make it sing out. I retain Czerny’s LH. I’ve put the arrangement in Ab because I find that key easier to play in, and also to lower the tessitura (it’s often pointed out how fond Czerny is of the top register of his pianos, which can become grating on our pianos).
Op 335 #45, 3rd Version: light tripping 6/8, 16 sets of 8 count phrases
This is my performance of my 2nd Version recast in 6/8, for which I supply a score. As short as Czerny’s happy song is I think it can be repeated several times, whether in duple or triple meter, without wearing out its welcome. In this performance I repeat once, modulating the repeat down to F for the sake of variety.
Op 335 #45, 4th Version: quick polka, 32 sets of 8-count phrases
In this synthetic arrangement I’ve extended and elaborated my “Hopping Song” to create a fast polka suitable for a petit allegro in centre. Czerny’s melody is passed from voice to voice, and subsidiary voices are brought in and out of focus to create shifting colors.