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Czerny Op 740 #15, 4 Versions

Riisager’s orchestration brings out the “Ride of the Valkyries” character of Czerny’s RH 32nd’s shimmering above the declamatory LH octaves. But those 32nds are barely possible for me at Czerny’s tempo. The “Extension with Great Strength” necessary to execute this study even at a more moderate tempo is another high hurdle. I’ve experimented with simplified tremolo figures for the 32nds and in the end fashioned four Grands Battements versions of this exciting piece.


Op 740 #15 1st Version: Grands Battements in 2, 8 sets of 8

Op 740 #15 1st Version Audio

This is my performance of the first two pages of #15 with a full-stop cadence at m 32 and intended to be suitable for a typical battement-in-two-counts combination at the barre, and also to give both hands a turn at the different material. A note: in mm 1 and 5 I’ve untied Czerny’s double-dotted 8th and made the second beat of the measure as strong as the first; at the outset of grands battement music I want the 2-count rhythm to be very clear.


Op 740 #15 2nd Version: Grands Battements in 3, 8 sets of 8

Op 740 #15 2nd Version Audio

This is my performance of my 1st Version of #15 reshaped in 3/4. I supply a score from which it will be seen that my recipe for the reshaping was to make each beat of Czerny’s 2/4 measure a full measure of 3/4 and then renotate his 32nd’s as eighths and his quarters as dotted halves. I’ve cast the “working hand” eighths in triplets and slowed the tempo to the quarter @80. The tempo is now more manageable for me (I’ve got fairly large hands for the extensions) and I think the music can be projected with power and sweep that does some justice to Czerny’s inspiration.

Op 740 #15 2nd Version Score


Of course you can simply veto Czerny’s call for “Extension with Great Strength” and substitute an easier note pattern for the accompaniment 32nd’s and still approximate the study’s character and sonority.


Op 740 #15 3rd Version: Grands Battements in 2, 8 sets of 8

Op 740 #15 3rd Version Audio

This is my performance of my 1st version with the triplet 8ths material replaced with 32nd arpeggios (far easier for me than Czerny’s original). I supply a score.

Op 740 #15 3rd Version Score


And just for the heck of it:


Op 740 #15 4th Version: Grands Battements in 3, 8 sets of 8

Op 740 #15 4th Version Audio

This is my DAW attempt to make my 2nd Version a “Ride of the Valkyries.”

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