Chopin Op. 25 No. 12 Held Notes

[daggenhurstfan]

Hello All,

I've noticed that in bars 57-58 and 61-62 of this étude, there are two held-over notes into the next measure

My question is, does anybody actually play these? In the recordings I have its simply imperceptible at tempo and i'm wondering if people just drop them and continue with the next phrase

[awesom_o]

I believe I held them in my recording. https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=53129.0
You are correct that most people don't, as it makes it much more difficult, and is barely perceptible.

I wouldn't recommend you to just drop them though, that isn't a very artistic approach to take. 

[daggenhurstfan]

I believe I held them in my recording. https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=53129.0
You are correct that most people don't, as it makes it much more difficult, and is barely perceptible.

I wouldn't recommend you to just drop them though, that isn't a very artistic approach to take. 

Great playing! You've inspired me to play it the right way

[awesom_o]

Thanks. I do the best I can with what I have 

How many of the Etudes do you play?

[daggenhurstfan]

Thanks. I do the best I can with what I have 

How many of the Etudes do you play?

I'm up to 8, working on getting the other 16 as well

[awesom_o]

Fantastic! Which 8 are you familiar with?

[daggenhurstfan]

Fantastic! Which 8 are you familiar with?

Op. 10: 1, 2, 4, 8

Op. 25: 6, 7, 11, 12

Trying to work slowly on the most challenging ones for me to get the most out of them, how long did it take you to learn them all?

[awesom_o]

About ten years, off and on...

Sounds to me like you've got the right idea!

[stringoverstrung]

Op. 10: 1, 2, 4, 8

Op. 25: 6, 7, 11, 12

Maybe you should go for Op. 10 nr 9 soon: in my opinion it is one of the easier ones. And important for the left hand. If you have big hands Op. 25 /1 is not too impossible.

[lalo57]

Awsom_o that is awesome playing! Congrats! I have a contest for next October... And I thought of that étude because a teacher told me that it is showy (and also super beautiful, one of my all time favorites) and not as hard as most of the others, but then, someone else told me that it IS as difficult as it sounds .. What do you guys think? I've so far only played op 10 12 and op 10 3 and was thinking about starting op 25 1... Do you think I could do it?... Thank you also is there any easier way to approach it? Like slowly... (I got time, not that much actually). :s

[awesom_o]

Thanks, lalo57!

In my opinion, almost everything is MORE difficult than it sounds.

To do something difficult badly=easy

To do something simple wonderfully=difficult

From now until October is plenty of time to do a good job on both 25/1 AND 25/12. They would contrast well with each other.

Definitely approach both of them under tempo! I would also recommend you practice both entirely without pedal until you are pretty comfortable with the notes.

[pianoguy711]

Those held notes always puzzled me too.  I think they are there more so for harmonic purposes.  But like you said it's barely perceptible at tempo.  No. 12 requires great stamina.  So one of the things this etude teaches you is how conserve energy through limiting superfluous movements that would tire you out quicker.  Make sure you hit those accents at the peak of each "wave".  For some reason I hear those left out a lot of times or their strength dewindles as the performance goes on

[lalo57]

Thanks, lalo57!

In my opinion, almost everything is MORE difficult than it sounds.

To do something difficult badly=easy

To do something simple wonderfully=difficult

From now until October is plenty of time to do a good job on both 25/1 AND 25/12. They would contrast well with each other.

Definitely approach both of them under tempo! I would also recommend you practice both entirely without pedal until you are pretty comfortable with the notes.

Thank you, will see. I think it is a little too advance for me and really would hate too mess up such a beautiful piece. But thanks that's quite good advice for every piece from now on!