Piano Forum



Rhapsody in Blue – A Piece of American History at 100!
The centennial celebration of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue has taken place with a bang and noise around the world. The renowned work of American classical music has become synonymous with the jazz age in America over the past century. Piano Street provides a quick overview of the acclaimed composition, including recommended performances and additional resources for reading and listening from global media outlets and radio. Read more >>

Topic: Prelude Op. 28 no.4 -Chopin  (Read 9768 times)

Offline ail

  • PS Silver Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 137
Prelude Op. 28 no.4 -Chopin
on: March 02, 2007, 01:09:05 PM
Another prelude I recorded yesterday. I have much less practice with this one, and I'm only coming to terms with it now. I have some difficulty in making the LH sound right,whether it be tempo or dynamic wise. Also, there's a passage marked 'stretto'. I'm not sure what this means, but I've been assuming it must mean 'rigorous', 'somewhat fast'. I had never paid much attention to it, until I heard some recordings in the forum and noticed people slowed down here. I'm not sure, I play it as I've always tried to play it, which is trying to keep the rhythm.
Anyhow, that's why I'm posting it here. To learn, and to hear suggestions for improvement.Oh, and I'm going to check that 'stretto' now anyway.

Alex
Sign up for a Piano Street membership to download this piano score.
Sign up for FREE! >>

Offline rachfan

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3026
Re: Prelude Op. 28 no.4 -Chopin
Reply #1 on: March 02, 2007, 09:17:36 PM
Hi ail,

Sounds like you're making good progress with this prelude.  You've got the notes down and are starting to put some shape to the long phrases.  You're developing a good feel for the piece.

Your two questions.   Regarding the LH: there are two things to work toward: 1) you have legato chords there, but the voicing is variable, so you need to bring out whatever has changed.  Examples of that would be in measure 2 the F#-A step down from the G-B in the previous measure; in that same measure, the step down from E to D# in the top voice; in measure 3, the change from F# to F natural in the bottom voice, etc.  These changes occur in the top, middle or bottom voice, so you need to be alert to them.  You're doing a good job with most of them--keep up the good work!

 2) On your question of controlling the LH dynamic: Where the RH is p, the LH, being accompaniment, or background, should be pp.  Here's how to do it.  When you play those chords (while you're thinking of what to voice), do not allow the keys to return fully all the way up to rest position; rather play the chords not from above with the hand, but INSIDE or WITHIN the keys.  That shortens the hammer strike distance to the string, making the sound more soft and subdued.  I'd recommend the soft pedal as well, but sounds as if you're playing a digital, so that might not be possible. 

Next, in the Romantic period stretto is not the Bach device where the RH and LH parts overlap in a fugue, so pay no attention to the Baroque usage here.  Instead, it simply means to create some tension by pressing through the figure or contracting it a little, in this case the turn specifically.  But it cannot be overly rushed either as you point the turn up to the G.  So it is a somewhat subtle tension in this case, not a dramatic gesture.  As you're executing that, avoid any accents in the bass, as that will detract from what you're trying to accomplish in the RH, which is the foreground.

I believe you're aiming for a couple of rubato effects in the prelude, but they're sounding like really fast accelerandos, as if you have to leave to get to a fire.  So they sound turbulent.  You might want to hold those back a bit.  Remember, this entire piece is built on a "sigh motif", and the work's character is much like a lament.  (The first occurence of the sigh is in measure 2 the RH C voice leading to the B in measure 3.  The first note of the sigh is pronounced, and the second is similar to the quieter second note of a two-note slur.)

Finally, in measure 12 (you only learn this from accompanying singers), when the RH jumps from the F# up an interval of a sixth to the D natural starting the triplet, a singer could not do that as easily as you did by depressing a key on a piano.  And realize that the entire RH long lines are bel canto or cantabile--someone is singing this lament.  The way a singer would handle this spot is to make a subtle pause to momentarily prepare the voice for the upward leap.  You need to emulate that in your playing there, without exaggerating the effect.  The very same thing is true for your stetto.  While a pianist would seamlessly connect the RH A# to the higher G, a singer would be a little more leisurely in reaching for that note.  So again, you need to take a subtle liberty to allow for that little delay there.  So it is press forward, then delay ever so slightly. 

I hope this helps you.  I'll post my own recording here, in case you're wondering how I play it.

   
Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities.

Offline ail

  • PS Silver Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 137
Re: Prelude Op. 28 no.4 -Chopin
Reply #2 on: March 05, 2007, 11:09:52 AM
Thank you for your comments, David.

You mention a lot of things I didn't have conscience of, namely the voicing of the chords. Please, could you be a little cleared on this?
I have to read your comments very carefully now with the score in front of me, and I'm going to listen to your recording and mine again to make the best use possible of your recommendations.
Also, a general question that was prompted by your comments is where do people learn to interpret and analyse like this? Are there writings about each piece / composer, or is this passed from teacher to student by word of mouth? I'd say not everything you said, like the 'sigh-motif' can be attributed to a personal reflexion, so it must be common-knowledge. Where and how does one earn this knowledge?

I don't quite know if that's uncommon, but my digital piano has 3 pedals, one of them a soft tone pedal. What were you referring to one you said that I  might have a problem with a soft pedal in a digital? Was its being available or digital pedals being very different from the real ones?

That is all. I thank you heartily for your help.

Alex

Offline rachfan

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3026
Re: Prelude Op. 28 no.4 -Chopin
Reply #3 on: March 06, 2007, 12:15:23 AM
Hi Alex,

Normally, when we talk about "voicing chords", the concept pertains to the RH.  I'll start there and get to the LH in a moment.  In many pieces, a student might gaze at the chords in the RH, and the visual impression is that chords are vertical groupings of notes.  But very often, chords in the RH must be considered not vertically, but horizontally.  The reason is that  those chords have a melodic line running from one chord to the next and the one thereafter, etc.  Typically the voice line is in the "tops" of the chords, but sometimes there can be a hidden line in a middle voice of the chords.  Once in a while it is appropriate, given performance practices, to voice the bottoms of the chords. 

The voicing I refer to in the Prelude No. 4 occurs in the LH.  The reason I gave an explanation of RH voicing first, is that it is more prevalent for projecting melody.  The reason for voicing changes in the LH of this particular prelude is different.  Rather than being melodic in nature, these are important harmonic changes that add color.  As such, they help maintain listener interest in what could otherwise be a dull and dreary ostinato type of accompaniment.  There is an old saying of composers: "Always keep the bass moving!"   Chopin was a master at this.  The purpose of that is to enhance musical value and to keep the listener from becoming inattentive or even bored.  That's why you need to highlight these harmonic changes.  You must do it sufficiently, but not in an exaggerated unmusical sense.

The word "voicing" is appropriate to the pianist's purpose.  Music is all about voices.  Instruments--the piano, violin, French horn, etc. are just that--mere instruments.  They are there at the musician's disposal to imitate the human voice.  So, for example, when you have a soaring catilena melodic line, you need to be singing it in your head as you voice or etch the melody to best approximate how it would sound in song.  Voicing requires emphasizing certain notes with fingers, arm weight, and/or sometimes the positioning of the hand.  It is a learned technique that takes time to develop.

Analysis of a score can be learned in several ways.  For a pianist it generally occurs during years of piano lessons.  An artist-teacher will point out, for example, matters of form and structure in a Bach Fugue, or for a sonata.  There will also be teaching moments for voicing, phrasing, overcoming a technical hurdle, improving tone production, employing portato touch within in a certain phrase, using half or flutter pedals, etc. etc.  The student absorbs these and many other lessons over time.  The artist-teacher has only one goal really--to teach the student how to be his or her own teacher in the future.  Another way to begin to analyze and interpret is by reading books on piano performance and pedagogy.  It helps too to accompany singers to see how they phrase and breathe. 

So when I get ready to study a new piece, I do not sit at the piano initially.  Instead, I sit in a chair with the score and study it.  First, I'll look at the key signature, meter and tempo as well as the larger form.  Perhaps it is a piece in A-B-A form.  Or there might be a reprise in the theme, or a coda deserving special attention.  I highlight dynamics, changes in touch, work out logical fingerings in  passagework, finger transfers, notice voice leadings where a note in the RH, for example, points to the next note in the LH.  I might find an odd rhythm that I'll pause to figure out.  Perhaps I'll see a really difficult short cadenza, and I'll be thinking of intelligent ways to practice it other than pure repetition.  Looking at the texture of the piece will be important to form preliminary ideas about pedaling.  I'm always on the lookout for voicing requirements in both hands.  When touch changes from legato to portato to nonlegato to staccato, I note it.  And yes, ha-ha, if I encounter an unfamiliar musical term, then I'll look it up in a musical terms dictionary and note it in the score.  I also find it helpful to consult  books about the composer that reference his works.  Repertoire guides also briefly discuss the character of a piece sometimes.  Or you might find that a pianist studied a piece with the composer who wrote it and discusses the composer's intent in a book or article as it was told to him.  Or sometimes your teacher's teacher studied with the composer.  Many performance practices have been handed down by teacher to teacher to teacher through the generations.

On interpretation in learning a piece, I try to stay clear of recordings.  I want to make my own determinations in that regard and put my own stamp on a piece.  Once the piece is learned, then I might listen to a recording later to compare.  But usually, it is to see if I've overlooked a wrong note.  Once in a while I hear one and recheck the score.  But as often as not, I'm correct.  In that regard, different editions can account for these apparent "errors".  Thus, both pianists and be right.  Using urtext editions that are as close as possible to the original is helpful, especially if the editor or editorial board has a comments section to discuss details.   

I have to admit that I'm very unfamiliar with digital pianos.  So if you have a soft pedal there, use it to good advantage when you must play very softly.   

Hopefully, this explanation is helpful.

David 

Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities.
For more information about this topic, click search below!
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert