Carl Czerny
Fantasy No. 3, op. 339, on Melodies by Franz Schubert, for Piano and Horn (or Violin)
Carl Czerny was born in Vienna in 1791 and died there in 1857. He began his musical career as a highly talented piano student of Ludwig van Beethoven, though he gave only a few public concerts. Early on, he shifted his focus to teaching piano and to composing. As a teacher he was extraordinarily successful; as a composer, immensely productive – his oeuvre comprises more than 1,000 works.
In 1834, “Hofmeister’s Monatsberichte” announced, under the opus number 339, the “Drey brillante Fantasien über die beliebtesten Motive aus Franz Schuberts Werken” (Three Brilliant Fantasies on the Most Popular Motifs from Franz Schubert’s Works) – each planned in versions for piano with accompaniment by horn, violin, or cello. That year, however, only the first fantasy actually appeared: in a version for piano four hands, a version for piano with accompaniment of horn, violin, or cello, and a version for piano and physharmonica.
It was not until 1837 that the two further fantasies, No. 2 and No. 3, followed. Their first editions, however, lack the cello version – only the editions for horn and violin have survived.
For the present new edition, the extensive and virtuosic piano part has now been edited for the first time together with each of the surviving accompanying instruments. This makes it possible, for the first time, to compare the differing voice leading between the versions. The re-notation was laborious and time-consuming, but the work was well worth it – and each version certainly has its own charm. You can listen to excerpts here, though with the inevitable shortcomings of a sampled audio file.
