How did Chopin play – vol. 2

When we think about how Fryderyk Chopin himself played his works, it’s worth reaching for the testimonies left by his pupils, of whom he had many in Paris, and for the handful of notes he jotted down for his (never-completed) Piano Method.

In these notes, we read, for example, that for a pianist ‘the goal is not to learn to play everything with an equal sound, [but rather,] it seems to me, a well formed technique that can control and vary a beautiful sound quality.’ These thoughts are confirmed by the notes of one of Chopin’s favourite pupils, Princess Marcelina Czartoryska: ‘The fingers should sink, immerse themselves somehow in the depths of the piano – in piano as well in forte playing – drawing from it that sustained, melancholy sound which – the fingers reluctant to leave the keys – is able to bring out from even the least melodious instrument a singing quality close to that of the Italian singers whom Chopin recommended as models.’

Another of the composer’s pupils, Georges Mathias, explained: ‘You should, so to speak, mould the keyboard with a velvet hand and feel the key rather than striking it!’ Chopin said suposedly: ‘Caress the key, never bash it!’ and called playing that was not legato ‘a pigeon hunt.’

Kamila Stępień-Kutera