Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Chopin: to tie or not to tie?

I'm referring to the Barcarolle, Opus 60. In measures 94, 96, and 97, the last octave is not tied to the octave in the next measure in my Henle. I just discovered they are tied in Peters. Mikuli has some tied and not others. I checked a few other editions in IMSLP and they vary. I also did a listening survey on Youtube and found that Rubinstein, Zimerman, Trifonov, Barenboim, etc. all play these differently.

I know you'll all say, "Ask your teacher" and he will say, "What do you think sounds the best?" I wish there were definitive answers. I'm so frustrated.

Opinions?

What else is there to say? Do what you think is right.

The fact that there are lots of variations on it shows how ultimately unimportant it is. There is no consensus. Do what feels right. Or listen to lots of recordings and choose the one that sounds most authentic and natural to you.

There are many other examples of (un)tied notes in Chopin. I learnt many Chopin pieces in my teenage years from a cheap anthology edition which had no named editor, and found several examples of tied notes that were inconsistent (tied in one section, losing it in the next when repeated with elaboration etc). But I played what was printed, thinking that Chopin knew what he wanted.....until I discovered that different editions differed in many details, and that concert pianists chose the variants they preferred.

These days, having heard so many different pianists, I play the variants that seem most logical to me. One day, I might buy the new Urtext Critical Edition (Peters) which contains all the known variants (not to mention elaborations) that Chopin himself had a hand in - I attended the Chopin Symposium in London's South Bank in 2010 where Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger and John Rink (et al) talked about this, and about how they went about preparing the new edition.

BTW, some pianists have also switched in the light of new research - e.g. Pollini's most recent recording (and performances) of the B flat minor Sonata starts the exposition repeat from the Grave rather than from the Doppio movimento.

I have noticed these differences in ties since I play the Barcarolle, I have Peters/Paderewski/Henle/Schott and some really ancient editions, none is the same. I prefer the way Zimerman plays it, he sticks to the Paderwski if I'm not mistaken, but one should really pick among all the possibilities, let musical instinct guide you, not academics.

Thanks. I'm learning it with the Henle edition which as no ties, but I can always change it later. I too like Zimerman's interpretation very much.

I love your blatant, honest comments. LOL I actually thought the exact same thing. :p You can't just ask some random strangers to give you interpretation ideas. It has to be your own interpretation - That's what performing is all about! If everyone had a formula or a strict manner of playing a piece, music would be useless. Well, maybe not useless, but boring. It has take me months to find my own interpretation of Papillons, but now I have it ad am very happy that there is not another like it in the world. Find your own style, and stick to it and be proud!

Haha! I love your blatant, honest comments. LOL I actually thought the exact same thing. :p You can't just ask some random strangers to give you interpretation ideas. It has to be your own interpretation - That's what performing is all about! If everyone had a formula or a strict manner of playing a piece, music would be useless. Well, maybe not useless, but boring. It has take me months to find my own interpretation of Papillons, but now I have it ad am very happy that there is not another like it in the world. Find your own style, and stick to it and be proud!