Chopin, Etude Op. 10, No. 6

[rachfan]

In playing this etude for clarity with virtually no pedal, I naturally played the right hand cantelana line louder, particularly at the beginning of phrases, to overcome tone decay that would otherwise have been offset by the sustaining effect of the damper pedal.  (Also the tone decay is faster on Baldwin than on Steinway.)  So there is a trade-off to this approach.  Even if you use half pedals, you'll invite some "haze", given the ever present passing tones.  If you go without the pedal, you'll need louder attacks at times to counter natural tone decay.  Shows that sometimes a choice involves compromises.  So I guess it comes down to a matter of preference.  Personally, I like the clarity without pedal, so I would encourage anyone interested in playing this etude to try it without pedal.

Update: I deleted the CD cut (53 downloads) and replaced it with the original tape recording for better fidelity.

[lostinidlewonder]

Good work, you are on the right track, I guess you don't want the praise so I'll keep it to the critique.

Your RH sounded too harsh, but by saying that you need to make it stand out much more without giving it the sound effect that your hand is heavily diving into the keys. If you bring everything softer it should be easier, I feel you are slightly too loud overall that makes you feel the need to compensate with a louder RH melody which just wrecks the gentleness of this piece. Remember Chopin was often criticised for playing too softly, I think this was because his music really needed that gentleness, more sounds are revealed to us when we play softly, the music is much more emotional and effective imo.

The middle single note voice which passes through the piece needs to discover a little flexibility, when do you broaden it, when do you keep it strict, and you should try to soften your touch here, I find giving slight length to notes which are slightly different to the previous pattern is a general way to voice this section. This voice should be much more in the background and provides the subtle rubato throughout this piece whereas the melody in the RH is kept strict. Many people do it the other way around. The RH melody is flexible while the little voice is kept constant, I feel this is wrong because it makes your playing sound like chewing gum, sounds fake and long winded. The real magic of rubato is found with a strict tempo in the main singing voice and a flexibility of the constant voices that support it. That creates the illusion that we are stealing time but keeps everything we play connected and flowing.

[quasimodo]

Some accidentals are not respected! Especially the final note  ... and a whole bunch of others, while they are maybe the main point of the score!
And then, unbutton your suit, unfasten your tie, breathe...

[steve jones]

Hey, your piano has that Honkey Tonk chorus thing going on like mine, cool!

As for the performance, I think you handled the inner voice very well. Some people dont seem to keep this even, yet you seem to have it well under control. Maybe the other voices are a little too heavy during the beginning, but nothing that cant be sorted out easily.

SJ

[rachfan]

Hi lost,

Thanks for your thoughtful critique.  Your advice on bringing the entire volume down is definitely what I should have done.  There is another similar technique that works wonders in a situation where the RH cannot seem to be properly discerned over the LH despite normal attempts at balancing the hands.  That is, play the RH normally without trying to overemphasize it, while bringing the LH way down so as not to compete with the RH.  Unfortunately, when I made this recording years ago, the conflict was not as apparent to me.  But now as I listen to it more critically, it's all too apparent.  Also, that's an interesting point you make on making the middle voice flexible in rubato while maintaining the flow of the melodic line.  I'll have to experiment with that! 

I should point out that when I was studying with my second teacher, my primary interest was expanding repertoire.  So typically I would spend 8 weeks on a piece, whereas with my first teacher, I'd work a piece intensively for up to a year.  So many of may posts here are not quite up to recital quality, frankly. 

Despite the difficulties in this 6th Etude, I would encourage pianists to play this etude without  pedal.  I believe that that is one of the challenges Chopin was posing. 

Thanks again for your ideas on this etude.

David 

[rachfan]

Hello quasimodo,

Hmmm....  I'm usually pretty careful with accidentals.  On your point of my missing the accidental on the last note, in the Paderewski Edition, which is highly respected, the g flat in the RH is made natural to g--which is exactly what I played there  Also, the editors' commentary makes no special reference to that g natural.  Are you, perhaps, looking at another edition where that note is played as a g flat?  I suspect that what Chopin was employing there was the Picardie Third device, so favored by Bach, wherein the minor third is raised to the major third in the last note or notes of the work.  This brings about a sudden and unexpected burst of brightness at the end of a piece in minor mode. 

Yeah, actually I recorded the piece at home, so just casual comfortable clothes, and my shoes were off too.  But my rendition, which is taut and has a quiet intensity, does need to breathe a bit more, I agree.

David 

[rachfan]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your comments.

About the honky tonk chorus, there is actually a story.  The piano is a Baldwin Model L grand (6'3") bought new in 1984.  A couple of years earlier, Yamaha introduced its comparable model, which had a more powerful sound--not better, just more powerful.  So Baldwin (mis)reacted by beefing up the Model L to better compete.  So it quickly became too bright and unpleasant.

Recently, I conferred with a former long-time design engineer who worked at the Baldwin factory.  He gave me some great restoration advice (it does need restoring now).  As a result,  I'll be replacing the Sychrotone bass strings with Arledge bass strings.  The steel strings will be Mapes IG wire.  And the all-important hammers, rather than Renner Blues, will be Ronsen Wurzen.  This will bring the piano back as closely as possible to its signature sound from the 1960s.  The work should begin in August.  I can't wait for the transformation!

Update:  The rebuild occurred, but not until April of 2007.  It made a big difference and greatly improved the piano's sound.  Unfortunately, this recording, of course, preceded the rebuilding.

David

[steve jones]

Hey, I bet your piano is way better than mine. Its just that Id never noticed that characteristic on anyone elses recordings here, and its kind of cool.

Thing is, my piano sounds like it because its a bag of spanners. So thats probably where the difference lies!

BB

[rachfan]

Hey Steve,

Would a bag of spanners in Down Under English be the same as wrenches in Up Over English?