Part 17 (1/2)

CHAPTER XIV

CHOPIN AND PIANOFORTE STYLE

Although Chopin (1809-1849) was less aggressively ro, in many respects his music represents the romantic spirit in its fairest blooh his fa--since he is often considered as a co, are too gossa student of Bach; and much of his music, in its closeness of texture, shows unether with Schumann, he broke away from the strict forn of freely conceived tone-poe conditioned by the poetic feelings of the composer As far as fundamental principles of architecture are concerned, his pieces are generally simple, modeled as they are on the two and three-part fore scope, where varied ether, he was la_, in his Sonatas In fact, even in such pieces as the etudes and Scherzos, in the presentation of the material we find occasional blemishes But there are so many other wonderful qualities that this weakness may be overlooked In spite of a certain deficiency in forenius Far too much stress has been laid on the delicacy of his style to the exclusion of the intensity and bold dramatic power that characterize h of frail physique,[212] and though living in an environment which tended to overdevelop his fastidious nature, Chopin had a fiery soul, which would assert itself with unmistakable force

His uorous sighs; he had a keen instinct for the dissonant elees in the Gharic significance A born stylist, he nevertheless did not avoid incessant labor to secure the acme of finish So perfect in his works is the balance between substance and treatment, that they make a direct appeal toto Chopin we are never conscious of turgidity, of diffuseness, of labored treathts are presented in a convincingly beautiful reat colorist as well, and in his e nize the fact that color in ination as profound thought or beauty of line Chopin's position in regard to progra subject for speculation Few of his works bear specifically descriptive titles; and it is well known that he had little sympathy with the extreeneral, so more than an abstract presentation of musical material, however beautiful The varied moods aroused by the Ballades and Nocturnes, the actual pictures we see in the Polonaises, must have had their counterpart in definite subjective experiences in the life of the coical standpoint--even in the absence of explanatory titles--we hly romantic tone-poet; indeed, as Balzac says, ”a soul which rendered itself audible”

[Footnote 212: He was born of a Polish mother and a French father, and thesecharacteristics of his music From the former strain came the impassioned, romantic and at times chivalrous moods, prorace, charhtly associate with the French nature For side-lights on Chopin's intie Sand see the well-known essays by Henry James and Rene Doumic]

As Chopin composed so idiomatically for his chosen instrument, the pianoforte, to which he devoted hi or adequate appreciation of the subtleties of his style is possible without soe of the nature and attributes of this instrument which, in our ti of music All of Chopin's works were not only published for the pianoforte but were conceived in _ter quite unique in the history of musical art For there are noble and poetically inspired thoughts of h a nu-quartet or voices This fact has been the cause of -quartet an A composer, furthermore, often publishes a work for a certain instru the period of creation, he actually had some other medium in mind Beethoven's Sonatas abound[214] in effects which, for their complete realization, require an orchestra; so that, notwithstanding the beauty of the thought, his style is often anything but pianistic In certain of Cesar Franck's pianoforte works we are conscious of his predilection for the organ, as the spirit of the an, with its powerful lungs, alone can give But if the full beauty of Chopin's conception is to be gained, hiselse The pianoforte has, to be sure, several limitations; it is not per se a loud instruan, and the whole nature of its tone is evanescent--that is, as soon as the tone is produced, it begins to fade away, [decrescendo symbol] This latter apparent liestive beauties; for nothing isaway of a beautiful sound, asof a clear-toned bell, or in the wonderful diminuendo of the horn This effect, inherent in pianoforte tone, should beon a delightful harle dramatic note is a definite characteristic of ”tempo rubato”--that peculiar feature of Chopin's rhythm The pianoforte can neither steadily sustain a tone [sustaining symbol] nor increase it [crescendo sys and the wind instruments are so valued On the other hand, the instrureat sonority and marvellous coloristic possibilities; and when music is composed for the pianoforte by one who understands its secrets and, furthermore, when it is properly played, it is quite the finest[215]

instrule perforreat rapidity of utterance, such as, for instance, we associate with the violin, the flute or the clarinet It is, in fact, often played _too fast_, sounding like a pianola or a machine rather than an instru over the notes, beautiful effects have no opportunity to be heard Rapidity and brilliance on the pianoforte do not depend on so many notes per second but on vitality and precision of accent

These adreat nurand, about two hundred and thirty, _ie_, three strings to each of the twelve notes of the seven octaves, save for a few of the lowest bass notes); to the large sounding board (about twenty-four square feet, on the largest model), and above all to the damper pedal which Rubinstein--so appropriately--calls the soul of the pianoforte The very terlory of the instru, its flexibility of utterance, from piano to forte or vice versa The li as in certain other instruhostly whisper of which the clarinet is capable, nor can it equal the trumpet or the trombone in intensity or volume But it can produce a very beautiful pianissiun quietly enough, it can be made to sound with remarkable brilliancy The pianoforte should always be played with a keen regard for this power of shading, of nuance; the tones should undulate like the winds or the waves Anything like the steady sostenuto level for which the organ shows itself so fitted is, except for special effects, entirely foreign to the nature of the pianoforte Nor should we ever atte instrument Its forte and its brilliancy are purely relative; and, when forced to do so unsuited to its real nature, it protests with a hard, un the Polish Songs, the Trio for Violin, 'Cello and Pianoforte and the orchestral accompaniment to the two Concertos]

[Footnote 214: There will occur to every one nues in which the pianoforte is expected to be a kettle-druuration is far better suited to the violin than to the hand in connection with keys]

[Footnote 215: This by reason of its combined powers in melody, harmony and rhythan; but the organ is inherently lacking in rhythm, and its solid, block-like tones do not exercise the sa sounds of the pianoforte It is, of course, possible and desirable to enjoy both instruments--each in its own proper sphere, and each for its characteristic effects]

Likewise the two pedals,[216] when their technical na, just as their popular designations hint at the way in which they are often abused The pedal eht_ foot, properly called the ”damper pedal,” is so named because, by its action, _all_ the dampers of the key-board s to vibrate together and to send forth great waves of colored sound like those produced by an Aeolian harp; an effect similar to that heard when a sea-shell is held to the ear The pianoforte, in fact, has aptly been called ”a harp laid on its back” to which the action of keys has been applied Accordingly an open, flowing style (arpeggio) is one of the idioms best suited to its nature To secure proper contrast, a massive, chordal style is sometimes employed by such composers as Schumann, Brahms and Franck--even at tiio (often merely two voices, with the body of tone secured by the pedal) is the nore of Chopin's co power of these waves are intensified by raising the lid[217] of the pianoforte; for then they are brought to a focus and projected into space The effect produced by raising the dampers is appropriate and beautiful, not alone with consonant chords but, at times, equally with chords that are unrelated; which, were they sustained for long by an organ, would be intolerably harsh But the tone of the pianoforte is so fleeting that such a on, and is thus akin to the blending of strange colors by modern painters Many people, in fact, play the pianoforte with too _little_, rather than too _ way! A definite atte for color and war a great blee illustrates the above points

[Footnote 216: It is understood that all the corand pianoforte, since on an upright or a square--because of mechanical limitations of space--the effects are quite different]

[Footnote 217: In this connection, even at the risk of see_ should ever be put on top of a grand pianoforte: neither flowers, afternoon tea-sets, bird-cages, books, nor even an aquarium! For the lid is not -board, and must always be in readiness to be so used The pianoforte as a coloristic instrument, in short, is completely itself _only_ when played with the lid raised]

[Music: CHOPIN: _Barcarolle_]

There is really no such thing on the pianoforte as a ”pure” single tone It is an acoustical law that no tone exists by itself, but always generates a whole series of overtones[218] or ”upper partials,”

as they are called, _eg_

[Music]

[Footnote 218: An instruned to reinforce these upper tones, so that they may be clearly heard, is to be found in any Physical Laboratory That these tones really vibrate ”sy _ff_ [Transcriber's Note: Music example indicates _sf_] this note [Music: C2 With dahtly_ the keys of G and E just abovethe individual dampers of these notes In a quiet roo experiment of the same nature, see the Introduction to the first volu's _Pedal Studies_ and the well-known treatise of Helmholtz]

Even e call the perfectly consonant chord of C htly qualified and colored by the B-flat, and this effect has actually been utilized by Chopin in the final cadence of his Prelude in F _

[Music]

In this example the E-flat must be very delicately accented and _both_ pedals freely used