The headnote for this study reads “Independence of the Fingers,” and it certainly is a study in stamina and independence for the RH playing for four pages tremolo sextuplet 16ths framing a melody moving in quarter notes. Musically I think it can be described as a study in sonority.
I arranged a two-pager from #27, not going beyond the RH octave material, and I play it as a short Adagio (two 8’s on each side) with the quarter @85. Even so I find it a demanding study that makes me aware of the need to avoid tensing up as fatigue sets into the RH.
Op 740 #27 1st Version: short 3/4 Adagio, 4 sets of 8
This is my performance of the first two pages of #27 (Czerny’s A and B sections) shaped into a short 3/4 Adagio. I don’t take the repeat of A (mm 1-16/17), and I trim B (mm 18-36) according to the following recipe: a cadence on m 25 followed by mm 29-32, followed by mm 34-35 and a continuation of the descending scale for two more measures so as to end on the tonic and a full cadence.
I’m always ready to nullify the chief point of any Czerny study, so I sometimes play #27 without the RH tremolo 16ths--it’s a quite nice 3/4 chorale tune.
Op 740 #27 2nd Version: short 3/4 chorale Adagio, 4 sets of 8
This is my performance of my 1st Version of #27 without the RH tremolo material. I also greatly thinned out the voices, sacrificing Czerny’s rich harmony for the sake of a simple but clear polyphony, and I introduced some dotting for a mild contrapuntal effect. I supply a score.
You can get a useful 4/4 adagio out of #27 following one or another usual recipe for adding a beat to each measure. The added beat per measure slows the harmonic rhythm to the point, at times, of stasis, which can be very suitable for adagios featuring long balances.
Op 740 #27 3rd Version: 4/4 Adagio, 8 sets of 8
This is my performance of my 1st Version recast in 4/4. Where Czerny’s measure has three quarter notes (mm 1, 3, 5, 7, etc) I lengthen the first quarter to a half note, and where his measure has a half followed by a quarter (mm 2, 4, 6, 8, etc) I lengthen the quarter to a half.