Noctave
Portrait of Carl Czerny, in moonlight

Composer

Carl Czerny

1791–1857 · 3 pieces in Noctave

Born in Vienna, Czerny spent his whole life there. As a child he studied the piano with Beethoven; as an adult he gave up performing to teach, and his pupils included the young Franz Liszt. He published a very large body of work, including books of studies still in use today, such as Op. 299 and Op. 740. The Eight-Measure Exercises, Op. 821, gather a hundred and sixty very short pieces, each built around a single difficulty.

Each exercise in the catalogue lasts about twenty seconds, which suits Noctave's loop: you can repeat it without stopping until it becomes even. Start with No. 3, in C major, where the right hand keeps a moderate pace. No. 1 pushes that pace to six notes per second. No. 11, in B-flat major, is the most demanding of the three: octaves and repeated notes in the right hand, to be played from a supple wrist rather than the fingers alone.

The pieces, from the most approachable to the hardest

Intermediate

Play them in Noctave

The score, free. The version that falls in light, in Noctave: the notes come down to your keyboard at your tempo, then fade to leave you the score. Noctave is coming soon to Android: leave your address to hear when it is out.

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