Austrian pianist, composer and teacher of Czech origin. To this day he is remembered for his etudes for piano, which are still the basic pedagogical material in the education of pianists.

Czerny was born in Vienna. First he took piano lessons with his father, then also with Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antoni Salieri and Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a wonderful child, he appeared for the first time in public at the age of 8, he played the Mozart piano concert.

He was an excellent teacher; one of his pupils was Franciszek Liszt, who dedicated his Transcendental Etudes (Études d'exécution transcendante) to him. Czerny was the first composer who used the word etude (study) as the title of a musical piece. He also taught the most famous piano pedagogue later, a Pole Teodor Leszetycki, who created a great school of world pianism.

Czerny composed a lot of works (number of opuses, or works published, dating back to 861), including numerous masses and requiems, as well as many symphonies, concertos, sonatas and works for string quartet.

As a composer, Czerny remained under the clear influence of Beethoven and represented - besides Hummel, Moscheles, Thalberg and Chopin's early work - the brillant style, so-called. transitional style between classicism and romanticism and convergent with musical sentimentality. This was expressed in the composing of very fashionable virtuoso fantasies, variations on the themes of popular operas and other works, intended for a solo piano, and for the piano for 4, 6 or 8 hands, as well as for a few pianos. This practice of composing music for a duo (or larger composition) of a piano at the end of the 19th century was completely abandoned. It seems that in the era of ever more honest music and historical quest, his music will finally find the recognition of music lovers.

Among the most interesting works by Czerny are Ouverture charactéristique et brillante in B minor, Op.54, 3 Sonatas "Militaire et Brillante", Op.119, "Pastorale", op. 121 and "Sentimentale", op. 120 for piano (for 4 hands), Fantasia in F minor, op. 226 for piano for 4 hands, Piano concerto for 4 hands with orchestra, op. 153 and others.