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Czerny Op 335 #46, 4 Versions

This study is fascinating to read, to hear and (eventually) to play at top speed. Divided between the hands, Czerny’s elaborately varied arpeggio patterns can be executed with feathery elegance, and his diatonic and chromatic modulation sequences will familiarize you with the look (on the keyboard) and the feel (in the hands) of harmonies related to the home key of Eb. The distribution of notes between hands at first surprised me, but I quickly found that Czerny’s fingerings facilitate great speed, though you have to be prepared for both very close interlacing hands and some big movements of arms and torso to get around the keyboard.

Czerny’s regular, on-the-beat changes of harmony make the counts clear, so once you’ve mastered it and are able to project a steady rhythm this study is very beautiful accompaniment for chaines, bourees, and other steps that go “through the counts”, ie are executed within a phrase length, but not on individual beats within the phrase. By no means do you have to use all of Czerny’s material here. You can square off and repeat certain sections to build a substantial and useful piece for class.


Op 335 #46, 1st Version: light, swirling arpeggiations in fast 6/8, 24 sets of 8-count phrases

Op 335 #46 1st Version Audio

This is my performance of Czerny’s study reshaped in ternary form to create predictable 2-phrase, 4-phrase and 8-phrase structures. I supply a score for this arrangement in which it may be seen that I’ve cut and simplified some of Czerny’s material, but it remains a substantial and difficult piece of music.

Op 335 #46 1st Version Score


Op 335 #46: Compendium of Phrases

As with many of Czerny’s studies, this one can be slowed down and recast with a supporting LH accompaniment to yield a piece that will serve a wide variety of ballet class combinations, and Czerny’s regular 4-bar phrasing makes it easy to structure different pieces of varying lengths. I present a score that lays out Czerny’s different arpeggio patterns in 4-bar phrases, one after the other, squared off with cadences, and arranged to be playable by the RH with simple LH accompaniments. It’s not a performing score, but, rather, a compilation of suggested solutions to the problem of arranging the material of #46 for the RH with a simple LH accompaniment. I think this material is best used to create short quick waltzes suitable for barre.

Op 335 #46 Compendium of Phrases Score


After the first 16 measures of #46 Czerny ranges through many new harmonies and the cadences begin to fall on new keys far from the home key of Eb. This means that if you want to shuffle Czerny’s phrases and create short waltzes (8 phrases long, 16 phrases long) you’ll have to rewrite some of the cadences to keep the harmony sounding smooth from phrase to phrase. My 2nd and 3rd Versions of this study are short waltzes intended to illustrate solutions to this problem.


Op 335 #46, 2nd Version: short, quick waltz in arpeggios, 8 sets of 8-count phrases

Op 335 #46 2nd Version Audio

This is my performance of mm 1-16 and mm 57-72 of my score.


Op 335 #46, 3rd Version: quick waltz in arpeggios, 16 sets of 8-count phrases

Op 335 #46 3rd Version Audio

This is my performance of my score’s mm1-32, 49-56, 9-16, and 57-72. To avoid entering the tonality of Db at m 32 I rewrite Czerny’s Ab7 harmony as Bb7.


As I’ve pointed out, compound meters (6/8, 12/8) can be easily and usefully reshaped into duple and triple time pieces. Working with my waltz scores of #46 you can easily project all of the 6/8 measures as 4/4 with the RH playing four 16th triplets instead of two 16th sextuplets. It turns out that Czerny makes the first 16 bars ambiguous: for the sake of his fingering he beams the opening arpeggios in 3-note units so that they “look” like triplets, as if the piece were really in 4/4. All you have to do for the entire piece is play a LH beat for every three notes in the RH and you’re playing in 4/4.


Op 335 #46, 4th Version: skipping 4/4 with arpeggiating RH triplets, 16 sets of 8-count phrases

Op 335 #46 4th Version Audio

This is my performance of my 3rd Version projecting each RH sextuplet as two triplets and maintaining a simple, steady LH four-beat accompaniment. A 4/4 score isn’t necessary; with a little practice you should be able to adjust the LH and project the RH while reading the 6/8 score.

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