Chopin, Waltz op 70 No 3

The three waltzes grouped in opus 70 are posthumous. They were published in Berlin in 1855, six years after Chopin's death. The decision was made by his friend and pianist Julian Fontana (a Pole of Italian origin), after consultation with Chopin's mother and his sister Ludwika. The last of them, No. 3, is actually the first of the three that he composed. And it was not far from being marked as the first waltz of all his work in the genre, since it is only preceded by the two waltzes of opus 69, from 1827.

Waltz opus 70 No 3, in D-flat major

It was composed in 1829, when Chopin was back in Warsaw after his first trip to Vienna. At that time, Chopin seemed to be in love with a fellow student at the Warsaw Conservatory. In a letter to his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, he points out that in this waltz he evokes "a charming being". Chopin does not give names because "...I know that it is not necessary to draw your attention to that detail: you will feel it yourself," he confesses.

Konstancja 

The charming being is Miss Konstancja Gladkowska, a singing student, who will appear repeatedly in the correspondence that the young master maintains with his friend Tytus. He will tell him, for example, that he has been her piano accompanist. Later, he will confess that the Adagio of the Concerto No. 2 (chronologically, the first) was inspired by his charming fellow student.

A simple piece

Although "deliciously polyphonic" according to scholars, the piece is rather simple. With an A-B-A structure (a first theme, second, return to the first), it presents no major technical difficulties, other than a couple of left-hand trills, which demand a sonority as elegant as it is substantial.

The rendition is by Martin Leung, an American pianist born in Hong Kong.
A delicious two-minute a half of music.

Karl Czerny, pedagogue and composer, Variations on "La Ricordanza"

Karl Czerny, the Viennese composer and pedagogue, is remembered today mainly for his pedagogical work. Every piano student has had to deal with his etudes and exercises on speed and fingering. Not for nothing is he considered one of the fathers of modern piano technique. As a teacher, he taught Liszt. As a student, he was a pupil of Hummel, Salieri, and Beethoven. He was a child prodigy, as befits every great pianist.

Beethoven's pupil

At the age of nine, when he was already composing and handling the standard repertoire, he was introduced to Beethoven in Vienna, for whom he played the Pathetique Sonata. Beethoven wrote to his father: "The boy has talent. I accept him as a pupil. I will teach him myself. Send him to me once a week."

Czerny received lessons from the master from 1800 until 1803. Two years later, he needed a recommendation. This is what Beethoven wrote, in 1805:

"I, undersigned, have the pleasure of attesting that young Karl Czerny has made an extraordinary advance on the piano, beyond what could be expected at the age of 14. I think he deserves all the help he can get, not only because of what I have just stated but because of his amazing memory."

Karl Czerny (1791 - 1857)

A vast oeuvre
Indeed, Czerny was one of the great pianists of the first half of the 19th century. In 1812 he premiered his master's Emperor Concerto in Vienna.
But he did not like to play in public. He did not tour much either, preferring to stay in Vienna and compose, in which he was prolific: his oeuvre totals more than a thousand published opus numbers, including masses, symphonies, concertos, and sonatas. He never married, and at his death he left an important fortune. 

Variations on a theme by Rode
The 20th century, however, had forgotten him as a composer. Until 1940, when Vladimir Horowitz discovered some interesting variations, stemming from his writing. They are variations on "La Ricordanza", an aria by Pierre Rode, a French violinist and composer.

After Horowitz's discovery, the master and great pedagogue Karl Czerny has enjoyed a modest rebirth, rescuing part of his work in the last twenty years; the compositional work we say, because his pedagogical contribution has been continuously present for two centuries.

The performance is by the South Korean pianist Sangyoung Kim.