Thanks to SteveM for asking a question that has long puzzled me. This is from the end of a waning thread about Chopin's Waltz in c-sharp minor 69/2:
There weren't any follow-up comments, and I thought the topic was well worthy of a new thread.

How do you interpret dolce and other indications that seem more indicative of mood than a specific direction? What other terms do you consider to be in this category? I think appassionato is one, too; I've even seen con somma passione in Liszt and con sommo desiderio in Bortkiewicz. And what about Scriabin's very unusual instructions?

Is the proper interpretation a matter of dynamics, agogics or something else? Or just the way you should feel, and a state of mind that you should try to project in your own way?

Steven

It's all about loud and soft and combinations (why is this word underlined in red?) thereof.

So...dolce...I'd guess, knowing no specific context, mezzo-piano and legato. What else could you do? Fill the piano with sugar?

As seems to be the case oftentimes with Chopin, one could carry on for a good long while about wrist suppleness and arm relaxation and whatnot, but in the end, it truly comes down to what you've already suggested yourself - that it's "just the way you should feel, and a state of mind that you should try to project in your own way." you've got to hear[/b] the sweetness in your mind, and your body takes care of the execution.

Much of the genius of Chopin's style lies in the fact that he possessed a vast understanding of both the physical (quantifiable, if you will) components of technique as well as the purely mental (and certainly sentimental) components.

Chances are that if you feel it, you're on the right track. Perhaps you'd benefit from recording yourself critiquing your playing.
I suggest listening to any Rubinstein recordings if you haven't yet done so, especially the Nocturnes, as his playing is literally the aural manifestation of whatever one may take dolce to be.

Of course, if all else fails, I'd go with Age_of_Anxiety's advice and simply fill the piano with sugar. Let me know how that one works =]

Just to clarify, I wasn't seeking advice on how to convey dolce personally—though such suggestions could certainly be useful to me and to others. Listening to Rubinstein is always a good thing; filling the piano with sugar, not so useful.

Rather, I thought it interesting that there's this whole bunch of written indications that are extramusical in nature, for which the interpretation is neither explicit nor universal. It seemed like that subject, including ideas about what a composer has in mind in electing to use those terms instead of concrete directions, would be an interesting one to explore.

Maybe this is another of those Music 101 topics that I tend to overanalyze, possibly because I'm self-taught, and it's really as prosaic as a state of mind, after all.

(my choice for dolce if music used emoticons instead of words)

Steven

Jacob Lateiner rather earnestly told me that the marking of "dolce" specifically conjures up the image of a pre-menstrual girl singing to herself in an open field.

Make of that what you will.

Steven
Just to add my 2 cents worth!
With Chopin, I think if he puts "dolce" then you hardly
have to do anything different from usual - the music will sound
"dolce" because of his fantastic romantic compositional
ability! Otherwise, it seems that the term conjures up softly but a bit
gingerly or even stealthily! (and smiling sweetly while you play it!!).
Henry

In order to allude to any emotion musically, perhaps you should first think of a sound that is "dolce" or whatever term you're trying to get across. In fact, even when the composer doesn't indicate the feeling that should be conveyed, I'll often think of it on my own. Maybe something that sounds dolce is not necessarily the image of a young girl singing to herself in an open field, but the *sound* of it. And if that passage were sung, what would be the important notes that you might linger on or accentuate a bit more than the others? Which notes would you make subito piano for emphasis? Sing it first, then you will know. This goes for all styles. If you identify what feelings it should be conveying, and then sing it with that thought in mind, you will discover just how to play it. This is so individual and can vary widely in each piece, even if they are all marked dolce, that a more specific answer can't be given.

And never to be outdone, Liszt, in his Sonetto No. 123 had four "dolcissimo"s (including one "dolcissimo armonioso"), plus he throws in a "sempre dolce" and a "dolcemente" for good measure.

God only knows what that girl in the field would be doing!

My teacher liked Brendel's definition: "tenderly committed."

I like Lateiner's definition about 85,000 times better.

This thread vividly reminds me of the time in Lowenthal's studio class when a student facetiously asked how one is supposed to convey "surging evil joining the delirious dance" in Scriabin's 6th sonata.

I can imagine his reply being an evocative dance around the stage, his faced filled with evil conviction.

My favorite is "with tenderness that becomes increasingly caressing and poisoned."

Alright, Alex: LOUDER, SOFTER, FASTER, or SLOWER?

A friend of mine (who ironically is not so very kindly disposed to his music), once made the observation that Scriabin's markings verge on him praising how awesome the piece is rather than any actual interpretive directions.

Surely Satie's markings are more apt than Scriabin's?

As expression arises mostly from contrast, the answer to what a term means comes from looking what it contrasts with.

Chopin writes 'dolce' mostly in melodies that imitate Bel Canto singing. This is not particularly sweet to start with, rather declamatory with a focus on a clear sound. That's what dolce contrasts with, it think. (This works well for nocturne op 15 no 1 I study now).

So it's as if an opera singer sings a short afterthought, or a text between parentheses or a nuancing of what she (mostly sopranos, so,'she') sung earlier.

I also want to object against the common view that Chopin liked sentimentality and his music should be played sentimentally.

I looked up sentimental, because I wasn't sure what you were referring to with this comment. It means to showing/having tender emotions. So what exactly are you objecting to? Playing with emotion? And what records do we have of Chopin's supposed opinion that he didn't like playing with emotion? Please clarify.

i notice in Beethoven op.79 1st movement, there's a place, after a 'p', there's a 'dolce'. i guess it also depends on how it is preceded, and in this case it obviously means playing softly. my teacher only says it means 'sweet'.

Have you analyzed the piece itself for its meaning, and what "dolce" might say at that point? I haven't gotten that far in my studies, but I notice that Chopin belonged to the Romantic period. What was the concept of music and its expression during that period and what devices or approaches and philosophies were used to create that expression? Might any of these things help shed light on this "dolce"?

WARNING: don't put sugar into a diabetic piano !
Yes, the specific 'dolce' mood may also have much to do with what's before the marking. Like with hypo/hyperglycemia mood swings... No, I am not diabetic but still can feel the transition from apparent fatigue or anxious jumpiness to a content mellowness.

I meant sentimentality (as in my first mention) and not sentimentally (as in my second mention). Sorry, my fault. This makes a difference because sentimentality is more than the noun that goes with sentimental. In the first Internet dictionary that came up with my Google search, the following three definitions from different sources came up (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sentimentality):

sentimentality

noun
1. falsely emotional in a maudlin way [syn: mawkishness]
2. extravagant or affected feeling or emotion

sen·ti·men·tal·i·ty
1. the quality or state of being sentimental or excessively sentimental.
2. an instance of being sentimental.
3. a sentimental act, gesture, expression, etc.

sen·ti·men·tal·i·ty

1 The quality or condition of being excessively or affectedly sentimental.
2 A sentimental idea or an expression of it.

I also meant sentimentality as described in Roger Scruton's "An intelligent person's guide to modern culture". In there, he makes a case for the true object of feelings of sentimentality being the person feeling them.

Sorry, Steven, I just could not resist this one....

When Chopin writes "dolce" I think of like the kind of reminder some of you guys might need when making love to a beautiful woman:
Don't get too carried away, slow down and be more gentle

Ragnhild

Robert,

OK, that makes more sense, and I agree with that. However, most people don't go far enough in my opinion, and err on the side of more mechanical playing devoid of feeling. While one needs to play emotionally with taste, I would much rather hear someone who does this to a fault than not at all.

I have trouble connecting "with taste" and "to a fault," as good taste suggests to me an avoidance of extremes.

I don't believe that maudlin and mawkish overemoting (i.e., playing emotionally to a fault) can be done tastefully—so count me as someone who'd rather hear it "not at all"! Seeing it is pretty painful, too.

Steven

I didn't say that people should be maudlin, but I said I would prefer that to no emoting at all. I did say to play emotionally with taste, not maudlin with taste, which are opposites.