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Frederic Chopin and the Art of the Piano
A JOURNEY THROUGH CHOPIN'S TWENTY-SEVEN ÉTUDES,
THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUOSO PIANO TECHNIQUE,
REVEALING HOW THE HAND ACTUALLY WORKS,
IN THE CONTEXT OF THE HISTORY OF THE PIANO
AND THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT IN MUSIC
© ALAN KOGOSOWSKI 2009 GENIUS OF THE PIANO - ÉTUDE!
Contents
Part 1 Frederic Chopin: The Making of a Genius
| Chapter 1: |
"HATS OFF, GENTLEMEN, A GENIUS!" |
| Chapter 2: |
AS THE PRINTING PRESS TO POETRY |
| Chapter 3: |
A NEW VOICE FOR THE SOUL |
| Chapter 4: |
THE KING AND THE EMPEROR |
| Chapter 5: |
DREAM VISIONS |
| Chapter 6: |
CANNON BESIDE FLOWERS |
| Chapter 7: |
LIKE A PRINCE; A TALE OF TWO WOMEN |
| Chapter 8: |
A DIFFERENT KIND OF WOMAN |
| Chapter 9: |
VISIONS OF THE NIGHT |
| Chapter 10: |
THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE OF TECHNIQUE;
ON A LARGER CANVAS |
| Chapter 11: |
WIND IN THE TREES; PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS PERFORMER AND TEACHER |
| Chapter 12: |
AN INTELLECTUAL ARISTOCRACY AMONG ARTISTS - "PHILISTINES MUST KEEP AWAY!" |
| Epilogue: |
CHOPIN'S INHERITORS - THE GREAT PIANISTS |
Part 2 Mastering the Chopin Etudes
| Chapter 1: |
A Whole Orchestra with Two hands
Etude No.1 in C major Hand positions; thumb; posture |
| Chapter 2: |
New Instrument, Same Hand
Etude No.2 in A minor Hand positions; use of the thumb; fingering; mirror-image hands |
| Chapter 3: |
Songs Beyond Words
Etude No.3 in E major Singing tone; extensors and flexors |
| Chapter 4: |
Mephistopheles Exchanges the Violin for a Piano
Etude No.4 & 5 Hand positions; bravura; flat fingers |
| Chapter 5: |
Sounds Carried on the Wind
Etudes 6, 7 & 8 Legato; pedalling; disconnection and lateral movement of thumb |
| Chapter 6: |
The Poet of the Piano
Etudes 9, 10, 11 & 12 ('Revolutionary') Left hand; little finger; non legato; lateral movement of left hand |
| Chapter 7: |
Music leik Water
Etudes 13 ('Aeolian Harp') & 14 Mirror image hand movements |
| Chapter 8: |
Two Sides of the Coin
Etudes 15 & 16 Easy displacement of left hand positions |
| Chapter 9: |
Orchestrating the Dark Side of Romanticism
Etudes 17, 18, 19 Orchestrating; dividing our brain in two; speaking through our fingers |
| Chapter 10: |
Suave & dramatic, Classic & Romantic
Etudes 20, 21 ('Butterfly'), 22 Our Siamese twins; please release the thumb; octaves: two voices |
| Chapter 11: |
As no Instrument Ever Sounded
Etudes 23 ('Winter Wind') & 24 Small flexors and hand positions above all |
| Chapter 12: |
Delicatissimo with Strength (Only Chopin)
Etudes 25, 26 & 27 Principles never vary |
| Epilogue: |
So you want to play the Grieg Concerto? |
| Selected bibliography |
Synopsis of Part 2
- Opening up the spectrum of piano playing from that designed for a
chamber-sized fortepiano to that organically conceived for a modern grand,
with an orchestral spectrum of sound, expanding the scope from
a centralized area of the keyboard to a range of six octaves.
- The basic anatomy of the hand and how it works,
with the central importance of the thumb and the need to understand
how it may be used without tightening and straining the whole hand,
the forearm and the carpal tunnel in the wrist.
- The cultivation of 'singing tone', simulating the human voice
through manipulation of the sonority and reverberation of notes,
imitating the breathing patterns of the voice and the nuances of phrasing,
and the basic difference between the extensor and flexor muscles - the
small muscles of the fingers which must be used to produce singing tone.
- Flying over the keys with the greatest of ease in daredevil music,
which can only be accomplished through close hand positions.
It also requires daring, panache and showbiz,
which can't be taught. Sorry.
- Tone colouring through calculated degrees of touch and pedaling.
The central importance of hand positions in everything
from tone colour to making the fingers fly over the keyboard
with sureness and confidence.
- The unsung hero, our left hand - our 'Cinderella' hand -
and how to help it fulfill its task of supporting the prima donna right hand
in everything from wide-spread chordal accompaniments
to fast and brilliant scale and arpeggio passages.
- Making sounds float out of the piano,
through total control of the fingertips,
and perfect symmetry of the hands' movements.
- Easy and unstrained displacemant of left hand positions
in conjunction with pointed touch produced by small flexor muscles,
along with the need to develop lightness and nonchalance
in manner of playing and approach to everything.
- Orchestration with ten fingers, creating on the piano
a panoply of colours and nuances, lights and shadows,
to parallel the coloristic range of an orchestra,
and controlling different strands of sound at once.
- Focusing all the movements of our fingers, hands and body
to create a level of control over the piano similar to that of
a great conductor over a virtuoso orchestra.
- Complete mastery, to the point where the piano and pianist are one,
and where the piano ceases to be a single instrument
but instead an orchestral medium for waves of sound
and existential epics, Tolstoyan novels in three minutes.
- Now we know everything there is to know,
so we can sit back and let our fingers do the working.
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WOW!!! Thank you so much for Genius of the Piano. You write so convincingly about the milieu in which your subjects live and their idiosyncrasies, you really make them come alive! It's like receiving a crash course in European culture. The writing is so engaging and enjoyable. I'm very excited about reading the book again, which I cannot resist. Thank you again!
Sarah Biron
Music lover, Melbourne, Australia
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