This must have been the study that Chopin played for Henrietta
Voigt at Leipsic, September 12, 1836. In her diary she wrote:
"The over excitement of his fantastic manner is imparted to the
keen eared. It made me hold my breath. Wonderful is the ease with
which his velvet fingers glide, I might almost say fly, over the
keys. He has enraptured me--in a way which hitherto had been
unknown to me. What delighted me was the childlike, natural
manner which he showed in his demeanor and in his playing." Von
Bulow believes the interpretation of this magical music should be
without sentimentality, almost without shading--clearly,
delicately and dreamily executed. "An ideal pianissimo, an
accentless quality, and completely without passion or rubato."
There is little doubt this was the way Chopin played it. Liszt is
an authority on the subject, and M. Mathias corroborates him.
Regarding the rhythmical problem to be overcome, the combination
of two opposing rhythms, Von Bulow indicates an excellent method,
and Kullak devotes part of a page to examples of how the right,
then the left, and finally both hands, are to be treated.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191