Piano Forum

Poll

Can you reach all the notes as written?

Yes
2 (20%)
No
8 (80%)

Total Members Voted: 10

Piano Street Magazine:
The Many Voices of Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel, the Czech-born Austrian pianist, essayist and poet, died peacefully at age 94 on June 17, 2025, in London. Celebrated for his deeply intellectual interpretations of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Liszt, he reshaped classical performance with clarity, wit and literary flair. His legacy endures through recordings, writings and mentorship. Read more
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Topic: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?  (Read 11459 times)

Offline the romantic

  • PS Silver Member
  • Jr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
on: September 05, 2010, 10:42:35 PM
Hello,

I've been playing Chopin's Funeral March (the one from the 2nd Piano Sonata) and I cannot reach one of the chords.  In bar 15 these is a left hand chord - Db Ab F, and my hand won't reach!!!  It is not written as an arpeggio, although I suppose I could play it like that.  Instead I play the Db an octave higher (between the Ab & F).  I do have quite small hands, but I am able to reach all the other chords, including an uncomfortable 10th in the left hand 3 measures later.

Can the rest of you reach this chord?  If not, what do you play instead?


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

Offline perfect_pitch

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 9707
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #1 on: September 06, 2010, 12:01:32 AM
I don't think I can reach it also... I just treat it as a run and play it as quickly as I can.
Logged

Offline retrouvailles

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2851
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #2 on: September 06, 2010, 12:13:30 AM
You should never change the notes in a given chord, but rather you should just roll the chord, which is what all performers do that can't reach the chord. Just listen to some recordings of Alicia de Larrocha, who had tiny hands.

Oh, and for the record, I can reach the chord (I can reach up to an 11th).
Logged

Offline deanalangraham

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 7
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #3 on: September 07, 2010, 08:15:54 PM
retrouvailles is right. If you cannot reach a chord you must roll it with some incredible pedal action going on. In music of presto this is never a problem as the tune has left the station way before anyone could possibly notice. With Lento and Largo the problem is still boarding - but there are ways around it.

Perhaps this is one of those times when the performer's interpretation takes precedence. Remember that the Bachs and Haydns of this earth wrote music with no (or little) ornamentation, expecting the performer to interpret their works as they saw fit...within reason. Chopin has given us some of the most spiritually awesome music that life will ever allow, but even he was aware of the interpretive nature of music - without reference I can recall hearing that he once 'half-timed' one of his compositions after hearing a student of his play it that way in practice - nothing is sacred.

If you cannot reach that note or notes, in this or any other piece you may play, then accentuate that 'hesitancy' and make that piece your own. Obviously you do not want to alter too much the overall intention of the piece, but there...it's yours. Chopin is dead. You are alive. He lives through you. Make him proud.
Logged

Offline mikey6

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1406
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #4 on: September 08, 2010, 04:32:03 AM
I would beg to differ - occasionally, rolling the chord just sounds completely out of place.
I'm working on the Franck sonata atm, and there are chords-a-plenty above 10ths which not too many people would be able to reach.  However in some places it just doesn't sound right to roll the chord so you have to resort to either leaving notes or re-voicing - mind you if you do re-voice you have to be sure to voice the chord so as not too notice the difference.
It's well known that Brendel and Horowitz re-arrange chords, leaving notes out and re-arranging - no one complains as far as I have know coz no one can tell the difference.
That being said, I would roll this chord in the funeral march.  It comes at a maestoso/noble part of the piece and would not sound out of place.  I would certainly not put the db an octave highter as you lose the fundamental bass note.
Logged
Never look at the trombones. You'll only encourage them.
Richard Strauss

Offline the romantic

  • PS Silver Member
  • Jr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #5 on: September 14, 2010, 03:36:13 PM
Thanks for all the advice!
Logged

Offline birba

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3725
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #6 on: September 15, 2010, 04:36:34 PM
Maybe it's my age, but I ask myself, "What's the problem?"  I don't think I've ever heard this played when it WASN'T rolled.  I agree with mickey6 when he-she says that it's not always good to roll for a certain effect.  But here, it's become so much a practise to do so, that it seems to add to that majestic effect.  In fact, when I answered the survey, I immediately answered "yes".  It hadn't even crossed my mind that there was an unplayable chord in this music.
This is like the small hand discussion.  When it comes down to it, we're not really out there to play the notes, per se.  We're out there to play the music.  When you've got the spirit and soul of it, you've got it.  Alicia de la Rocha, with her miniscule hands,  really personified this credo.
Logged

Offline nearenough

  • PS Silver Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 133
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #7 on: September 18, 2010, 04:00:09 AM
I've been digitalizing my LP collection and easily played back Rubinstein, Horowtiz and Ted Joselson playing the chord in question and could not detect a roll. But I cannot play it without a roll either and I have fairly large hands, at least as large comparing mine to photos of both AR's and VH's. So I don't know what is going on.
Logged

Offline nearenough

  • PS Silver Member
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 133
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March? YES!
Reply #8 on: September 18, 2010, 08:23:10 PM
I figured out the solution. You take the "left hand" f with the right thumb making the right hand play all 4 notes as written, the left taking the d and a flats. This makes sense since the distance in the right hand as suggested by me is shorter than the distance in the left hand as written by Chopin. True, you have to play all four notes with the right but this is negotiable. Sometimes the right hand is a bit longer and stronger than the left anyway.

Cheers!
Logged

Offline han.chang.yu

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 1
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #9 on: February 11, 2022, 03:28:58 AM
You should roll this 11th chord fast. Consider seong Jin cho’s 2015 Chopin competition performance. Gadjiev won Zimmerman Sonata Prize with op.35 in 2021, he rolled the chord as well. Even Bruce Liu with enourmous stretch (12th or more, allegedly) seems to roll the chord, albeit almost imperceptibly. Even if you have a large stretch to reach the chord, it seems that you need to get out of the tension immediately anyway, so might as well consider rolling the chord rather than injuring your hand.
Logged

Offline lelle

  • PS Gold Member
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2656
Re: Can you reach all the notes in Chopin's Funeral March?
Reply #10 on: February 14, 2022, 11:51:45 PM
Quote from: han.chang.yu on February 11, 2022, 03:28:58 AM
You should roll this 11th chord fast. Consider seong Jin cho’s 2015 Chopin competition performance. Gadjiev won Zimmerman Sonata Prize with op.35 in 2021, he rolled the chord as well. Even Bruce Liu with enourmous stretch (12th or more, allegedly) seems to roll the chord, albeit almost imperceptibly. Even if you have a large stretch to reach the chord, it seems that you need to get out of the tension immediately anyway, so might as well consider rolling the chord rather than injuring your hand.

Welcome to the forum :) I think OP is no longer on this forum considering they posted the question 12 years ago.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
For more information about this topic, click search below!

Piano Street Magazine:
New Piano Market Statistics: Inside the Quiet Transformation of Piano Playing
For those of us who spend our lives on the bench — whether teaching, practicing for a recital, or simply playing for the love of it – the piano has always been a singular concept: wood, felt, strings, and soul. Yet, recent global market reports reveal that the definition of our instrument is expanding and evolving in ways that affect us all. Read more
 

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
Customer Reviews