Grieg's Arietta fingering

[rlefebvr]

I am sure I have asked this before but I can't find it on the forum or my notes so...


Take the first two bars as example for the rest of the piece.

Would you just play the top note with the right hand and all the other notes with the left or would you play as written playing the base clef notes with the left and the rest with the right.

I keep going back from one to the other and I really can't tell which is better.

Thks in advance

[bernhard]

Beautiful piece, one of my favourites!

The answer to your question is… neither! You actually share the broken chords between both hands.

There are three distinct parts (voices) on this piece: The top melody, the bass and the middle broken chord accompaniment. The melody is played with the 4-5 of the right hand, the bass is played with 4-5 of the LH, and the broken chords are played by both RH and LH using fingers 1-2-3.

Consider the first bar:

Top voice (RH): G(5)- G(5) – G(5)- G(5)
Middle voice: LH - Bb(2) Eb (1) then RH - G(1)-Bb(2) then LH - Bb(2) Eb (1) then RH - G(1)-Bb(2)
Bass (LH) Eb (5)

I suggest you learn this piece by first completely ignoring the middle broken chord voice and simply play the melody and the bass (using the final fingering you will eventually be using). Then learn just the broken chord accompaniment (again using the final fingering). Once both these parts are ingrained, join them.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.