Composer Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849), possibly his work contributed to making the piano the most popular musical instrument of its time and has now become an integral part of the concert repertoire, our Urtext RN Verlag edition contains his two cycles of Etudes op. 10 and op. 25, published in 1833 and 1837 and also includes three Etudes without opus numbers that Chopin composed for a Parisian piano method in 1840: wonderfully lyrical miniatures, giving a total of 27 Etudes.
The editor has been faced with the difficult task of exploring numerous possible sources to choose what is closest to the composer’s true intentions, as Chopin did not originally compose the Etudes as one or two cycles, but later grouped them together and thus op. 10 and op. 25 originated. For example, op. 10 consists of 12 Etudes and was written between 1829 to 1832, however, op. 25 also has 12 Etudes that originated from 1832 to 1836 and the three Etudes without an opus number in 1839. Chopin made several autograph copies of the same Etude and they have divergences between them, therefore, the manuscript sources are not completely identical, although Chopin was meticulous in his way of composing and possibly caught by his own constantly spontaneous improvisational gifts, which could have led to these slight changes when making his autograph copies, however, these vicissitudes should not be interpreted as mistakes or oversights, rather, they could be part of the composer’s creative process, as he often experimented with different musical ideas, and these may change over time, or even that Chopin was searching for perfection in his Etudes and this could lead to significant improvements in the work, therefore, it is complicated to make a comparative analysis between the first printed editions, as many of his works were published at the same time in France, Germany and England. It is practically improbable to establish exactly which of the manuscripts served as the engraver’s copy for the first editions and to know whether there are premeditated corrections or musical variants with respect to the autograph used. Moreover, the possibility that Chopin deliberately corrected in the manuscript prior to publication remains a continuing uncertainty.
Showing as usual in our urtext Roisber Narvaez Verlag we present this volume for piano unfingered, although in the editions of the main sources there are traditional fingerings that in some cases represent a guide to the interpretation intended by the composer, the publisher has decided to tacitly suppress them, since the different discrepancies that are often presented in the sources, mark clear inequalities that could overload the musical text and move away from those proposed by Chopin himself. The signs of the pedals, sometimes carefully noted in manuscripts, are only reproduced according to the primary sources; in general, the use of pedals as handed down no longer corresponds to modern pianistic requirements due to today’s instruments having a stronger tone and a wider register and also due to the large concert halls. Today’s performer will have to play with pedals in places where Chopin had not yet scored them. The tempos, some of them excessively fast, can be explained by the lighter mechanism and less sonorous sound of other instruments. Insofar as the sources visibly differentiate between the shape of the staccato markings (dot and wedge), the editor has endeavored to keep the various markings. However, they are occasionally used in a very capricious way in the original fonts, and because this causes ambiguity in the musical text, they have been left as dots. Editor’s suggestions have been added in gray.
The editor has been faced with the difficult task of exploring numerous possible sources to choose what is closest to the composer’s true intentions, as Chopin did not originally compose the Etudes as one or two cycles, but later grouped them together and thus op. 10 and op. 25 originated. For example, op. 10 consists of 12 Etudes and was written between 1829 to 1832, however, op. 25 also has 12 Etudes that originated from 1832 to 1836 and the three Etudes without an opus number in 1839. Chopin made several autograph copies of the same Etude and they have divergences between them, therefore, the manuscript sources are not completely identical, although Chopin was meticulous in his way of composing and possibly caught by his own constantly spontaneous improvisational gifts, which could have led to these slight changes when making his autograph copies, however, these vicissitudes should not be interpreted as mistakes or oversights, rather, they could be part of the composer’s creative process, as he often experimented with different musical ideas, and these may change over time, or even that Chopin was searching for perfection in his Etudes and this could lead to significant improvements in the work, therefore, it is complicated to make a comparative analysis between the first printed editions, as many of his works were published at the same time in France, Germany and England. It is practically improbable to establish exactly which of the manuscripts served as the engraver’s copy for the first editions and to know whether there are premeditated corrections or musical variants with respect to the autograph used. Moreover, the possibility that Chopin deliberately corrected in the manuscript prior to publication remains a continuing uncertainty.
Showing as usual in our urtext Roisber Narvaez Verlag we present this volume for piano unfingered, although in the editions of the main sources there are traditional fingerings that in some cases represent a guide to the interpretation intended by the composer, the publisher has decided to tacitly suppress them, since the different discrepancies that are often presented in the sources, mark clear inequalities that could overload the musical text and move away from those proposed by Chopin himself. The signs of the pedals, sometimes carefully noted in manuscripts, are only reproduced according to the primary sources; in general, the use of pedals as handed down no longer corresponds to modern pianistic requirements due to today’s instruments having a stronger tone and a wider register and also due to the large concert halls. Today’s performer will have to play with pedals in places where Chopin had not yet scored them. The tempos, some of them excessively fast, can be explained by the lighter mechanism and less sonorous sound of other instruments. Insofar as the sources visibly differentiate between the shape of the staccato markings (dot and wedge), the editor has endeavored to keep the various markings. However, they are occasionally used in a very capricious way in the original fonts, and because this causes ambiguity in the musical text, they have been left as dots. Editor’s suggestions have been added in gray.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.