Preface
Grade sonata brillante op.10, 1820
The Grande Sonata Brillante in C minor op. 10 (1820-21) is the first four hands large-scale composition by Czerny and one of his most successful ever.
This Sonata had a considerable success, so that the composer himself did not hesitate to use some virtuoso passages in his four hands Concerto op. 153 , and he published a Duo in A minor for violin and piano without opus number, which is a simpler version of the first movement of this op. 10.
The popularity that this work met with the musicians is probably due also to the seductive opening theme of the first movement, which is derived from a famous Hungarian melody (Reminiscences of Kalocsay); this theme was used by Johannes Brahms too in his Hungarian Dance No. 4 in F minor, nearly thirty years after, and then publish it in 1876. The young Liszt also was fascinated by this Sonata by his teacher, and he performed it with occasional partners in the 30s, when he appeared frequently in those concerts (called at that time "Accademia") during which the pianists took turns and they performed together with other instrumentalists or singers. It's not by chance that a musician of the caliber of Liszt had chosen this Sonata for his concerts. [...]