Download - Tempo and Character in Chopin
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
1/16
Tempo and Character in ChopinAuthor(s): Thomas HigginsSource: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), pp. 106-120Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/741462
Accessed: 25/07/2010 23:06
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=oup.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Oxford University Pressis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Musical
Quarterly.
http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/stable/741462?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ouphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ouphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/741462?origin=JSTOR-pdf -
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
2/16
TEMPO AND
CHARACTER
IN
CHOPIN
By
THOMAS HIGGINS
FEW
ymbols
in musical notation direct their
precise
interpreta-
tion.
Even a
note on a
particular
line or
space represented
only
an
approximate pitch
in
the mid-nineteenth
century,
but
earlier
than
that
composers
had
a
device
for
the measurement
of
tempo.
Maelzel's metronome was
constructed
in
1816,
and the instrument
has been
in
use ever since.
Beethoven was the
first
great
composer
to
seize on the
mechanism,
and
Hummel wrote
in
the
1820s
that all
composers
and
performers
should
have
one,
that
(metronomic)
tempos be printed on all compositions, and that students and schools
should
adhere to them.
If
this takes
place,
added
Hummel,
the
price
of
audible metronomes
could be
brought
within
reach
of even
small-
town
musicians
of
limited
means.'
Chopin placed
metronome
rates
in
the
autographs
of
a
number
of
compositions
written
before he left Poland
in
1830. He continued
to
do
this
for a
few
years
after
settling
in
Paris,
but
took to the
practice
of
adding
them to
the
manuscript
in
pencil. Finally,
in
1836,
they stop altogether.
It is
interesting
to
speculate
on
Chopin's
experience
with
the device:
both his
use
and
his
avoidance of it
are
instructive.
In
the former
case he left an
exact
measure,
for
once
and
all,
of
many
particular
allegros,
prestos,
or
lentos,
and
from
these
rates we
can establish a
range
of
limits
that is
useful in
deducing
allegros,
prestos,
and
lentos of
his
later
works.
Autographs having
metronome
rates
include
the
Variations in
1
J.
N.
Hummel,
Ausffihrliche
theoretisch-practische Anweisung
zum
Piano-Forte-
Spiel,
vom ersten
Elementar-Unterrichte
an,
bis zur
vollkommensten
Ausbildung
(2nd
ed.;
Vienna: Tobias
Haslinger,
1828),
p.
455. This
edition is
identified as
a
second
printing,
but is
in
reality
a
second
edition;
there
is in it
additional
material not
present
in
the
English
and
French
translations of the
first
edition.
106
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
3/16
Tempo
and
Character n
Chopin
107
D
for
four
hands;2
the
Variations
on
the Swiss
Boy;3
the
Variations
on "La ci darem
la mano,"
Opus
2;
the sonata
Opus
4;
Krakowiak
Grand Concert Rondo in F major for Piano and Orchestra, Opus
14;
the Trio
for
Piano,
Violin,
and
Cello,
Opus
8;
the Concerto
in
F
minor,
Opus
21;4
seven
of
the studies of
Opus
10
(Nos.
2, 7, 8,
9,
10,
11,
12);
the Nocturne
in
D-flat,
Opus
27,
No.
2;
Four
Mazurkas,
Opus
24;
and
the studies
Opus
25.5
In
Opus
24
and
all but No.
2
of
Opus
25
Chopin
added the rates in
pencil
on
the
otherwise com-
pleted
manuscripts.
In
Opus
25,
No.
2,
the
metronome
rate
was
written in ink
by
the
copyist.
No doubt
this is not
a
complete
list:
to mention only one example, early editions of the nocturnes Opus 9
to
Opus
27
bear
metronome
rates,
which
suggests
that at least
some
of
the
autographs
of
these
compositions
also
bore them.
Autographs
still
existing
from
Chopin's
early years
not
having
metronome
rates
include
the
very
early
Polonaise
in
A-flat
(April
23,
1821),
dedicated
and
presented
to
Zywny,
an
early
version
of the
Mazurka in
A-flat,
Opus
7,
No.
4,
presented
to
Wilhelm
Kolberg,
the
Waltz
in
A-flat
from
the
album of
Emelia
Elsner,
the Rondo
in
C
major
(original
version for
one
piano),
the
Mazurka in
B-flat,
Opus 7,
No.
1,
and
the
Nocturne
in
C-sharp
minor.
The
principal
difference between
these two
groups
of
autographs
is that
those
having
metronome
rates
were,
except
for
the
very youth-
ful
Variations
in D
for four
hands,
prepared
for
a
publisher's
eye.
The
autograph
of
the work
which
brought
Chopin
early
fame,
the
Variations
on "La
ci
darem
la
mano,"
Opus
2,
was
in
fact
loaded
with
directions
beyond
the
point
of
redundance
by
the
earnest
youth
2
The
Variations in
D
for four
hands on a
theme
by
Moore is a
very youthful
com-
position,
evidently
not intended
for
publication.
The
ten-page
autograph (the
first
and last
pages
of the
composition
are
missing)
is
in
the
Jagiellonian
Library,
Cracow.
3The
Variations on the
Swiss
Boy,
thought
by
Maurice
J.
E.
Brown
(Chopin:
An
Index
of
His Works in
Chronological
Order
[London,
1960],
p.
12)
to
have
been
written
in
1826
and
by Krystyna Kobylanska
in
1830,
was also not
given
an
opus
number.
Brown's
date
is
too
early
for
the Cracow
autograph.
The
handwriting
of
the
page
reproduced
in
Kobylanska's Chopin
in
His Own
Land,
trans.
Claire Grece-Dabrowski
and
Mary
Filippi
of
Chopin
w
kraju:
Documenty
i
pamiatki
(Cracow, 1955)
is
definitely post
Opus
2.
4A partial autograph: the piano part is in Chopin's hand; the metronome rates
appear
also to
be.
5
In the
complete
manuscript
of
Opus
25
only
Nos.
1
and
8
are
autographs.
Nos.
4,
5,
6,
and
12
are
copies
by
Fontana,
the remainder
by
another
copyist.
All
of the
copies
have
autograph
elements,
having
been
edited
by Chopin.
An
earlier
autograph
of
the
Study
in A minor
has
the rate of
I
=
120
in
ink,
but
this was
changed
to
I
=
160 even before
Chopin
edited
Fontana's-later
copy
of the
work.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
4/16
108
The
Musical
Quarterly
who
would
risk
nothing
to
a
chance
misinterpretation.
In
contrast,
none
of
the
autographs
in
the
latter
group
was
meant for a
publisher.
The text of the Mazurka in B-flat, Opus 7, No. 1, shows this auto-
graph
to
be an
earlier version
than the one
eventually
published.
The Rondo
is a detailed
early
autograph.
Its first
page
especially
is
packed
with
symbols, mostly
words
(sostenuto
e
legato,
ten.,
rallen.,
a
temp.,
scherz., stacatiss.,
legatiss.),
and on
succeeding
pages
there
are
fingerings
and
pedals.
Yet the
autograph
does
not
have
the
hand-
some
appearance
of
a
manuscript
meant for
publication,
and,
in-
deed,
we know
that
Chopin
abandoned
this
version,
immediately
re-
casting the material into a piece for two pianos. Chopin always made
quite
a
distinction
between the music
he
considered
publishable
and
that
which
he
did
not;
therefore,
the existence of
the
latter
category
of
autographs
is no
proof
that
Chopin
did not
consider
the
metro-
nome
rate
a
necessary
detail
of instruction
on
music
that
was
meant
for the
public.
The evidence
suggests
that while
Chopin
was
using
the
metro-
nome,
he
used
it wherever
he
could,
which
was,
even
in his
pre-Paris
days,
not
quite
everywhere.
For
example,
the
autograph
of the
Waltz in
E-flat,
Opus
18,
written in Vienna in 1831 and later
pub-
lished
by
Schlesinger,
has
only
the
word
Vivo at
its
head.
The
infer-
ence
is
that the
different
sections
of the waltz would
require
different
metronome
rates,
and
that
Chopin
did
not
wish
to
be
specific
about
them.
The
Waltz
in
A-flat,
Opus
34,
written
in
1835,
likewise carries
only
the
word
Vivace
at its head.
By
then
Chopin
was
nearing
the
point
of
dropping
metronome
rates from
his
compositions,
yet
the
Nocturne
in
D-flat,
written
a short time
later,
has
a numbered rate.
If the rates in the first editions of all the earlier nocturnes (having
opus
numbers)
and
in
the
earlier
mazurkas were authorized
by
Chopin,
as seems
likely,
one can conclude
that
Chopin
saw
radical
differences
in the
genres
of
waltz, nocturne,
and
mazurka
that
are
often overlooked
by
performers.
Some
early
mazurkas,
notably
the
two
in
A
minor
in
Opus
7
and
Opus
17,
are
frequently
begun
too
slowly,
and
in
the latter
case with
different
tempos
in its various
sections.
But
at
its
prescribed
rate
of
J
=
152
it
remains
a
dance
and
no
adjustments
of
tempo
are
necessary
in
the
succeeding
theme.
In
many
works one cannot know
at
what
point
in
the
composi-
tional
process
Chopin
decided
on a
tempo,
or when he
placed
this
instruction
on
an
autograph.
But
in
several
others there
is
evidence
that
it
was
one
of the
last
symbols
to
be
written. In at least one case
(the
study Opus
10,
No.
2)
where the
first
edition has
a
metronome
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
5/16
Tempo
and
Character
in
Chopin
109
rate,
Chopin's
corrected
proof
sheets
do not
yet
include
the rate.
Since these
are the
only
proof
sheets of
Chopin's
music to
have
sur-
vived, one cannot know whether Chopin habitually waited this long
to
change
a
tempo,
or
to
supply
one
where none
existed
in
the auto-
graph.
It is
interesting
to
review
through
sources the
chronology
of
the
composer's
tempos
in
this
piece.
The
manuscript
of
November
2,
1830,
the
day
of
Chopin's departure
from
Warsaw,
contains
no
tempo
desigriations
of
any
kind. An
autograph
which must be
pre-
sumed to have been written later
has
Vivace
1
6
-
69.
The
printed
proof
sheet has no indication of
tempo,
and internal
evidence
sug-
gests it was preparedfrom a source earlier than the known autograph
-
either
the
copy
of November
2,
1830,
or another
manuscript,
now
lost.
The
meter is now
common
time,
whereas
it
had
been alla breve
in
the
earlier sources. On
the
proofs
the
composer
corrected a
num-
ber of
pitches
and added
rests,
staccatos,
a
contour
of
dynamics,
and
very
thorough
fingerings.
At
the head he
wrote
Allegro.
It
was at
even a
later
stage
that
I
=
144
must
have been added.
Evidently
when
Chopin
canceled
the
alla
breve he
abandoned his
earlier
num-
bered rate of
9
-
69
(or
its
equivalent, '1
-
138), deciding
he
had to deal afresh with
the
question
of
tempo.
A
comparison
of
the
sources of
the
studies
Opus
10
is instruc-
tive
in the matter
of
Chopin's tempos
and his
attitude toward them.
There are
fourteen
separate
manuscript
sources
for
the
studies
Opus
10:
copies
of Nos.
1
and
2,
without
dynamics,
fingering,
pedal,
or
tempo;
the
above-mentioned
autograph
of
No.
2
in
which the meter
is alla breve and
the
tempo
is Vivace
9
=
69;
two
autographs
of
No.
3: the
early
version,'
Vivace
and
a
detailed
autograph,
Vivace
ma non troppo; an autograph of No.
4,8
in which meter is alla breve
and
tempo
is
Presto con
fuoco;
detailed
autographs
of
Nos. 5
through
12:
No.
5,
no
tempo;
No.
6,
no
tempo;
No.
7,
Vivace
'"
=
88;
No.
8,
alla
breve
Allegro
9
=
96;
No.
9,
Allegro
Molto
Agitato
1'
= 92;
No.
10,
Vivace
assai
9'=
80;
No.
11,
Allegretto
9 =
76;
and
No.
12,
alla breve
Allegro
con
fuoco
I
=
76.
The
highly
detailed and
very
attractive
autographs
of
No.
3
and
6 Chopin's characteristic way of writing a note (stem on the right and descending)
is
retained
in
this
paper
when
autographs
are referred to.
When
printed
editions are
cited the note
is
thus:
J
7
Dated
August
25,
1832.
After the
fine
in
Chopin's
later
autograph,
he wrote
attacca
il
presto
con
fuoco.
Here
then,
besides the
major-relative
minor
relationship,
which exists
as well
in
other
pairs
of
studies
in
Opus
10,
there is
a firm
cohesion.
8
Dated
August
6,
1832.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
6/16
110 The
Musical
Quarterly
Nos. 5
through
12,
no doubt
copied
from
earlier
versions
(although
only
the earlier
version
of
No. 3
has
been
found),
are
in
certain
respects the most informative and valuable of all Chopin auto-
graphs,
filled
with
precise
directions of
all kinds:
long
and short
sforzato
wedges
in No.
6,
varied articulation in
No.
10, slurs,
pedals,
and
fingering
throughout,
and
a
great
number of
words
denoting
character of
mood
or
quality
of
touch. Yet it
appears
from
the
spacing
and
thickness
of
strokes
that most of the
tempo
designa-
tions
were added to
these
autographs
after
they
were
otherwise
finished. One
deduces that
Chopin
frequently puzzled
-
one
might
say agonized
-
over tempo and character designations, and many
autographs
show
decisions
that
were
made and
rejected.
Unques-
tionably
he knew
the
character of
his
music,
but
frequently
had to
search for
the notational mot
juste,
and
perhaps
for
a more
pre-
cisely
felt
tempo,
so that other
players
would
discern it.
In
the
studies
Opus
10,
Nos.
7, 8,
and
9,
Chopin
wrote,
or
began
to
write
Presto,
then crossed this
out
in
favor
of
something
else
which the
player
would
find
more
exact or
more
informative. No.
7 became
Vivace;
No.
8,
Allegro;
No.
9,
Allegro
molto
agitato.
No.
12
was
originally
Presto con
fuoco
and this
presto
was reduced to
Allegro
with
the
con
fuoco
retained in
the
heading.
All
four of
these
designa-
tions
were retained
in
the first
editions,
but
the
metronome rates
accompanying
them
were
adjusted:
No.
7,
one
metronome incre-
ment
slower than the
autograph;
No.
8,
two
degrees
slower
(but
still
very
fast);
No.
9,
a
degree
faster,
and
No.
12
the
equivalent
of a
de-
gree
faster
(in
the first
edition
the meter
was
changed
from
(
to
C).
The
rates were
adjusted
in
two
other
studies
in
this
opus
as
well.
No. 2 became C, Allegro, J = 144, the equivalent of a degree faster,
and
No.
10
was
lowered one
degree
to
J.
=
152.
In
No.
11,
Alle-
gretto
J
-
76
was retained.
Since,
except
for No.
8,
the
differences
in
metronome rates between
the
autographs
and first
editions
are
the
slightest
the
device
can
measure,
one can
accept
either
and know
he
is
close
to
Chopin's
ideas
of
tempo
in
these
pieces.9
In
the
otherwise
highly
detailed
autographs
of
Opus
10,
Nos.
3,
9
The
tempo
and
metronome
marks
are those
found in the first German
edition
of Kistner in Leipzig, who, according to Ewald Zimmermann, worked in close
coopera-
tion
with
Schlesinger
of
Paris,
publisher
of the
first French edition in
1833.
Chopin
was
reported by
Zimmermann
and
Zofia Lissa to have
corrected the
proofs
of this
Paris
edition
very
carefully (see
Chopin,
Etiiden,
ed.
Ewald
Zimmermann
[Munich:
G.
Henle,
1961], preface,
p.
6).
In
the
Kistner
edition,
Opus
10,
No.
2,
was
mis-
takenly
rated a
quarter-note
at
114,
but this
obvious
printing
error was corrected to
144
in a
later
printing.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
7/16
Tempo
and Character
n
Chopin
111
5,
and
6,
there are
no metronome
rates
and,
for that
matter,
no
tempo
designations
at
all
in
Nos.
5
and
6.
The famous
"black
key"
study
has, at its head, Legieriss. et legatiss., and No. 6, con molto espres-
sione.
Chopin
simply
had
not
made
up
his
mind,
yet
these studies
may
have
been all
but
completed
as
much
as
two
years
earlier
than
these
autographs
were
prepared.
We
have
already
seen evidence
of
Chopin's
changes
of mind about
tempo;
rather than
write
a word
that
might
be
misleading,
he would
delay.
When the
rates
were
finally
added
is
not
known;
perhaps
even after the
correction
of
proofs,
as
in
Opus
10,
No.
2.
Does
this
not
suggest
that
Chopin
might have preferred to omit metronome rates for these three
pieces,
and that
their
presence
in the
first
editions
may
be
owing
to
a
variety
of
possible
reasons:
a
reluctance
to
change
old
habits,
a
compulsion
to make
all
twelve
studies consistent
in
this
respect, per-
haps
even
at the behest
of a
publisher?
The likeliest
reason is
Chopin's
sense
of
responsibility
to
his
purpose. Tempo
is
of the
essence
in a
study;
if
a
performer
mistakes
it,
the
piece
not
only
is of
less value
technically,
but
loses
in
character
as
well.
All
the
many
other
directions
a
composer
might
take
pains
to
include
-
articulation,
fingering,
and
dynamics
- have
genuine
relevance
only
at
the
tempo
he has
in mind.
And if the
composer
does
not
tell
him,
will
the
player
discern
it
by
himself?
(The majority
of
performances
of
these studies
proves
that not
only
would
he
not
discern
these
tempos
by
himself,
but that even with all
the
specific
help
Chopin
has
given
him he fails
to
discern
it,
and all too
frequently
goes
through great
contortions
to
convince
himself that
Chopin
must
have
been
wrong.) Chopin
must have known
he
was
giving
some-
thing new to the world in Opus 10; he would make his meanings as
explicit
as
possible.
The case
of
Opus
10,
No.
3,
is
a
special
one.
It
is
believed
to
have been
the last of
the twelve
studies
to
be
composed,
and
unless
Chopin's
attacca il
presto
con
fuoco
at the
end
of
the
later auto-
graph
was
only
an
afterthought,
it
was
planned
as a
contrasting
study
to
Opus
10,
No.
4,
composed
earlier
in
the
same
month,
the
only
one
which
kept
its
presto.
It
is the
only
study
in
Opus
10
which
has a middle section of a contrasting character to the opening and
closing
theme. This
middle
part, beginning
in
measure
21,
is
not
static
and
"classical,"
but
develops
some
dynamism
which
culminates
in
a con
bravura
passage (Ex. 1).
There is a
foretaste of this con
bravura in the
earlier
double note
passage
-
the
thirds
and seconds
in
measures
32-33
and
36-37
(Ex. 2)
and the wider
spaced
double
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
8/16
112 The Musical
Quarterly
notes
from
measure 38
(Ex. 3).
In
the later
autograph
Chopin
wrote
before
the con
fuoco
in
measure
45 the words
sempr.[e] piu.
But in the first edition these words were not retained. The con
fuoco
leaves
no
doubt
of
the
changed
character
in
this middle
part,
but
I
believe
Chopin
finally
favored
a
subito con
fuoco,
and
this
interpretation
only
makes
sense if the whole
middle
section is
already
fast
enough,
which
will
happen
only
if
the
opening
is fast
enough.
An
eighth-note
at
100,
which is the
designation
in
the first
French
edition,
startles
today's
listener as the
piece opens,
but
seems
natural
by
the time
the
piece
ends.
The
tempo
of the transition
to
the return is always a puzzle to pianists who have begun the piece
adagio
in
the
manner of
present-day
fashions. It seems
logical
that it
be
taken
at
the
tempo
of
the
ritenuto of the con
bravura
passage;
in this
eight-measure
transition
no
intemperate
adjustment
will
take
place
in
the return
to
tempo
primo.
This
composition
has become
so familiar
that
we
find
it
difficult to
realize how
new
this
dynamic
style
was
to
Chopin
or how different it is
from the rest of
Opus
10.
One can
easily
believe
that,
had he saved the E
major Study
for a
future
opus,
there
probably
would have been no
metronome
rate
in
it at all.
Ex. 1
*t
?
f
con bravura
V A N F"
,
I
I
~~5
Ex.
2
3
Ax
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
9/16
Tempo
and
Character
n
Chopin
113
Of the
autographs
we
have,
the
earlier
is
marked
Vivace,
the
later,
Vivace
ma non
troppo.
Neither has
any
indication
of
change
in measure 21. The first edition reads Lento ma non troppo
J)=
100
(
J
=
100,
in
the
first German
edition,
is
an obvious
mistake),
and
in
measure
21,
where the middle
part
begins,
poco
piA
animato.
In
my
dissertation
I
theorized that when
Chopin
wrote
Vivace
and
Vivace
ma non
troppo
in
the
autographs
he
was
thinking
of his
middle
sections,
because
to
my
pulse
this seemed
right
at the time.
The
change
in
the
first edition
to
Lento
ma non
troppo
was
surely
more
descriptive
of
the
beginning
of the
composition,
but
the
change
was probably only a slight one in Chopin's mind. In the early
mazurkas
Vivo
ma
non
troppo
and
Lento
ma non
troppo
are
about
the same.
Opus
17,
No.
4,
in
A
minor,
is
Lento ma non
troppo,
J
=
152.
Vivo
ma non
troppo
in
Opus
7,
No.
2,
is
only
one
notch
faster,
and,
as
already
mentioned,
both
are
usually
played
too
slowly
today.
Chopin's
notation
in
the
Study
in E
major
may
not
be
entirely
complete.
Had he
prepared
another
autograph
or
corrected another
proof,
we
would
perhaps
now
have
an ideal
blueprint
of
his
inten-
tions,
as
we
have
in
the admirable
notation of the
first
two
studies
of
Opus
25,
compositions
which
Chopin
played frequently,
having
brought
his
thoughts
to
perfection
both at the
keyboard
and
at
his
desk.
But
early
autograph
versions of
these two
studies are
not so
fine:
in
the
A-flat
Study
one sees that
at first the
melody
was written
in
quarter-notes;
the
F
minor
Study
was
in
sixteenth-triplets
with
the
tempo presto
agitato,
hardly
in
keeping
with
his
playing
of this
piece
that Schumann
described: "so
charming, dreamy
and
soft,
just
as if a child were
singing
in his
sleep."10
How could
Chopin
even at
first
append
the word
agitato
to this calm
and untroubled
music?
Perhaps
he was
searching
for
a
verbal
description
of
cross
rhythm:
agitato
in
Chopin
almost
always
is found
in
passages
having,
as
this
one,
cross
rhythm
or
syncopation."
In
noting
such
examples
one
may
conclude
that the strain
Chopin
suffered
getting
his
ideas
down was
not
only
in
recapturing
his
melodies and
harmonies,
but
in
finding,
often
by
trial and
error,
the notation that
would leave
the player with no doubt of his meaning. In this respect he tried to
10
Arthur
Hedley, Chopin (London, 1957),
p.
121.
11
The
preludes
in
C
major, F-sharp
minor,
and G
minor;
the nocturnes in
C-sharp
minor,
Op.
27,
No.
1,
beginning
measure
53
and
in
E
major,
Op.
62,
No.
2,
begin-
ning
measure 40
-
these
are
a few
examples.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
10/16
114
The Musical
Quarterly
give
the
player
everything
he could.
In
the case
of
descriptive
tempo
terms
the
evidence
of
many
autographs
shows that he
did not arrive
at his decisions
easily
or
quickly;
as for metronome rates, one can
see even
more
hesitation.
But
if
Chopin,
as he
matured,
was
reluc-
tant
to
supply
them,
he continued
to do so
out
of
conscientiousness;
when
he abandoned
them,
there
was
probably
some
regret
on his
part
that
he
couldn't
continue to
provide
such
specific help
for
the
player.
As for
an
assessment of
Chopin's
metronome
rates,
let each
pianist
decide
for himself
whether he is
surprised
by
the
speeds
they
demand. One is struck by the rapidity of some autograph versions:
Opus
10,
No.
8;
the
second variation
of
Opus
2,
"La
ci
darem la
mano,"
which has
eight
notes at
96
arranged
in
groups
of
four,
a
special
articulation
for the first tone in each
group.
Under this
very
fast
direction,
the
seventeen-year-old
Chopin
charmingly
wrote
Veloce
ma
accuratamente.
The
very
difficult
Opus
10,
No.
10,
with
its off-the-beat
placing
of
accents
and
slurs,
and
its
variety
of articula-
tion,
has
six notes at
M.
80. Even if it is
played
at the
one-degree-
less, published tempo
of
J.
=
152,
one can see
why
von
Biilow
wrote
that it is
perhaps
the
most difficult
piece
of the
entire set:
"He
who
can
play
this
study
in
a
really
finished
manner
may
congratulate
himself on
having
climbed to the
highest
point
of the
pianist's
Par-
nassus."12
The
penciled
metronome rates
accompanying
Chopin's
lentos
in the
autographs
of two
studies
in
Opus
25
are not
really
slow:
No.
7,
1'
=
66 and the middle
part
of
No.
10,
9
=
42.
As
mentioned
before,
the
autograph
evidence of the
Andante,
Op.
10,
No.
6,
is
lacking,
but the first edition rate
of
dJ.
=
69
is
faster
than
one
expects.
Did
Chopin
make a mistake here? Was a mistake made
by
someone
else
in
the
process
of
publication?
Or
is
the
J.
=
69
exactly
what
Chopin
wanted?
The
fact
that a
number
of
tempos
seem too fast
-
the nocturnes
Opus
15,
No. 3
(first edition),
and
Opus
27,
No.
2
(autograph
and first
edition),
the
studies
Opus
10,
Nos. 3
and
6
(first
editions)
--and
that none seem too
slow,
is
vexing.
Either mistakes
were made
all
on
the
side of excessive
speed,
which is
unlikely,
or else it
is
additional
evidence
that
Chopin
understood the specific terms of lento and andante as representing
faster
tempos
than
are
generally
taken
today.
This should come as
12
Hedley,
Chopin, pp.
121-22,
and
Chopin,
Klavier-Etuden,
ed. Hans
von
Biilow,
trans. Constance Bache
(Leipzig:
Jos.
Aibl,
n.d.),
p.
41.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
11/16
Tempo
and Character
n
Chopin
115
no
great
surprise,
since
changes
of
concept
with
respect
to
tempos
are
part
of
the
history
of music.
Is it to be thought, then, that Chopin's tempos were revolu-
tionary?
Unquestionably,
Chopin's
music and
playing
ushered
in
a
new
age
of
piano
virtuosity.
His
Opus
10
studies
were
the first
great
works in this
age,
inspired
in
part
by
Paganini's
ten
concerts
in
Warsaw
between
May
and
July,
1829.
On
the
other
hand,
Chopin's
earlier
music was
anything
but tame
in the matter
of
tempos,
as
the
Opus
2
variations,
mentioned
above,
show.
Chopin's
understanding
of
the notational
terms he
inherited
-
allegro,
an-
dante, etc. - probably reflected his own time, and in some tempos
at
least,
an earlier
generation.
One
recalls that
the
word
presto
was
also not much used
by
Mozart in
keyboard
works.
If
a
few
of
Chopin's
tempos
seem too fast
for our
pulses,
the
great
majority
are
entirely
credible when
combined with
the
evi-
dence
provided
by
the sound
of the
Pleyel
grand,'3
and an imitation
of
the soft
and slender tone which
marked
Chopin's performances.
On
some
modern instruments
-
those
with broad and
heavy
timbres
-
some
of
Chopin's
left-hand
arpeggiated accompaniments
cannot
be
played
at
the
rates marked
without
distorting
their
character.
On
a
light-sounding
instrument,
or even an
average
one,
almost
all of
Chopin's tempos
can
be made to sound
entirely
right
at
this
rate
if
the
tone is
kept
soft.
In
the
first
published
nocturne,
Opus
9,
No.
1,
in B-flat
minor,
the word
Larghetto
is
surely
appropriate
for
the
melody
in the middle section
at
this
rate,
and there need
be no
change
in basic
tempo
in
moving
from the
opening
through
the
middle
to the
return.
The
Nocturne
in
C-sharp
minor,
Opus
27,
No.
1, is marked larghetto J = 42 (first edition). Here the melody moves
in a true
larghetto pace,
but
unless the
accompaniment
can be
kept
soft,
the
whole will seem too
fast. The
melody
in the famous Noc-
turne
in
F-sharp
major,
Opus
15,
No.
2,
another
larghetto
=
40
(first
edition),
moves
ideally
at this
pace;
the middle
is
marked
doppio
movimento,
which
should
be read
literally.
Chopin
had
only
to
choose
a
different metronome
rate
here
if he
meant
otherwise:
witness
other
middle sections
in nocturnes with
their
tempos
de-
fined by metronome rates.14This composition's shape is often dis-
138This
subject
was
explained
and
demonstrated
in
my paper
and
tape, "Chopin
Interpretation
and a
Pleyel
Grand
of
1842,"
presented
November
12, 1971,
at the
annual
meeting
of the American
Musicological Society
in
Chapel
Hill,
North Caro-
lina.
14
Opus
15,
No.
1,
beginning
meas.
25;
Opus
27,
No.
1,
beginning
meas.
29.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
12/16
116 The
Musical
Quarterly
torted
by
virtuosos
who,
for
the sake of
a meretricious
effect,
take
this
doppio
movimento
too fast
A final word or two on the metronome: first of all, one must
have
faith that
the
composer's
metronome was
accurate
This
is not
meant
facetiously:
Schumann's metronome
possibly
did not
work
right.15
Second,
in
order
that
precise
communication
exist
between
composer
and
player,
the
two must be
using
the metronome
in the
same
way.
We
cannot
know how
Chopin
used
the device.
One
way
of
setting
a rate is to
time the entire
composition
or
section,
and
then make
the
calculations
that measure the
duration of
the
single
beat. This method gives the exact average of movement, hesitation,
natural
slackenings
at the end
of
phrases,
etc.,
of
a
particular
per-
formance
-
everything
thrown
together
and
averaged
out.
The re-
sulting
rate is useless as
a
guide
to
the
player
who wants
only
the
composer's
measure of
the rate of movement
when the flow
is
in
course
and
fairly
constant.
No
player
wants to
play
faster
than
the
metronome
at the
beginning
of
a
poetic
phrase
so
that
the instru-
ment can catch
up
to
him at the end of
it
It
is therefore
very
doubt-
ful
that
Chopin,
who
was
an
eminently practical
musician
and a
teacher,
calculated his rates
by
the
above
method.
It
would
seem
more
reasonable
to
suppose
that
when the time came
to
set the
tempo,
he
simply
began
to
play
the
piece,
and then
measured the
basic
pulse.
If
this is the
way
Chopin
used the
metronome,
then
the
player
makes
a mistake to set
the device
and
try
to
match its
rate
over
long
stretches.
In
the
B-flat minor
Nocturne,
Opus
9,
No.
1,
the
pick-up
measure
and
the first
full measure
-
nine
beats,
in other
words
-
are
quite
steady,
but
at the
end of
the
poetic
phrase,
in
the first half of measure two, one senses a
slight
slowing
down in
the
music,
just
as
in the
natural
reading
of
a line of
poetry.
If a
player
observes
this
natural
slackening,
he
will fall
behind
the
mechanism.
In almost
all
of
Chopin's
music
where he used the
metronome,
the basic
pulse
is felt
as
steady
and
constant;
this
is what
should be
measured;
on
the
contrary,
phrase
endings,
natural
punc-
tuation,
and
the
charming
hesitations
that marked
Chopin's
own
playing
-
all
should
be
sensibly
excepted
as
beyond
the
scope
of the
metronome.
As for
his
reasons
for
giving
up
the
metronome
altogether,
one
15
Hedley, Chopin, p.
121,
and
Schumann,
Klavierwerke,
Vol.
I
(Munich:
G.
Henle,
1959), preface
by
Otto
von
Irmer,
p.
6.
Hedley
averred
(on
what evidence
he did
not
say)
that
Chopin's
metronome worked
reliably.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
13/16
Tempo
and
Character
n
Chopin
117
can
only
speculate.
Earlier
in
this
essay
I
have
suggested
a
reason
why
metronome
rates are not
present
in
the
waltzes
Opus
18
and
Opus 34, at a time when almost all his other published music bore
them.
In
another
place
I
suggest
that
the character
of
much
of his
music
would
undergo
a
change,
and that
the
middle
section of
the
Study
in E
major, Opus
18,
No.
3,
offers an
example
of
dynamism
that
is
alien to the idea of
a
steady
beat. For
this
reason
it
may
be
no accident
that the
very
flexible Nocturne
in
B
major,
Opus
32,
No.
1,
andante
sostenuto,
was the first of the
published
Nocturnes
to have no metronome
rate. No artist could
play
measure
28
any-
thing but slower than measure 27, or 30 anything but slower than
29.
To see these
measures
side
by
side one recalls Beethoven's
in-
junction
in
the
autograph
of his
song
Nord oder
Siid:
"100
according
to Maelzel
-
but
this
must be held
applicable
only
to the
first
measures,
for
feeling
also has its
tempo
and
this
cannot
entirely
be
expressed
in
this
figure."'"
In
the
B
major
Nocturne
the
proportion
of
change
among
these
measures
must
remain free to the
player
or
Art
herself is
poorer.
On
the other
side
of
the
question
one can
see the
metronome
as
an
apt
tool for the measurement of much of
the later
music.
How
many
of the
Preludes
spring
to
mind: the
G
major,
the
F-sharp
major,
the
C-sharp
minor,
the
B-flat
minor,
the E-flat
major,
the
F
major.
But
Chopin
did not
leave
rates
for
these
with
us,
and the
omission
was consistent
with
a
growing
economy
in
the
use
of direc-
tions from the
beginning
of
his
career to
the
end.17 One
can
com-
pare
the first
variation of
Opus
2,
"La ci
darem
la
mano"
with the
long
finale of
the
Sonata
in
B
minor,
Opus
58: the
former
shows
a
metronome rate, the words mezza voce, marcato (for the highest
part),
sempre
legato (for
the lower
right
hand
part)
and
crescendo
-
all before
measure
2;
the latter has
hardly any
directions
at all.
Undoubtedly,
in both
cases
Chopin
set down what
he deemed
essential
at the
time,
no
more,
no
less.18
16
Thayer's
Life of
Beethoven,
rev. and ed. Elliot Forbes
(2
vols.;
Princeton,
N.
J.,
1967), II, 687-88.
17
See
my
dissertation,
"Chopin Interpretation:
A
Study
of
Performance
Directions
in
Selected
Autographs
and
Other Sources"
(University
of
Iowa,
1966);
University
Microfilms
#67-2629,
pp.
93-96.
18
The
original
version of this article
was a
paper
read at
a
meeting
of the
Midwest
Chapter
of
the American
Musicological Society
in
Bloomington,
Indiana,
May,
1971.
The
final
version
was
produced
with the advice of Professor
Edward
Lowinsky.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
14/16
118
The Musical
Quarterly
APPENDIX
A
Comparison
of
Tempos
of
Autographs
and Printed
Editions
Work Autograph Edition19
Variations,
"La
ci darem
Schlesinger,
Paris
la
mano"
for
piano
Introduzione:
Largo
Largo
J
=
63;
with
orchestral
accom-
9
=
63;
poco
piit
poco
pii
paniment,
Op.
2
mosso
9
=
80
mosso
J
=
80
(1827)
Thema
1
=
58
Tema:
Allegretto
=
58
Var.
I
Brillante
9
=
76
Var.
I
Brillante
Var.
II
Veloce
ma Var. II Veloce
accuratamente
= 92
1
=
92
Var.
III
Sempre
soste-
Var.
III
Sempre
sos-
nuto
9 =
63
tenuto
=
63
Var.
IV
Con
bravura
Var.
IV Con
bravura
1
= 92
(pencil)
=
92
Var.
V
Adagio
*
=
69
Var.
V
Adagio
=
69
Alla Polacca
9
= 96 Alla Polacca = 96
Trio for
Piano,
Violin,
Schlesinger,
Paris
and
Violoncello,
Op.
8
V[ivace?]
'
=
66
Allegro
con
fuoco
(1828-29)
J
=
152
Scherzo
q'
= 63 Scherzo,
Vivace
.-
=
69
Adagio
1
=
54
Adagio
sostenuto
=
63
Allegretto
1
=
96
Finale:
Allegretto
=
104
Twelve
Studies,
Op.
10
Schlesinger,
Paris
(1829-32)
No.
1
..........
(copy)
AllegroJ
=
176
No.
2
..........
(copy)
Allegro
=
144
Vivace
9
=
69
No. 3
..........
(1)
Vivace
Lento
ma
non
(2)
Vivace
ma non
troppo
=
100
troppo20
No.
4
..........
Presto
con
fuoco
Presto
con
fuoco
= 88
19
The editions
cited
are
those
Chopin
taught
from and
bear
many
of
his
penciled
corrections.
The
list
includes
only
compositions
published
in
Chopin's
lifetime
of
which
autographs
or
copies
still
exist.
20
(1)
early
autograph; (2)
later
autograph.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
15/16
Tempo
and
Character
in
Chopin
119
Work
Autograph
Edition
No. 5
..........
Vivace
brillante
=
116
No.
6
..........
con molto
espressione
Andante
con
molto
espressione
J
=
69
No.
7
..........
Vivace
1'=
88
Vivace
. =
84
No.
8
..........
Allegro
4 =96
Allegro
=
88
No. 9
..........
Allegro
molto
agitato
Allegro
molto
agitato
'=
92
-
=
96
No.
10 ..........
Vivace
assai
9'
=
80
Vivace assai
J-=
152
No.
11
..........
Allegretto
I
= 76
Allegretto
J
=
76
No. 12 .......... Allegro con fuoco Allegro con fuoco
q
=
76J=
160
Krakowiak,
Grand
Con-
Schlesinger,
Paris
cert Rondo for
Piano
Introduzione
?
=
92
Introduzione
and
Orchestra,
Op.
14
Molto
animato
1'
=
69
J
=
104
(1828)
Allegro
*
=
69
Rondo
?
=
116
Rondo
= 104
Second
Concerto
for
Schlesinger,
Paris
piano
with orchestral Maestoso
1
= 138
Maest[os]o
= 138
accompaniment
or
Larghetto
=
56
Larghetto
=
56
with
quintet,
Op.
21
Allegro
vivace
9"
=
69
Allegro
vivace
(1829)
d-
=
69
Four
Mazurkas,
Op.
24
Schlesinger,
Paris
(1934-35)
No.
1
..........
Lento
I
= 108
(pencil)
Lento
=
108
No.
2
..........
Allegro
non
troppo
Allegro
non
troppo
I
=
19221
(pencil)
=
138
No. 3
..........
Moderato I
=
126
Moderato
con
anima
(pencil)
=
126
No.
4
..........
Moderato
I
=
132
Moderato
=
132
(pencil)
Twelve
Studies,
Op.
25
Schlesinger,
Paris
(1832-36)
No.
1
..........
(1)
no
tempo
indicated
Allegro
sostenuto
(2)
Allegro
sostenuto
d
=
104
1
= 104 (pencil)
21
41
=
192
appears
in
pencil
in
Chopin's
hand
in
the
autograph
and I believe
it
is the
correct
tempo.
Possibly (a
sheer
guess)
Chopin
wished
to
change Opus
24,
No.
1
from 108
to
138
and the
publisher
mistakenly
changed
No.
2-
the
wrong
mazurka
-
to
138.
-
7/23/2019 Tempo and Character in Chopin
16/16
120
The Musical
Quarterly
Work
Autograph
Edition
No. 2 .......... (1) Presto agitato Presto = 112
(2)
(copy)
Presto
q
=
112
No. 3
..........
(copy)
Allegro
Allegro
=
120
4
=
120
(pencil)
No.
4
..........
Agitato
o
120
Agitato
= 120
(copy)
Agitato
1
=
160
(pencil)
No.
5
..........
(copy)
Vivace
1
= 184 Vivace =
184
pii
lento
1
= 168
piui
lento
=
168
(both pencil)
No.
6
..........
(copy)
Allegro
1
=
Allegro
=
69
69
(pencil)
No.
7
..........
(copy)
Lento
1
=
66
Lento
=
66
(pencil)
No. 8 .......... Vivace
9
=
69
(pencil)
Vivace
A
=
69
No. 9 ..........
(copy)
Allegro
assai
Allegro
vivace
I
=
112
(pencil)
=
112
No.
10
..........
(copy)
Allegro
con
fuoco
Allegro
con fuoco
9 = 72; J = 72;
Lento
94
=
42
(both
Lento
J.
=
42
pencil)
No.
11
..........
(copy)
Lento;
Allegro
Lento;
Allegro
con
con brio
9
=
69 brio
=
69
(pencil)
No.
12
..........
(copy)
Allegro
molto
Allegro
molto
con
con
fuoco
9
=
80
fuoco
i
=
80
(pencil)
Nocturne in
D-flat,
Op. Breitkopf
and
Haertel,
27,
No.
2
(1835)
Leipzig22
Lento
sostenuto
?"
=
50 Lento
sostenuto
-*=
50
Grand
Duo
in
E
on
Schlesinger,
Paris
themes
from
Meyer-
Introduzione:
Largo
Introduzione
beer's Robert le
Di-
J
=
112
able for Piano and
Allegretto
(Fran-
Allegretto
4 =
100
Violoncello
(1832)
chomme's
hand)
Andante cantabile
Andante cantabile
J. = 63
22According
to
Brown,
op.
cit.,
the
German
edition
came
out
in
May,
1836,
the
Paris
edition
in
July,
1836.
I
cite this
edition because
I am certain that
the
dot was
printed
in
it.
Printers
were often
careless
in
the
matter of
including
the
dot,
yet
I
have
found
no
Chopin
autograph
in which
the
handwritten note
value does
not con-
form
to the meter.