Piano master video discussion group
2 posts
Started 18 Jan 2017
A
A pianist
Original post
Here is an instructional video series on Chopin's piano music which you all might find interesting. It features Horowitz's last student, Dean Kramer (who has not otherwise appeared on YouTube to my knowledge), and his wife Claire Wachter. They are both on the piano faculty at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance.
The brief section on Chopin's technique towards the end of the series includes Claire reverently quoting Chopin as saying "Let the hands fall…" as if Chopin were a proponent of "relaxation" and perhaps arm weight technique. Alan, have you encountered that particular quote before? I strongly suspect you'd interpret it differently.
--Rush W.
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Alanfraserpiano
Thank you Rush for this link. Chopin uses "suppleness" all over the place which is a little different from relaxation. He did not want the hand to fall on the keys to produce the tone. The falling was a precursor to playing, aiming at putting the hand into a state where it could play with suppleness.
Ludwig Deppe also uses the word "fall," but significantly says that the finger should fall into the key - not the arm. When hand structure is really well-expressed, it provides a frame from which it can feel like the finger is falling (even if there is actually some muscular activity going on).
Many good points are made in this video, thanks for posting it!
AFF
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