In the history of music this, Austrian pianist, teacher, composer, and musicographer holds an enigmatic place as the student of
Beethoven and the teacher of
Liszt. He had an excellent musical memory and once played all of the piano works of
Beethoven from memory.
Czerny liked playing the works of
Beethoven but was also drawn early to
Bach,
Mozart and
Clementi and later to
Hummel and
Clementi. (The latter he met and it was to
Clementi that
Czerny dedicated his own treatise on methods and composition.) Upon
Chopin's arrival in Vienna
Czerny was the person he wanted to meet -- and did. They would play piano duets together on a number of occasions. The plethora of compositions from
Czerny number over one thousand and they include many genres -- operas, oratorios, requiems, symphonies, offertories, concertos, chamber music for piano(s), et cetera. He was an incomparable arranger of music by
Beethoven,
Bach,
Mozart,
Cherubini,
Mendelssohn,
Handel,
Haydn and others. The majority of his compositions were bountiful yet uninspired.
–
Keith Johnson, Rovi