BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tuesday, July 27, 1824

Anton Diabelli & Co. advertises in today’s Wiener Zeitung (Nr.170) at 716 a new composition for piano solo by Beethoven’s former pupil, Carl Czerny. This is Czerny’s Preludes, Cadenzas and Short Fantasies in Brilliant Style, op.61. This fascinating set consists of 13 preludes and a quite lengthy cadenza in C minor for the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto Nr.3, op.37. Prelude Nr.11 is a cadenza that serves as an introduction to the Finale of Ferdinand Ries’ Piano Concerto Nr.2 in E-flat major, op.42, making this set a rare crossover of Beethoven plus his two best known students of composition. Unfortunately, none of this set appears to have ever been recorded.

12-year-old Franz Liszt and his father Adam are today presented to King George IV at Windsor Palace. Liszt performs for the King and a small group for about two hours. According to Alan Walker, Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years at 105, Liszt improvised on the Minuet from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which the King had suggested as a theme. Prince Paul Esterházy, now the Austrian ambassador to England, was also in attendance. Liszt’s father, Adam, had previously been in the employ of the Esterházys.