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Frédéric Chopin, Antoine de Kontski and the Carezzando Touch

Author(s): Jonathan Bellman


Source: Early Music, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Aug., 2001), pp. 398-407
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3519184
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* CHOPIN AS EARLY MUSIC .

Jonathan Bellman

Frederic Chopin, Antoine de Kontski


and the carezzando touch

the key but rather slides back towards the palm of


Contexts
the hand, which Johann Nikolaus Forkel described
In the study of Chopin's performance practices the in connection with J. S. Bach's clavichord playing,
issue of touch is particularly problematic. Chopin's
and Frederic Kalkbrenner mentioned in his 1831
touch inspired wonder in those who heard him play. piano treatise.4 This would later be called the carez-
Sophie Leo, wife of a Paris-based Hamburg banker, zando style.
said that 'he appeared hardly to touch the piano; one As with so much about Chopin's playing (and
might have thought an instrument superfluous',1indeed his music in general), precise roots and
and Alfred Hipkins, who tuned for Chopin in Eng- lineage are difficult to establish. As a child, he had
land and heard him play several times in 1848, studied piano in Warsaw with a Bohemian violinist,
an eccentric family friend named Wojciech Zywny.
remembered a 'tenderly-subdued style of playing ...
[that] was his own, and [was] inseparable from hisNicolas Chopin's oft-quoted reminder to his son-
'you know the mechanics of piano-playing occupied
conception of pianoforte touch'.2 Gleaning what he
little of your time and that your mind was busier
actually did with his hands from the wonder of eye-
and ear-witnesses, though, is risky. Piano touch
than your fingers's-suggests that his piano skills
often seems to be a matter of alchemy; exhortations
had been largely self-taught. For this reason, it seems
to 'sing' at the keyboard, or to play in such a way as
less profitable to guess what he learned from whom
to make the listener forget that the piano has ham-
than simply to identify what he was doing, regardless
mers at all, offer no actual instructions on how to
of whether it was taught or discovered.
approach the instrument physically.3 As Chopin's As it happened, quite a few of those who heard
preferred piano, a Pleyel, was by no means typical, Chopin play noted his way of caressing the keys, of
and given that very few survive in playable form, wemoving his fingers on them after they had already
seem to have little to go on. been struck. Georges Mathias, one of Chopin's two
Extraordinary as Chopin's pianism was, however, pupils who went on to a distinguished performance
it was not entirely unique. It shared a good deal, and teaching career (the other being Carl Mikuli),
stressed this particular point to his own students.
technically and aesthetically, with the intimate, fin-
ished style of the contemporary Parisian virtuosos. According to Constantin Piron, author of L'art du
Chopin also commanded certain techniques which
piano (Paris, 1949), Chopin would enjoin his stu-
were relatively uncommon, even in his own time,dents, 'Caress the key, never bash it!', while Mathias
and which have become increasingly rare as pianism would gloss that advice as 'You should, so to speak,
mould the keyboard with a velvet hand and feel the
has continued to evolve. One of these is the caressing
touch, in which the finger is not lifted directly from
key rather than striking it!'6

Jonathan Bellman is Chair of the Department of Music History and Literature at the University of North-
ern Colorado. His books include The style hongrois in the music of Western Europe and The exotic in
Western music (which he edited). He is currently writing a book on Chopin's performance practices.

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001 399

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A.W

" . .. " ." :';i',- "--:!:(:,:.I-Lw,

.l o th 7 . .. . .. ............

fill."Oit

I.soo?, NOR. .. .... . .. .. . .

...-..... ..::-.

. ? ? ? -as.:-
. . .'EI..

; .. ,..-: ?,.x
- _. '. ' 47.:n
-..-lot-
..most.. ..S.O...l .%.
ii .. .. :< itoo

. . .-.. .[..PRO,,m

1 A pencil drawing of Chopin, by Eliza Radziwill, 1826 (Warsaw, Chopin Society)

398 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001

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Princess Marcelina Czartoryska (nde Radziwill), Through the development of piano technique, this touch
one of the composer's very best students, was con- has become obsolete, and eludes the present-day enthusiasts,
who 'dig' for it with the greatest perseverance, and are no
sidered 'to have inherited Chopin's manner, espe-
nearer the mystery.12
cially in phrasing and accentuation'.7 In Paris she
described Chopin's teaching for (among others) Edith Hipkins's notion that the sliding of the
Cecylia Dzialyfiska, who published a booklet on the fingers was part of 18th-century keyboard technique
subject in 1882. One of Czartoryska's remarks was perhaps based on the beliefs of her father,
clearly points towards a carezzando touch: 'The who (later in his life) had become interested in early
hand should fall softly on the keys just with its own keyboard instruments and their technique, about
weight-as though to play pianissimo, often seem- which relatively little was known in the 19th cen-
ing to caress the keys'. Less explicit, but pointing in tury. It is true, however, that caressing the keys
the same direction: 'The fingers should sink, pre-dated Chopin, and it seems that it was largely
immerse themselves somehow in the depths of the associated with musicians of the Parisian school.

piano ... the fingers reluctant to leave the keys'. She A prime example is Frederic (born Friedrich)
also provided a kind of negative acknowledgement: Kalkbrenner, one of the most famous and pro-
'The fingers should be free, running over the keys ductive students of the first major instructor of
without the slightest effort-but not superficially piano at the Paris Conservatory, Louis Adam.
"tickling" the keyboard, except in the most delicate Charles Timbrell, historian of French pianism,
passages.'" And Emile Gaillard noted, '[Chopin] describes Kalkbrenner as

appeared to caress the keyboard, while his sensitive concerned, above all, with developing the widest variety
and grieving soul rose and wandered freely among of finer touches-and like his teacher Adam, he emphasized
us.'9 that these must serve the widest variety of expression.
Chopin's student Wilhelm von Lenz described A touch not frequently dealt with before his 183o [sic]
Mdthode is that for 'caressing' the keys-that is, sliding
precisely this kind of touch in the context of a
the finger from the middle to the edge of the key with a
particularly trying lesson on Chopin's Nocturne in gentle pressure.13
C minor, op.48 no.1:
In his method Kalkbrenner is clear but brief about
[Chopin] was no less exacting when it came to the descend-
the touch:
ing C before the quaver rest at the end of the semiquaver
group (fourth bar, third beat); the C was either too short or La manibre d'attaquer la note doit se varier a l'infini, d'apr6s
too long. I found a way out by 'combing' this with the les difftrens sentimens qu'on veut exprimer; tant6t en caressant
thumb, that is by sliding the finger along the key and releas- la touche, tant6t en se prdcipitant sur elle comme le lion qui se
ing it only upon reaching the outer edge. This way the end of saisit de sa proie. Cependant en tirant de l'instrument tout le
the phrase at last satisfied him; but that was nothing beside son qu'il peut donner, il faut surtout bien se garder de le
Chopin's own playing ...,o frapper, car on doitjouer du piano et non pas le boxer.

So the best approach, for this weak-beat phrase The manner of striking the note must be infinitely varied,
according to the different sentiments one wants to express;
ending, was caressing the key (rather than striking
now caressing the key, now hurling oneself on it like a lion
it) so that the tone would slip off into the silence. seizing his prey. However one draws from the instrument all
Edith Hipkins, daughter of Alfred Hipkins, con- the sound it is able to give, it is especially necessary to take
ceived a theory as to how this kind of touch might care not to thump it, for one must play the piano and not
have originated. Glossing her father's notes, she box with it.'4
wrote in 1937:
It is worth remembering here that when Chopin
The sliding finger," said by Jean Kleczyfiski to be used by first arrived in Paris, Kalkbrenner's refined pianism
Chopin, but anathema for years on the piano, was the true was extremely attractive to him, and he seriously
eighteenth-century touch for the keyboards of that period,
considered Kalkbrenner's offer of a three-year
and it was this soft, sliding touch that gave, that still gives, to
the old keyboards their charming legato. Modern pianists are
course of study. Chopin's family in Poland and his
quite out of their depth when confronted by instruments of composition teacher J6zef Elsner advised otherwise;
that period. Chopin ultimately did not study with him, and by

400 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001

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the 184os Kalkbrenner was paying court to Chopin.
Antoine de Kontski and the carezzando touch
While Kalkbrenner's music (mostly of the salon
variety) has not endured, his pianistic aesthetic- The individual who codified the carezzando style
a restrained, elegant and historically French had, like Chopin, been reared in a provincial Polish
approach to the keyboard-was the kind with environment, and thus originally schooled in a non-
which Chopin was in greatest sympathy. Parisian tradition. Antoine de Kontski (1817-1899),
More corroboration of Chopin's affinity for the born Anton K4tski in Krak6w, was a musical
caressing touch comes in the form of his reaction to prodigy, and his family (he had four similarly preco-
the playing of Anna Caroline Oury, nee de cious siblings) moved to Warsaw when he was six or
Belleville. Belleville-Oury, born to a French family, seven.17 From there, he followed the prodigy's tradi-
had been a student of Carl Czerny in Vienna tional track of performances, teaching and composi-
between 1816 and 1820. According to the English tion, taking lessons with John Field in Moscow
critic William Gardiner, (1829-30) and later settling in Paris. Strikingly simi-
lar to Chopin in some ways, such as his Polish back-
In the hands of Mademoiselle de Belleville, the piano-forte
becomes another instrument. Her mode of treating it is strik-
ground and the 'great delicacy of his touch','8 he was
ingly new; a bystander is impressed with the novel position in other respects the complete opposite. His compo-
of the hands, whether perpendicular, horizontal, or oblique sitions (of which the salon piece Le reveil du lion was
-every motion leads to effects hitherto unheard. The fingers the most famous) have been almost entirely forgot-
range not in the accustomed track, but strike and rest upon
ten, and he seems to have been something of a huck-
the keys in every part; often sliding from back to front, as in
the act of wiping them. This singular motion imparts to her
ster, willing to play fast and loose with facts when it
adagios unspeakable richness.15 suited him. For example, in an article about his
teacher which he wrote for a Russian publication, he
This description clearly situates her playing in completely falsified Field's (Irish) origins as a bow to
the carezzando tradition, and Chopin admired it. Russian philo-Gallicism. Field, he stated, was origi-
As it happened, he heard her play in the 183os, and nally a Frenchman named Jean Champs; when he
the impression was still strong in late 1842. In a had gone to London, his teacher there (Muzio
letter to her of lo December 1842, he remembered Clementi) told him to translate his given name
your elegant assemblies where you interpret so marvelously
because of English animosity to the French.'9
the Masters we all recognise, all the great composers like Chopin's feelings for his slightly younger country-
Mozart, Beethoven and Hummel. Hummel's Adagio, which I man, to judge by his correspondence, were appar-
heard you play at trard's in Paris some years ago, still rings ently not friendly.20
in my ears, and I can assure you that, in spite of all the grand
Of particular interest to us is Kontski's piano
concerts here, few piano performances can make me forget
the pleasure of having heard you that evening.'6
treatise, L'indispensable du pianiste, which was first
published in Paris in 1845 and subsequently went
Neither Chopin nor Belleville-Oury had studied through several printings (though seemingly with-
in France, yet both employed the caressing touch. out exerting much influence).2' Like other treatises
Since a similar technique was mentioned in connec- of the period, it presented such exercises as scales in
tion with 18th-century German clavichord playing, contrary motion, chromatic scales, chords, chro-
its origin probably antedated the invention of the matic 3rds and so on. Kontski's preface and com-
piano. The pianists who used it were those with a mentary are written in a florid and somewhat vain
quiet technique based on hand and wrist motion (as style, and he devotes a great deal of space to a discus-
opposed to arm motion and weight), and who shied sion of practice-machines, which enjoyed a vogue at
away from theatricality and bombast. It was clearly the time.2 What sets Kontski's treatise apart from all
known and practised in more places than France, others is its discussion of carezzando. Kontski's
though it was in Paris that the caressing manner of pianism was quiet, like that of Adam, Kalkbrenner
play seems to have been most common, and finally and Chopin. Like Kalkbrenner, he felt that one
did come to be formalized. should never play from the arm (that is, the whole

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001 401

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arm), and that the forearm should be used only in the third movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in

certain circumstances, such as in playing vigorous A6 major, op.iio, which is generally considered to be
chordal passages, or in phrasing 'when one wants to a pianistic counterpart of the Bebung, the clavichord
sing, caressing the keys'. Kontski is more explicit technique that enabled pitches to be re-sounded
about the carezzando touch than any other author without being fully restruck. Selva describes the
(indeed, he seems to have coined the term for it), touch in some detail: the hands are on the keyboard
and it is mostly for this that he is remembered by with the fingers gently extended, resting on their
historians of piano technique. For him, carezzando pads (not the fingertips). The shoulder and back are
depended on both finger and forearm; not only did tensed, which prevents the weight of the arm from
the finger draw inward after striking the key, but the sinking into the keyboard, as it otherwise would do.
forearm drew back as well. His description is shown A sudden relaxation of the shoulder and back
as document 1. enables the weight and the finger to creep or sli
(couler) on the key. She cautions that, since the key
Legacy and aftermath released only one-half to three-quarters of the wa
Although this manner of playing seems never tothis can be accomplished only on pianos in go
have been in wide use, Kontski and the carezzando working order; the effect would not be possible
style were by no means forgotten. Adolf Kullak, in ainferior or worn pianos.29 Of particular interest
work first published in 186o, summarizes this aspecther explicit connection of this kind of techniq
of L'indispensable,24 and according to Oscar Bie,with the touche louree, otherwise called port6
portamento. A caressing touch is also required fo
writing at the end of the 19th century, 'carezzando, or
stroking of the keys, was a favourite practice of Kalk-Selva's touche vibratoire, which is 'particulibremen
brenner and Kontski in Paris. Today [Edouard]de mise dans les cantilknes lentes et doucement ou
Risler is perhaps alone in this school with his pureardemment expressives' ('particularly appropriate
sensuous charm of touch.'25 A hint of the extent to for slow cantilenas or sweetly or ardently expressive
which Kontski's influence has since been eclipsed passages'). To produce this touch,
may be found in Reginald Gerig's compendious
Les doigts reposent sur les touches par le gras du doigt, en
Famous pianists and their technique (1974), in which
toucher [sic] caressant ou ardemment pressant, selon la
the references to Kontski and carezzando are derived
nature expressive du passage ou de la note a rdaliser.
from Kullak and Bie; the author apparently could
The fingers rest on the keys on their pads, and play
not lay his hands on the original treatise.26
caressingly or ardently pressing, according to the expressive
The carezzando style did survive into the 20th cen-nature of the passage or of the note to be played.30
tury, but (as Bie implied) it was never widespread,
and when mentioned in treatises it was never pre- Even though Selva (inexplicably) places her dis-
sented as a basic technique. For example, Marie Jadllcussion of these touches in the preparatory volume
(nee Trautman; 1846-1925), an Alsatian-born pianistfor her four-volume piano method, L'enseignement
who moved to Paris and took first prize at the con-musical de la technique du piano (1916-24), sliding
servatory at the age of 15, wrote in 1897 of 'desand caressing the keyboard was clearly an advanced
attaques glissdes et rouldes', identified the sliding method, as it was for her teacher Jaell.31 Further-
technique as coming from J. S. Bach, 27 and taught it more, her explicit connection of such a touch with
until her death. Due to other eccentricities in her notes porties and ardent cantabile playing accords
approach, she became increasingly marginalized inwith Kontski's description of carezzando, and sug-
the pianistic world.21 gests very strongly that, romantic effusion aside, this
In 1919 Jadll's student Blanche Selva wrote about was the touch that enabled pianists to produce
two different kinds of sliding touches. One was the dependable notes porties, which were necessary for
touche de repercussion, which was intended to enable varied, expressive articulation in the cantabile style,
something for which (as we have seen) Chopin was
the pianist to reiterate a note without fully restriking
it. Her example for this was the famous passage in renowned. Selva's teaching of these kinds of touches

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Document 1 Kontski's description of the carezzando touch in L'indispensable du pianiste (c.1851)23

II faut bien faire attention de ne jamais jouer du bras, le One must make sure never to play from the arm;
bras doit rester 6tranger A tous les mouvements. Quant the arm must stay removed from all movements. With the
l'avant-bras c'est tout different, il peut et doit se lever et forearm it is totally different, it can and must raise and
se baisser avec facilit6 et souplesse pour aider la main lower itself with facility and suppleness in order to help the
dans la transportation d'une place a l'autre, dans l'attaque hand in moving from one place to another, in the vigorous
vigoureuse des Accords, ou bien encore [p.16] lorsqu'on playing of chords, or indeed [p.16] when one wants to
veut chanter, en caressant les touches. Et pour qu'on sache sing, while caressing the keys. And in order that one knows
quand et comment j'emploie cette maniere de toucher, j'ai when and how I use this manner of playing, I have
pris la libert6 d'employer pour cela le signe: (o) au dessus taken the liberty of employing for that the sign (o) above
des notes, et d'en d'onner [sic] ici une explication detaill6e. the notes, and of giving a detailed explanation here.
Ce signe (o) veut dire 'Carezzando' (caressant) et les This sign (o) means 'Carezzando' (caressing) and the
notes qui en sont marquees doivent tre attaquees d'une notes which are so marked must be struck in a very
mani&re trs delicate avec le gras du doigt et le poignet delicate manner with the pad of the finger and with the
baiss6, en glissant le doigt depuis le milieu jusqu'au bas wrist lowered, while sliding the finger from the middle to
de la touche comme si on la carressait; ce mouvement the end of the key as if one was caressing it; this movement
ne doit point se faire du doigt seul, au contraire le must not be done with the finger alone; on the contrary
doigt une foi pose, c'est l'avant-bras qui doit se retirer once the finger is in place, it is the forearm which must
en arriere, et par-lA le doigt glissera de lui-meme jusqu'au draw backward, and from that the finger will slide to the
bas de la touche. end of the key.
Les notes marquees Carezzando perdent en apparence The notes marked Carezzando lose, seemingly, almost
presque le quart de leur v6ritable valeur. Dans ce temps a quarter of the real value. During this time one will
on lvera gracieusement la main et l'avant-bras pour la gracefully raise the hand and forearm in order to guide
conduire sur les touches suivantes; mais le son ne cesse it to the following keys; but the sound will not cease
point, car il est soutenu par les pedales jusqu'a sa pleine at all, for it is sustained by the pedals to its full value,
valeur; pareil A harmonica en verre or au son de flageolet like the glass harmonica or the sound of the flageolet.
du violon. Comme la partie 61astique du doigt attaque la As the flexible part of the finger touches the piano key,
touche du piano qui est aussi e1astique, cette double which is also flexible, this double flexibility makes the
l61asticit6 fait que le son devient lui-meme doux et sound itself gentle and elastic, and thus it loses all
6lastique, et par consequent perd toute la durete et la of the hardness and dryness which it ordinarily has
s6cheresse qu'il a ordinairement lorsqu'on attaque la when one strikes a key with the end of the finger. By
touche avec le bout du doigt. Par cette manitre du toucher this manner of touch the sound of the piano acquires
le son du Piano acquiert une vibration si sensible et si sym- a vibration so sensitive and so agreeable that one
patique qu'on ne peut dire ce qu'on disait anciennement can no longer say, as was said formerly, 'The Piano
'le Piano est un instrument sur lequel il est impossible de is an instrument on which it is impossible to sing or
chanter ou d'emouvoir!' Oui, dis-je, il est possible de to move [anyone]!' Yes, I say, it is possible to sing,
chanter, mais il faut savoir chanter! C'est donc a l'Artiste but it is necessary to know how to sing! It is therefore for
d'animer cet instrument si sec; c'est donc l'Artiste qui doit the artist to animate this very dry instrument; it is the artist
rendre cet instrument capable de Chanter en le touchant who must render this instrument capable of singing by
de manibre A faire de lui ce qu'il veut qu'il soit, touching it in such a manner as to make it do what he
c'est-A-dire, en le faissant chanter, pleurer, gronder, etc. wants, that is to say, to make it sing, weep, growl, etc.
etc.-tout cela est donc dans la manikre de s'y prendre etc.-all that is therefore in the manner one sets about the
et l'instrument obeira aussit6t, grace a la combinaison instrument, and the instrument will obey immediately,
de la pedale, du toucher, et surtout de la dose de thanks to the combination of the pedal, of touch, and
sensibilit6 que posshde celui qui joue. Car, qui veut especially of the amount of sensitivity possessed by
emouvoir Ceux qui l'ecoutent, doit lui-meme &tre emu, him who plays. For whoever wants to move those who
doit lui-meme sentir bien vivement ce qu'il veut listen to him must himself be moved, must himself
faire sentir aux autres! Ainsi ces Deux choses r6unis, le vividly feel what he wants the others to feel. Thus these two
toucher, et le sentiment, rendent la musique irresistible- things in tandem, touch and sentiment, make the music
ment entrainante, et ce n'est qu'alors que la Musique irresistibly stirring, and it is only then that music

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001 403

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Document 1 continued

devient une langue divine, une langue intime du becomes a divine language, an intimate language of the
Coeur!-Que vaut un Artiste qui ne fait que des Notes
heart. Of what value is an artist who plays only more or
plus ou moins rapides, que des traits plus or moinsless rapid notes, or more or less difficult figuration?
Nothing! For in order to be an Artist in the full meaning
difficiles? rien!-car pour etre Artiste dans toute l'6tendue
du mot, il faut avoir de Nobles sentiment[s] et du Coeur,of the word, one must have noble sentiments and a heart,
in
pour comprendre et faire comprendre la mission order to understand and to make understood the
sublime de la musique. sublime mission of music.
Voici des exemples tires de ma 'R6signation' Op.131, Here are examples taken from my 'R6signation', op.131,
page 6 et 8. pages 6 and 8.

Andane.
0 0 00
0 o
0 o ~00
Schreibart. (
Sco f tristtezz. U.S.W.
C t e : i ft i te.
N a o i-
2r
-"
2 2 2 1/1N 2 . i-
Spielart. Lg ,6"ilog
0
it PMIS
. P C.
Irv
I.... w a,, " ?
WE.0--
I
c Ur ZU#. POWi-!+ ,g t ++ ,+c

Si le Chant marqu6 de Carezzando estIf6crit


the en
melody
doublesmarked as Carezzando
notes comme dans l'exemple ci-aprbs, il faut
double conserver
notes as in the following example, i
maintain
le mouvement de la main et du bras, comme thecelui
dans motion
de of the hand and arm
notes simples. single notes.

0 )000 0 00

Schreibart.
o0 ooo ooo *,_I-a
N,,P

Ms mmo.mms-w
I w I r " Im. b w r 6l-__r

Notation. . F F
PIPP 4 4: :4-. 4;e : : It.
I ~ ~~ jj354* t*~ 1
: .az - - ' , , " A
- . . .. . ?oL
It - / . t. I"-" it !s1 2 0 0 1. - I
i / - - t l~lJm ? ii02a;! I? ,"J/ ? -
(FBI' ,o -o,,+..0,+,
PMA P M -JdaAUMP rFL Q&ML ? 9 43dft A OO
* -
lS.,
, !...
E,,,,,,ti ,+
on . -". )P'.
F=FX*" F:.-,;
6oOR PPad
metA e,, I ,t: it:Pr
.,
,.". . "
. ...#
.. ".
PikP PA

404 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001

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survived further into the 20th century; Jean-Joel the legato touch, and that the actual articulation can
Barbier (1920-94), who studied with two students of remain disconnected. Protesting perhaps a bit too
Blanche Selva, Louise Terrier and Libussd Novak, much-admitting rather more than he would like
described learning what he called Selva's 'scratch' about modern pianism-he explains:
technique, 'in which the finger, pulled toward the
I have been persuading you to indulge in a practice that some
edge of the key as it went down'.32 pianists view as sinful-namely, to rely on the pedal for
By the second half of the 20th century, however, legato instead of on your fingers. If you can achieve the same
varieties of articulation, like varieties of touch, were effect with your fingers, do so, of course. You should know,
approaching the status of a historical footnote, however, that some of our greatest pianists create persuasive
legato effects in the way I have just described-by dis-
despite their signal importance in the Parisian
connecting with their fingers and connecting with their
school during the first half of the 19th century.
pedal ...35
Though not explicit about a caressing touch, the
piano methods of Louis Adam (1800), Alexis de Bernstein's approach is encountered far too
Garaud6 (1820), Henry Lemoine (1827), and Kalk- often. It should be remembered, though, that the
brenner (1831) all set forth four different levels of relative absence of different touches, timbres and
articulation: piqud (notes marked with vertical articulations is due in large part to circumstances
wedges, and with one-quarter of the full duration beyond the individual pianist's control. Because
consisting of sounding tone and the remaining contemporary live pianism depends upon perfor-
three-quarters consisting of silence), detache (notes mances in large halls, and on instruments that can
marked with dots, half tone and half silence), portM be heard over large orchestras, subtle differences in
(notes marked with dots under a legato slur, 'to be touch and articulation become indiscernible. The

played as if with one finger' according to Kalk- recording process, too, makes subtle distinctions of
brenner, three-quarters sound and one-quarter touch infeasible. An accurate final product requires
silence), and lie (legato, notes marked with a slur multiple takes; were pianists to cultivate the vari-
indication, tone for the full duration).33 To these gra- eties of touch and freedom of interpretation from
dations may be added both notes with no articula- performance to performance that once were so
tion mark at all and Chopin's 'heavy staccato' (in celebrated, the necessary consistency of phrasing
Kleczyniski's words), which is marked with vertical and note duration from take to take would be virtu-
or horizontal accent wedges under a slur indication ally unattainable.
(whether there was a distinction between these two Given the differences in pianos and performing
is unclear).34 It is the ratio of three-quarters sound to circumstances, the carezzando touch-which awaits
one-quarter silence in notes porties that Kontski revival and reintroduction into modern playing-
specified for carezzando playing, so the connection can only be used with care and after substantial
between articulation and this touch is clearest in that experimentation, since its practical relevance to
case. Nevertheless, it seems likely that the varieties modern pianism is (frankly) far from evident. What
of carezzando facilitated all these different levels of is clear, however, is that carezzando, if not wide-
articulation, offering pianists a dependable mech- spread, was at least an important aspect of the
anism for achieving tiny differences in duration pianism shared by several widely admired pianists
and space between notes. Because pianos are so such as Kalkbrenner, Belleville-Oury, Kontski and,
different now, though, it is difficult to achieve most importantly, Chopin himself. Such pianists
similar effects. sought subtlety and polish, not broad dramatic
It is clear, however, that today's vocabulary of effects, and their approach to the piano has all but
articulations and touches is, by comparison with disappeared. The case of Chopin is particularly
that of the previous century, monochromatic. Just ironic, given the plethora of contemporary testi-
how painfully monochromatic it has become is illus- mony such as that of Berlioz and Pierre Zimmer-
trated by Seymour Bernstein, who suggests that the man, who each wrote that one did not know
sustaining pedal is an effective agent for achieving Chopin's music until one had heard the composer's

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001 405

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unique way of performing it.36 The inescapable con- articulation from Kontski and the other Parisian
clusion, then, is that for more than a century the pianists all indicate that we are a very great distance
pianistic world has been single-mindedly pursuing from Chopin's own performance aesthetic-
an aesthetic utterly opposed to Chopin's own. without which, his contemporaries assure us, his
The unabated popularity of Chopin's music music cannot be understood. The successes of the
makes it especially challenging to reconceive our early music movement in the past three decades
understanding, as was done with traditional illustrate how historically informed, artistically
'early'-that is, pre-1750-music. For those com- accomplished performances can transform the
mitted to performance practices, however, the tasks awareness (and indeed popularity) of formerly
are familiar: one re-creates the aesthetic as much as
peripheral, obscure historical repertories. Perhaps,
rediscovers the technique, and designs and imple- before too long, the music of the most popular, most
ments appropriate practice strategies. The eye- and beloved piano composer will likewise benefit from a
ear-witness accounts of Chopin's playing, the testi-re-examination of performance style and aesthetic.
mony of his students, and the correlating informa- If so, a major role should be played by the carezzando
tion about carezzando touch and the varieties of touch in the cantabile style.

1 Quoted from J.-J. Eigeldinger, 8 Czartoryska's remarks are quoted legato in the first place so thoroughly
Chopin: pianist and teacher as seen from Eigeldinger, Chopin, pp.30, 31 vocal, brought out by gliding fingers'
by his pupils, trans. N. Shohet with (my emphasis). as one of the most striking features of
K. Osostowicz and R. Howat, ed. Chopin's playing (Jean Kleczyiski,
R. Howat (Cambridge, 3/1986), p.279. 9 Quoted from Eigeldinger, Chopin, Chopin's greater works: how they should
p.276. be understood, trans. N. Janotha
2 E. J. Hipkins, How Chopin played, (London, 1896), p.19).
from contemporary impressions lo Quoted from Eigeldinger, Chopin,
collected from the diaries and
p.81. 13 C. Timbrell, French pianism: a
historical perspective (Portland, OR,
note-books of the late A. 1. Hipkins, F. S.
11 Hipkins adds a footnote here: 'The 2/1999), P.37. 1831 is the usual date
(London, 1937), p.23.
finger slides from the back of the key given for Kalkbrenner's Mdthode (see
towards the front.' New Grove, MGG, etc.).
3 According to Emilie von Gretsch,
Chopin insisted that 'Il faut chanter 12 Hipkins, How Chopin played, p.23. 14 Kalkbrenner, Mdthode, p.12 (my
avec les doigts!' (quoted from The Forkel passage about J. S. Bach translation). In 18oo Louis Adam
Eigeldinger, Chopin, p.45); Jacques cited in n.4 above may be the ultimate mentioned 'different ways of striking
Durand reports Debussy's similar viewsource of the sliding finger among the keys' ('differentes manieres
that 'Above all, make me forget, as 19th-century scholars and writers. d'attaquer les touches') and the need
I listen to you, that the piano has Hipkins calls the sliding of a finger for for students to choose the right one
hammers' (quoted from Eigeldinger, soft effects Abzug, which is also men- according to the expression of the
Chopin, p.1o3 n.39). tioned by C. P. E. Bach (Versuch tber passage, but he did not go into detail
die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen about how such touches were to be
4 Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Ueber (Berlin, 1762), trans. W. Mitchell as realized (Louis Adam, Mdthode de
Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst Essay on the true art of playing keyboard piano (Paris, 1805; R/Geneva, 1974),
und Kunstwerke (Leipzig, 1802; instruments (New York, 1949), p.88) p.149).
R/Kassel, 1968), p.32; Fred6ric Kalk- and by Daniel Gottlob TUirk (Clavier-
brenner, MWthode pour apprendre le 15 William Gardiner, The music of
schule (Leipzig, 1789; R/1967), p.218).
piano-forte 4 l'aide du guide-mainsActually, Abzug is the softer resolution nature (London, [1832] 1837), pp.240,
(Paris, 1831; R/1850), p.12. 245.
of the principal note of an appog-
giatura, and has nothing to do with
16 Selected correspondence of Fryderyk
5 Quoted from Eigeldinger, Chopin, sliding a finger on the key. In trans-
Chopin, trans. and ed. A. Hedley
P-94 n.14. lating C. P. E. Bach's treatise, Mitchell (London, 1962), p.225.
blandly uses the word 'release' for the
6 Quoted from Eigeldinger, Chopin, 'undecorated, lighter tone' that follows 17 His music is often indexed with the
p.31. the appoggiatura, there being no Polish spelling or with the first name
English equivalent. Hipkins's comment 'Antoni'. I use the spelling with which
7 Wojciech Sowiiiski, quoted from about Kleczyiski probably refers to the Kontski published his treatise and
Eigeldinger, Chopin, p.163. latter's identification of'the fluent much of his music.

406 EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001

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18 P. David and D. Libby, 'K4tski', 25 0. Bie, A history of the pianoforte
New Grove II. and pianoforte players, trans. E. E.
Kellett and E. W. Naylor (London,

A rgents
19 Anton Kontski, 'Proshedshago i 1899), p.190.
nastoyashchago stoletiya, i vliyanie ikh
na muzykal'noe iskusstvo' ['Outstand- 26 R. Gerig, Famous pianists and their
ing composer pianists of the present
day and their influence on musical
art'], Teatral'nyi i muzykal'nyi viestnik
technique (Washington, 1974), pp.132,
236, 315. Printed
27 M. Jaell, Le mecanisme du toucher

Music
(St Petersburg), v (1858), pp.55-6. I am
grateful to Amie Margoles for her (Paris, 1897), pp.11off., esp. p.126; for
translation from Russian. Forkel reference see n.4 above.

28 The physical mechanism of piano 20() Denmark Street


20 For example, on 6 August 1848
Chopin referred in correspondence to
playing became something of an obses- London WCI H 8NE
sion with Jaell, who eventually advo-
two other pianists (Osborne and cated some even more exotic touches.
Tel: 020 7379 3384
Sowifiski) as 'excellents amis', and he
She used a compass to orientate her
continued: 'plus que du repr sentant
piano, and the study of inked finger-
rebutte [sic] Antoine de Kontski,
prints on the keys was central to her MAIL ORDER
frangais du Nord, animal du Midi'.
(Chopin, Correspondance, collected
approach. Her method is still main-
tained by a few teachers in France.
SPECIALISTS
and revised by B. E. Sydow et al., 3 vols.
ALL PUBLISHERS
(Paris, 1981), iii, p.36o). A northern 29 B. Selva, L'enseignement musical de
Frenchman was a Polish expatriate WORKS REPRESENTED
la technique du piano: Livre prdpara-
resident in Paris, which would likewise toire, pt. II (Paris, 1922), pp.291-3.
have described Chopin; perhaps that is
Bairenreiter
why Kontski is somehow his 'represen- 30 Selva, L'enseignement musical, Chester Music
tative', even if 'repellent' (rebutd). The p.3o5. Dover Publications
precise implication of 'southern beast'
(animal du Midi), which seems to be a 31 The first volume of Selva's Wilhelm Hansen
euphemistic idiom, is not clear. L'enseignement musical (1916) begins
Editions Minkoff
with three basic touches: jeu appuyd,
21 I. Poniatowska, 'Antoni Kqtski jako jeu dclatant, andjeu indiffrrent. None Novello
pianista i kompozytor muzyki forte- of these has anything to do with a
Oxford University Press
pianowej', in Chopin w krggu przyjaci6t sliding or caressing touch.
[Chopin among his friends], ed. I. Schotts
Poniatowska and D. Pistone (Warsaw, 32 Timbrell, French pianism, pp.2o3-6.
Union Musical
1999), p.11o. Following the 1845 Paris Ediciones
33 Louis Adam, Mdthode nouvelle,
edition, L'indispensable was reissued in
revised and expanded form as a paral- pp.154-6;pour
Alexis de Garaud6, M.thode Schirmer
complette le Piano Forte (Paris,
lel-text edition in French and German
1820), p.96; Henry Lemoine, Mdthode
(Antoine de Kontski, L'indispensable pour le Piano (Paris, 1827), p.119;
du pianiste, op.loo (Berlin, c.1851)).
3 FLOORS OF
Kalkbrenner, Mdthode, p.6.
Subsequently, there was also a French PRINTED MUSIC
and Russian edition (St Petersburg, 34 Kleczyfiski, quoted from
1854), and a German one without the Eigeldinger, Chopin, pp.33-4. IN THE HEART OF
preface (Berlin, 1877). THE WEST END
35 S. Bernstein, With your own two
22 These included the Guide-Mains, hands (New York, 1981), p.145. This is
the Chirogymnaste, and the Dactylion. not to say that varieties of articulation
Kontski was violently opposed to all are gone forever: the recently reissued
such devices. Alb~niz recordings of Esteban Sainchez
provide excellent counter-examples to
23 Kontski, L'indispensable du pianiste this trend.
(c.1851 version), pp.15-17, my trans-
lation. 36 Hector Berlioz, 'Concerts', Le WHERE THE
rdnovateur, ii/345 (15 Dec 1833), quoted
24 Adolf Kullak, Asthetik des Klavier- from Eigeldinger, Chopin, p.272; CUSTOMER
spiels (Leipzig, 1861), trans. T. Baker as Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman, CALLS THE TUNE
The aesthetics of pianoforte-playing L'encyclopddie du pianiste compositeur
(New York, 1893/R1972), p.79. (Paris, 1840), p.59.

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001 407

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