Chopin 25-10 Question

[steve jones]

I see that in the A section of this piece, you are required to play harmonic notes inside of the octaves. Is it necessary to hold these notes for their full duration, or is exceptable to pedal them?

I fear my answer is the first option, making it way more difficult! 

SJ

[walking_encyclopedia]

dude, if you could pedal away every sustained note in chopin it would sound like a big mush. i'm currently working on ballade 1. TONZ of sustained notes man. so definitely hold those guys down. i mean, it's an etude, you know?!

plus i would always recommend on the chopin etudes practice them without pedal ALL the time to keep it clean. i can't tell you how much that helped me on 10/1, 10/3, and 10/12.

plus i think the chopin etudes sound best when they're not overpedalled. judging by the way that chopin and mikuli wrote pedalings, (in contrast to the preludes op28), chopin was pretty sparse in etude pedaling. i mean, in 10/12 i hardly use any pedal, just a little here and there to help sustain the line of the right hand in those widely spaced chords. less pedal really gives the etudes a raw powerful sound.

[practicingnow]

You should hold them for the most part, although a small amount of cheating here and there is ok.

[Kassaa]

It's an etude, play it like it's supposed to be when practicing, play the thing that sounds best in a concert.

[orlandopiano]

I don't think most performers hold those half notes down for their full value, they just try to voice them and use the pedal properly.

[steve jones]

Hey, maybe I should clarify...

Im not even planning to do this Etude, as it is way above my level. Im working on the Preludes right now, but as the Etudes are in the same book I like to look through them and assess the difficulties.

In this case, I was unsure to the accepted way to play this section (hence why I asked).


walking_encyclopedia,

Actually, thats the edition that I have, and you're quite right, pedalling is at a bear minimum. I figured this would be the case, but as I dont have a teacher, sometimes I have to rely on you guys to answer silly questions!

10/3 for example has very little pedal, and to be honest, when listening to the piece played well, I can see why. The pedal certainly can mush things up, and in a piece like this where voices need to be discrete, Im sure it would be the kiss of death.

SJ

[steve jones]

I don't think most performers hold those half notes down for their full value, they just try to voice them and use the pedal properly.

Well, this is what I was wondering. Iv seen performers lift off notes in pieces like this before, and Im sure that many would do so with this Etude.

I suppose it is all down to the individual pianist. Clearly Chopin intended the notes to be held, but I highly doubt that everyone does.

SJ