New Historical Performance Research With Video

[louispodesta]

When reading a score, students have always been taught to play their chords in a block chord fashion.  Unless they are specifically marked, they are never instructed to play rolled chords, instead.
 
Stated another way, when a person is taught to play a chord, an octave, or double notes at the piano, they are taught to strike all of the keys at the same time. It is assumed that because the notes on the printed score are all lined up vertically on the note stem those keys are to be struck simultaneously.
 
However, recent written and recorded sources have shown that the composers and pianists of the 19th and early 20th centuries regularly rolled/arpeggiated their chords, octaves, and double notes. This was done commonly in the left hand, and also often in the right hand.

They also used a performance technique known as asynchronization, where the bass note was played slightly ahead of the soprano note in order to enhance the melodic line.

It is most important to note that the style and utilization of  arpeggiation and asynchronization was specific to a particular composer.  No two were done the same way.
 
As an example there is the recording "Pupils of Clara Schumann," where Adelina de Lara arpeggiates and asynchronizes the music of Schumann, Brahms, and Beethoven.  Then, there are the digital stereo piano roll recordings, "Debussy, The Composer As Pianist," and "Ravel, The Composer As Pianist," where the composers use these techniques extensively.
 
Two written sources are Kenneth Hamilton's, "After the Golden Age," and Neal Peres Da Costa's, “Off the Record," whose books contain extensive discussions of arpeggiation and asynchronization, along with rhythmic alteration and tempo modification.  They state that in the 19th century people originally learned a piece from the composer or one of their students because the score was only meant to be a guide.
 
Finally, enclosed is a link to a You Tube video illustrating this research.
 
This is a somewhat radical approach with a title that some have found to be simplistic and offensive.  However, the goal is to have this research published so that every person be given the opportunity to hear the classical piano repertoire as it was originally composed, performed, and taught.
 
Some will find this to be old news, but most people have no knowledge of these historical performance techniques.  They have always been taught that the composers and their students originally played utilizing the modern block chord, strict tempo method of (Urtext) literal interpretation.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[richard black]

Good points worth making!

[pianoman53]

The point is that performance standard change, and it should!

The way we play Mozart is very far from the way he played it himself. It's well documented that he used plenty of pedal, and rubato in right hand while left hand was steady.

Also, why shouldn't the music develop when everything else does? If we would play exactly like they did 200 years ago, it would be rather pathetic, wouldn't it?

[louispodesta]

pianoman53:

Thank you for your comment.  However, with all due respect, I think you are equating historical performance practice with sloppy playing.  This is Nelita True's philosophy which is stated in her description, "Sunday School Piano Teacher playing."

The truth is that Emil von Sauer rolled his chords in the left hand performing Beethoven, and it is beautiful and concise playing.  I show this in the "Additional Recordings Of Non-Urtext Performance" thread in the "Repertoire" Forum listing.

Do I play the Mozart A Major Concerto slow movement the way Carl Reinecke does in the video?  No, I do not.

Do I play it the way Marguerite Long recorded it in 1939, where she gently rolls all of the chords in the left hand?  Yes, I do.  She learned the piece in the 1890's at the Paris Conservatory, and that is the way the whole world played it.

Further, no one would ever suggest that anyone play the Griffiths Sonata or the Barber Sonata in a rolled chord/asynchronized fashion.  But, it is important for all to know how the music of the 18th and 19th century was originally performed.

That is why historical peformance practice is standard pedagogy in the UK.  Unfortunately, in the U.S., this is rarely the case.

Finally, enclosed for your listening pleasure are three live performances of Mieczyslaw Horszowski, who lived to be 100 (1993), and who was  a student of Leschetizky.  He played this way for most of the 20th century, and he also taught at the Curtis Institue for a very long time.

He is playing Chopin, and Mozart - all in a rolled chord/asynchronized fashion.  It is stunningly beautiful music, and by the way, he was 98 when he performed the Mozart Sonata.  I have played that piece for 40 years, and do not even come close to his level of playing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?

[pbryld]

So how do we know when to roll or not?

[louispodesta]

pbryld:

Thank you for your interest.  I am going to give you a detailed answer so hang with me on this.

First, my teacher taught me the philosophy of eclecticism.  Succintly put, that means that you study what has been successfully done before, and then you adapt it to your own personal situation.

Learning how to play in the style of the 19th century pianists and composers is effectuated the same way.  In this case, you have written sources, and you have recorded sources.

Above, I cite Kenneth Hamilton's book, "After The Golden Age," which extensively references arpeggiation and asynchronization.  It includes a detailed quote from Claudio Arrau regarding how his teacher Martin Krause used to teach his students how to arpeggiate the music of his teacher who was Franz Liszt.

Then, I list Neal Peres Da Costa's book, “Off the Record," which contains extensive discussions of arpeggiation and asynchronization, along with rhythmic alteration and tempo modification.  Dr. Peres da Costa has special symbols, embedded into the text of practically every page, which cross-reference dozens of recorded examples on the book's companion website.

If you don't want to go the Amazon.com route, both of these excellent texts can be obtained through your local library's Interlibrary Loan (ILL) program, for free.

In regards more recorded sources, I recommend first that you get Kenneth Caswell's piano roll recordings, "Debussy, The Composer As Pianist," and also "Ravel, The Composer As Pianist." The are playing their own stuff, so you can pretty much take everything that they do, literally.

When it comes to Chopin, the recordings of Moritz Rosenthal, Alfred Cortot, and Teresa Carreno are all excellent sources.  Each one of their teachers was a teaching assistant of Chopin.  You Tube is loaded with recordings of these artists.

The best recorded source for Brahms is Carl Friedberg's recording "The Brahms Schumann Tradition."  Friedberg was a student of Clara Schumann, and he was personally coached at great length by Brahms himself.  It is available through Marston records, and with the exception of the Kinderszenen, all of the selections are from live recitals at Juilliard where taught for 23 years unitl 1946.

Finally, there is the 6 CD box set "The Pupils Of Clara Schumann."  These are recordings made by Fanny Davies, Adelina de Lara, and Ilona Ibenschutz.  The de Lara recordings also include Brahms, as well as the Beethoven C Minor Variations (with arpeggiation).

Unfortunately, Pearl Records has withdrawn this great collection, so you will have to find some way to listen to it at your nearest university Fine Arts Library.  Also, there are selected recordings from this set on You Tube, especially Fanny Davies' very first analog recording of the Schumann Concerto, which you can dowload from one of the comment links for just under $4.00.  Davies was Clara Schumann's teaching assistant for twenty years!

After all of this, seek out other recordings and then let your ear and your own personal taste be your guide.  That is the way everyone in the 19th century did it!

Finally, I leave you with the live recordings of Mieczyslaw Horszowski, who was a student of Theodore Leschetizky, whose piano teacher was Carl Czerny.  Horszowski lived to be 100 (1993), and his playing is a great example of these techniques being utilized in modern times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?