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

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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


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.


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


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.


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.


7/16

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


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.

tempo and character in chopin

Documents