Fantasy No.2 op.339 on melodies by Franz Schubert for Piano and Horn (or Violin)
Carl Czerny, born in Vienna in 1791 and died there in 1857, started out as a talented piano student of Ludwig v. Beethoven. However, he gave only a few public concerts. Very early on he shifted his work to pedagogical work as a piano teacher and composition. Extremely successful as a teacher, he was extremely productive as a composer, with an oeuvre of over 1,000 works.
In 1834, “Hofmeister's Monthly Reports” announced “Three brilliant fantasies about the most popular motifs from Franz Schubert's works” as Opus 339. However, only the first fantasy was published this year in a version for piano 4 hands, a version for piano with accompaniment of a horn or a violin or a cello and a version for piano and physharmonica.
It was not until 1837 that the two further fantasies No. 2 and No. 3 followed. However, for these two fantasies, there were only editions for horn and violin.
In this new edition, the extensive and virtuoso piano part with the three accompanying instruments has been edited for the first time. This means that a comparison of the different voice leadings is now possible. The horn part of the 2nd fantasy is notated in E. Here perhaps (as was then the case) a semitone deepening crooks should be used. Although the re-notation was very laborious and time-consuming, the work was still worth it. And every frame certainly has its charm. You can listen to it here, unfortunately with the certain shortcomings of a sampled audio file.
