The Revolutionary

[kony O]

hi, i'm new to the forum.

but for my first post, i'd like to ask for some advice on how to approach the Revolutionary Etude. i have some difficulty gaining the evenness in the left hand. my arms also tends to tense a lot when playing this piece at full speed, and i'd finish much more tired than i would like to be.

also, could someone enlighten me as to how one is supposed to pedal the arpeggio section on the 2nd page? it seems to fast for someone to pedal on the beats, in order to make the sound not mushy.

any other advice on the piece would be helpful.

thanks in advance.

[steve jones]

"Within this work, there are elements of all the other 11 études to be found, if only somewhat briefly. Like its siblings, it is divided into three sections (bars 1-28, 29-48 and 49-84) and it is the only work that I would recommend learning from start to finish as a single entity.

Firstly, except for two places (bars 75 and 80), the tempo must remain constant throughout and this is no easy task (absolutely no rubato). Chopin is wholly unforgiving in the application of sudden crescendos and diminuendos that almost follow the harmonics of the bass line scales/arpeggios. Secondly, although the marking only appears once (bar 81), I would suggest that as well as playing allegro con fuoco you should also add appassionato to this piece overall. It is a passionate and fiery work and this should be reflected in the way it is played. Thirdly, this work MUST be played throughout with NO SUSTAINING PEDAL. Nothing ruins this work more than to hear both the harmony and melody deformed with great washes of pedal.

The opening section (bars 1-28) is relatively straightforward, but you must pay attention to the contradictory dynamics of the melodic and harmonic lines. For example, in bar 10 a crescendo in the right hand must coexist with the diminuendo in the left had figuration. These conflicting dynamics appear throughout the work. Note also the operatic nature of the melody, almost like a series of sung cries of despair.

The central section (bars 29-48) take the opening figuration through a series of modulations that, in typical Chopin style, are extremely difficulty and are somewhat of a reminder of the modulations in No.5. They must, however, be played with no alteration to tempo and no deviation from the marked dynamics.

The final section is further development of the opening theme, but this time with a series of thirds and offbeat accents incorporated into the right-hand melodic line. Once again, this is designed to refine the techniques introduced in the first and central sections. Only from bar 72 with the transition into the coda can you ease up slightly on the tempo, with a marked smorzando in bar 75 and a poco rallentando in bar 80. The final four bars, however, must return to the open tempo and be played ff appassionato, possibly even with a slight accelerando into the final triumphant cadences."

http://www.chopinmusic.net/library.php?w=Etudes#10-12

[kony O]

thanks =)

[klm46]

No sustaining pedal at all?  That sounds pretty difficult!

[maul]

I hate when someone else tells me how to play a piece. That chopinmusic stuff is a load of crap.