Piano Forum



International Piano Day 2024
Piano Day is an annual worldwide event that takes place on the 88th day of the year, which in 2024 is March 28. Established in 2015, it is now well known across the globe. Every year it provokes special concerts, onstage and online, as well as radio shows, podcasts, and playlists. Read more >>

Topic: Chopin Nocturne Edition used by Moravec.  (Read 1391 times)

Offline gtdpiano

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 1
Chopin Nocturne Edition used by Moravec.
on: August 24, 2021, 03:04:34 AM
Hello.  I really like Moravec's performance of Nocturnes that I found on youtube.com here.



(Sorry, in preview, the link does no appear.)


I read a prior thread on the best Chopin editions to get.  And the primary consensus is the Ekier edition  (Wiener Urtext).  My main question is.... I'd like to know what edition of the nocturnes did Moravec base his performance on (from the you tube link).

What edition do most concert pianists referred to?  Does it really matter at that level?   I'm guessing they prefer to multiple editions especially if they have different things to reveal about the piece.

I'm thinking about picking up the Cortot Edition and the Ekier edition.  But does anyone have any thoughts on the Dover edition.  I can buy all 3, but I'm afraid I'll just pick one and the others will go to waste.

Am I just sweating the small details at my level?  Like, at my level, I should just pick an edition and stick with it.  I (use to) have a teacher and play some of Chopin's easier etudes... Op 10 No 1, 3, 4 and Op. 25 No 1.  So my level of playing is okay.  I don't have the intention or talent to be a professional.

Anyways, thanks!

Offline dogperson

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1559
Re: Chopin Nocturne Edition used by Moravec.
Reply #1 on: August 24, 2021, 07:59:34 AM
My feeling is that you like the way he plays the nocturne, which is a very different question to what edition he uses to play it.  Conduct a small experiment;  go to IMSLP.com  and print multiple editions of this one nocturne and compare to the version that was played.  You will find either none or generally small differences in the editions from the score in the YouTube video.

Henle is urtext which means the editors have researched the ‘original’ editions, have made and documented the reason for their choice in the details. Original is in quotes as the original editions of Chopin are not definitive: there are often original editions which were published in different countries about the same time. You can also look for the original autographs. A great deal of research which I do find fascinating but will not have you actually play well.

The book ‘Chopin pianist and teacher also  has an appendix of some scores annotated with  the differences in the versions Chopin gave to each of his students. Generally minor but different, particularly in fingerings.

My own personal favorite of the ‘which one is the original edition’ is C sharp minor nocturne, post, there are two different endings: one in the version Chopin gave his sister, as he wrote this nocturne to help her learn his concerto 2;  the other possibility is the hand-written version found in Chopin’s personal affects.  You get to decide which ending was his ‘intent’. 

Just my opinion, as a Chopin freak and nothing more than that. Find a good edition such as Henle or Eiker and concentrate on playing it well. You can print all the various editions from IMSLP if you decide to compare the differences or even find many of the autographs on the internet.  Interesting but it does not make you a better pianist.

Just one person’s uneducated opinion, 





Offline lelle

  • PS Gold Member
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2210
Re: Chopin Nocturne Edition used by Moravec.
Reply #2 on: August 24, 2021, 10:15:43 PM
Chopin editions are a thorny issue, because Chopin was a shrewd businessman who often published all his new works in three different locations - France, Germany and Great Britain - and there are often subtle differences between these first editions, with the changes having been mad and approved by the composer himself. So which is the "true" reading? In some cases there is none.

However, you can't go wrong with any Urtext edition, it'll be well researched from the sources. I like Henle but Wiener is fine too (I recall liking their fingerings less in many cases though). The Urtext will often have notes about what sources they use and why they chose the reading they chose and what other readings are in other sources. So you'll be fine playing from an Urtext and you can always research other editions yourself if you want to play some other variant.
 

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