The Man Who Tortured Generations of Pianists

Today, February 21st, marks the birthday of a man whose name strikes fear into the hearts of pianists everywhere—Carl Czerny (1791-1857).

Now, if you don’t play the piano, you might be wondering, who?

And if you do play the piano, you’re probably cringing right now.

Czerny was a composer, but more importantly, he was the guy who wrote endless finger exercises that piano students have had to suffer through for over 200 years.

Think of him as the musical equivalent of a personal trainer who insists on doing 500 push-ups before you can actually play a game.

Necessary? I´m not sure.

Enjoyable? Not so much.

But here’s the plot twist: Czerny actually wrote some beautiful music.

The problem?

Nobody ever talks about it. His name is forever associated with relentless technical drills, while his more expressive and lyrical works remain in the shadows.

So, on his birthday, I think it's only fair to give him a little redemption. Here’s a piece by Czerny that might actually surprise you—elegant, expressive, and completely unlike the finger exercises that made him infamous.

On the top of my Classical Piano playlist today, I´ve included two of his finest Nocturns for piano. Listen to them here.

Happy Birthday, Carl. You may have tortured generations of pianists, but today, we’ll let that slide… a little.

Have a nice day,

Claudio.

P.D. Czerny was one of the most famous students of Beethoven, and he was also teacher of Franz Liszt… not bad.