Pedal marks on Chopin Revolutionary Etude

[re_ignited_17]

Hello to everyone on the forum, and I hope this topic isn't duplicating another one already posted.

I am preparing for my ARCT exam at the RCM and for my List F Concert Etude, I am playing Chopin's "Revolutionary" Etude (Op. 10, No. 12) which I'm sure everyone would be familiar with. I have purchased the G. Schirmer edition, revised by Arthur Friedheim, and one of the first things I noticed about this edition was its placement of pedal markings. It would be difficult to describe them here, but what surprised me was the markings were placed such that many of the running sixteenth notes were not to be played with pedal, akin to Beethoven's "Pathetique" sonata. I sort of understand that this was to avoid dissonance that would otherwise make it difficult to hear. But for some reason I have been used to holding the pedal down during these stretches; i.e. as if the asterisks were removed, but not the "Ped." ones, as it would make the sound ring out more that way.

However, since during my ARCT exam the examiners would be viewing this Schirmer copy of the score, I am concerned whether I should adhere to the pedaling printed there, or just stick to what I do now. Please give me your opinion, and tell me, ideally, how to pedal this piece in this regard.

Thank you for your time!

Regards,
RI17

[ewalker1]

Throw your Schirmer copy of the études (and copies of anything else) into the nearest fire or river, and buy an edition with some kind of credibility.
The the études of Chopin, I recommend either the PWM edition, edited by Jan Ekier...or Henle Verlag, edited by Ewald Zimmermann.

[visitor]

Throw your Schirmer copy of the études (and copies of anything else) into the nearest fire or river, and buy an edition with some kind of credibility.
The the études of Chopin, I recommend either the PWM edition, edited by Jan Ekier...or Henle Verlag, edited by Ewald Zimmermann.

editor matters more than publisher. I would not throw away those of the complete works of Chopin edited by Joseffy.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/737893?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

(i hardly think the student of Moscheles, Tausig, and Liszt deserves to be placed int he rubbish bin). I have not found much to take issue with on his editions of Chopin, and actually would place them as a go to reference or counter reference if i am working out of another edition.

Now Schirmer for Bach and Mozart? I have found those editors horrendous, and they are a good exercise in hand injury if you want to follow their fingering 'suggestions' where they appear in that music.

[chopinlover01]

Pedal markings, like fingerings, are rarely original instructions, and are almost never universal. Whatever markings are in your book will probably sound wonderful on some pianos and horrid on others.

The issue with "adherence to the score" as a general concept is that music is not a prescriptive art form but a descriptive one. The function of a score is a means by which the music can be realized, not as an end in and of itself. Your pedal markings and fingerings are more than likely added by an editor, which, while not meaningless, is still only a tool and not an end in and of itself. I would encourage you (and I say this to *all* classical musicians) to analyze your scores and ask WHY certain things are there. Lifting the pedal each bar because the music says so is not a good enough reason. The quality of the music you produce is the only, and I repeat, the ONLY thing that matters.

[iansinclair]

Pedal markings, like fingerings, are rarely original instructions, and are almost never universal. Whatever markings are in your book will probably sound wonderful on some pianos and horrid on others.

The issue with "adherence to the score" as a general concept is that music is not a prescriptive art form but a descriptive one. The function of a score is a means by which the music can be realized, not as an end in and of itself. Your pedal markings and fingerings are more than likely added by an editor, which, while not meaningless, is still only a tool and not an end in and of itself. I would encourage you (and I say this to *all* classical musicians) to analyze your scores and ask WHY certain things are there. Lifting the pedal each bar because the music says so is not a good enough reason. The quality of the music you produce is the only, and I repeat, the ONLY thing that matters.

Amen.  And, I might add, the pedaling which works will, unhappily, change wth the instrument and the space in which you are playing.  What works well on one instrument, may be hash on another...