Czerny String Quartet No. 28(!) in A flat

[Martin Eastick]

I noticed this world premiere recording by chance! https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/casal-quartett-beethovens-welt-1799-1851/hnum/9824834. This string quartet of Czerny, in A flat major and supposedly his 28th, has never been recorded before (it certainly is not on the Capriccio double CD), and takes up a whole CD on its own in this anthology! The soundbites give an enticing preview of what could be another major Czerny re-discovery! Needless to say, my copy is already on order, is spite of the rather more ordinary fare which occupies the other 4 CD's! 

[matesic]

I'm listening to a quartet on youtube that must be the one you mean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QhixhjRWRs
The duration is given as 24'49" so it seems the CD doesn't represent very good value for money!

It surprised me to find that none of Czerny's quartets is listed on IMSLP so presumably they all (how many of them can there be?) remain unpublished. Judging from No.28 their quality isn't all bad, hardly justifying Cobbett's dismissal: "The compositions of Czerny are without interest to modern players of chamber music".  I'll bet he never even set eyes on any of the quartets.

[Alan Howe]

The problem for me is buying all that extra music on the other other 4 CDs. I think I'll stick with the YouTube performance if I want to listen to this string quartet. Or perhaps there'll be a download at some point.

[Martin Eastick]

I agree entirely with you Alan, but I was so impressed with the Czerny quartet, which again adds more weight to the argument that when he was writng in "serious" mode, he certainly had much to offer, and I think we can be certain that there will be more Czerny discoveries to be unearthed that will back this up. Perhaps the Casal Quartet may take their Czerny investigation further.