Chopin op. 10/1: too fast to play?

Wim Winters talks about Chopins famous etude and offers a new approach to this piece.
www.wimwinters.be

Category:

Music

Tags:

• tempo
• chopin
• piano
• etude opus 10 n°1 Wim Winters

[honron21]

we can only suppose how it was, but there are no real poof of anything.

[WimWintersMusician]

@honron21 thanks for the reply! You're right in that we can never unveal the whole truth, but there is a mathematic evidence in the metronome markings. It's either to be played literaly or to be read as a double beat. And for that... there is ample proof that it was double beat. it seems to be strange, but one of the rare things that left of this tradition is the way we count our hart beats... If we say 76 bpm, we mean 76x n and 76x out, so 144. Luckily our hart follows the old reading

[sunamiassault]

Ok this is wrong and its half the speed this guy is nuts.

[WimWintersMusician]

@sunamiassault I know it can hurt :-(. Sorry for that but this is not an "idea", it is the outcome of academic research by many...

[karlakor]

At 2:20 the author simply dismisses the idea that the lighter-action Viennese piano would make the etude easier to play. OF COURSE a lighter action would make it easier to play!! Try this piece on a Steinway and then try it on a Pleyel with a light action, and you'll see the difference! At 3:36 he acknowledges that the time signature indicates "a fast 4/4 movement". The operative word is FAST. This video is just an attempt to justify a slower tempo for those who cannot play the etude fast.

[WimWintersMusician]

@karlakor Thank you for your comment. To be correct, the piece was composed not for a Pleyel, but for a Graf. The lighter action (and smaller keys!) are in no way helpfull for a fast performance. No double action. Touch and tone must be much preciser on a Vien. piano than on a Steinway. That needs time.

Conc. the word 'fast', it means simply what it means, "faster" than a "normal" 4/4. Not a formule 1 tempo.

And, BTW, I played the piece in Ferrari tempo at my graduation in Amsterdam...

[CiachoLover]

Wow! It's nice to know that I always played it right. :-)

[Kinjutsuu]

@karlakor

What are you talking about.. The Steinway pianos are very light-action!! I always play way too loud on Steinways, being used to Kawaii :P

Also used to mechanical organ... a lot heavier action than pianos

[afertyus1000]

@shakychevy its great to listen to it like this for practice purposes to get the shape of it then practice 

[RevolutionizeMusic]

@RevolutionizeMusic I did not get what the clip at the end was trying to show except it being played slower. The slower tempo written by Chopin was to go with the accents, which I didn't hear. For me, practicing and performing are 2 different situations. If this piece was to be performed by Chopin, he wouldn't have played it slow with all accents.

[RevolutionizeMusic]

Thanks for the idea on the new approach. I have to agree that most people learn it too fast, but when it's performing it should be different. Musicians now perform anything that was written(including etudes). The piece was originally composed as an etude. Tempo marking was set specifically to exercise the accents for certain technique(s)(as of any other etudes). We should not assume, when played as a concert piece, be done the same exact way.

[RhaegarTargaryen1884]

With practice my friends, nothing is too fast to play.

[UKpiano]

hmmm....I am confused, as far as I can hear, the ashkenazy performance has no mistakes in it! I am positive there are none in that clip anyway, so whats he going on about???

[shakychevy]

@sunamiassault the tune is most beautiful at this half pace......i've heard it at super fast and it's superb at that but the richness really shows at the half pace....

[shakychevy]

so great to hear this at a slower pace........the beauty of the song is apparent at "full" speed but perhaps the most beautiful at the half pace..................