Reality Check: Original Speed of Chopin Etude No.1 (Op.10) 

Can’t wait to play my album release concert on October 6th 🎉🤩 tickets and infos here: www.easyticket.de/veranstaltung/annique-goettler-chopin-etudes-cd-release-concert/94675/

I like Chopin's tempo here. Definitely difficult, but the first Etude is lightening and thunder & Chopin's tempo brings out the electrical excitement of the piece most effectively. It's not a thing of beauty, but of awe!

You are on such a HOT STREAK, Annique! This quality content roll out is magnificent

I like the fast tempo. It moves the listening emphasis from the right hand to the left, were you finally find melody.

There is a recording of 13yo Martha Argerich playing it in Buenos Aires in 1955 which is done absolutely ridiculously fast. Also the Cziffra warming up video version comes to mind 😅

Its very interesting that with a faster tempo, the melody on the left hand come out more and the right hand sound more lire a accompaniement. I like it.

I would not trade the details for speed. As soon as it sounds rushed, the magic is over, at least for me. The transition from a well thought out classical piano study with a lot of room for artistic interpretation to a "party piece" is quite short, imho. Ok, Pollini did it in that tempo, and it does not sound like a party piece. The personality of the artist should shine through the interpretation, so I believe you know very well how fast you can go without losing your artistic goal.

A lovely chat about 10/1, and big congratulations on your album!

Congratulations on your upcoming concert🎉 Your love of the music and your exhuberance come shining through your playing! Have a blast!

A beautiful section that becomes enchanting at speed

I've been learning this piece for months on months now, about halfway through. I must admit your version is my favourite, the clarity, emphasis, expression and emotion, a big inspiration for me.

All the hard work you put into the Chopin album seems to have taken your playing to a whole new level. You are on fire, Annique! 🔥🔥

Beautiful playing. You have a lovely tone. Your knowledge and explanation makes you a great teacher! Superb artistry in the total sense of the word! I will be checking in to continue to learn.

I studied all 12 etudes as well and this is crazy! The improvement becomes exponentially more difficult the faster you go

Very interesting, instead of hearing the notes I felt I heard more the flow of the piece. Of course you should play the tempo your feel most comfortable in. And I love your interpretation of the Etudes, have never heard them played that way.

I really love this kind of videos

Great work!

I would not play it sooo fast...the beauty of music, even studios, is to hear all the notes...Good Luck for Your concert!

You should definitely play the faster version! It sounds terrific, and on level with Pollini and Gregorz Niemczuk:)

It sounds great, and very stylistically correct. Once you've played it at the faster tempo for a few weeks, it will feel and sound "easy"!!

luv it ❤

Congrats for that album😍

Music is always possible. It's the amount of interest you have in it that makes it impossible or possible.

Ich freu mich schon mega auf dein Konzert am 6.10!!!

Your concert is on the same day as my birthday, i dont think ill be there but id love to, i asked my parents as a present and they are thinking abt it im so excited

Großartige Pianistin und reflektierte Künstlerin! Viel Erfolg in Stuttgart!👍

I have gotten to explore a 1913 Erard grand, and the key action is so much lighter and easier than any other piano. It becomes easy to imagine the speed feeling better on a piano Chopin probably used himself.

I’ve never heard someone play the two accented notes for each up and down so clearly. I honestly didn’t even know those notes could be accented in such a beautiful way till I saw your performance.

Amazing 👍🇬🇧🥁❤️

Superbe! At that tempo you hear the melody that is definitely in the left hand!

Wow the Wim Winters conspiracy theorists got here fast! I'd have thought they'd have taken twice that amount of time...

I like the very fast tempo, it's how the piece should sound for me, has to be so electrifying

Cziffra's tempo on this is astounding

I love her. Wish I could attend her concert.

That tempo definitely makes sense, it gives another pace/weight/meaning to the left hand voice ☺ I'ts not human, ok, but who said Chopin was human? 😁

ok Annique’s piano skills are amazing but can we talk about HOW CRISP THE EDITING IS

Dear Annique, Thank you so much for bringing up this topic. I believe all your comments in your thoughtful video bear important weight. I appreciate when you point out, the instrument at the time of Chopin is different from our modern piano. And furthermore, that we pianists should likely compensate for those differences when trying to play this music on our modern piano. I see that Chopin wrote not for his specific instrument, but rather it was the only instrument available: there was no other choice. So Chopin simply wrote music for the piano. But it is not likely he would have envisioned the changes to the piano that were yet to be developed. If I may please add a bit to what you have said? After I wrote this, I looked at it and realized it’s quite long. I hope it all makes it into the comments here! My comments also hold a personal value for me because in my lineage of Piano Teachers, tracing that history, one of my teachers goes back to Georges Mathias, pupil of Chopin, and teacher at the Paris conservatoire starting about 14 years after Chopin‘s death. I myself currently am a private Piano Teacher. Perhaps, first and foremost, is that we musicians, like it or not, are the sole representative(s) of the composer to the world and to ourselves. The composer typically is not alive to give us his or her view on their art. And as such, we must speak for and on behalf of the composer, as if we were his or her amanuensis. Except that we cannot report a static or verbatim work of art, because as we realize, music does not have life until it is liberated from the page and floats in time and space, as re-created art in sound. Our musical score is but a mere skeleton. We must provide the heart, the blood vessels, the brain, bodily systems, the organs and skin as it were, and then find a way to breathe life into that whole physical apparatus. And to find all those things through that skeleton, we call a musical score. What a job we have to do! I would say that each of our unique approaches to the composers music can never be as the composer would have played it, no matter how much we may each personally try to make the case that our interpretation is the “correct“ one. And I think we likely know this, though we may not necessarily want to admit it to one another. This is perhaps more challenging for those teachers who are not at complete liberty to choose all their students, but teach at institutions of higher learning, who have a boss to report to and peers who can potentially exert control over that teachers employment. Are we all free to really say what is on our hearts and minds? And if we find we are all playing any work of music exactly the same as one another then I suggest we may have betrayed our art and likely disappointed our beloved composer’s intention? One case in point is that so many renowned pianists play the Mozart A major sonata, the theme and variations, playing the theme with the same inflection, the same tempo, The same phrasing and flow, as if uniqueness and creative musical art had flown out the window. An exact replica unfortunately, can never serve the art of music in my view. Because the moment we have an exact replica, in truth, we unwittingly have a forgery. In the case of Chopin, it is known he did not perform the same work in the same manner, if he played it a second or more time. But more than that, he took special effort to make sure it was different because it was his nature to do so. And as you so insightfully point out, Annique, the tempo affects the character of the piece most directly. Have you ever played on an instrument constructed near the time of Chopin? It is most interesting. The key depth is noticeably shallower, The key width ever so slightly narrower, such that the span of the octave is narrower than our modern grand, the depth the key travels before arriving at the bottom of the key bed is also noticeably less than our modern piano. Also, that the idea of precision manufacturing was somewhat in its infancy. Not to mention, it is strung with straight strings from front to back, no crisscrossing of strings we have in our modern piano, and so the timbre and tone quality and ability to sustain sound is markedly different than our modern piano. Overall, the sound is thinner and sustains less. That’s not a bad thing at all it is simply different. One needs to approach playing a straight strung piano differently from our modern grand. In many ways, it has more varied character and a much different “speak“. Another point overlooked by some is the different systems of tuning at the time of Chopin compared to the early 20th century and continuing to the present moment. So-called equal temperament is actually not always the same, nor was it ever necessarily “equal“ as we might conceive of the meaning of this word today. This may be a surprise to some, but even at the time of JS Bach “equal“ temperament as a modern engineer would conceive of the meaning of “equal“, did not exist- many of us have been taught incorrectly by our college professors though they believed they had the correct information. I don’t blame them at all. They did the best they could with the information they had at hand at the time. Yes, the tuning system at the time of Bach allowed one to play in all the major and minor keys, and to modulate; however, the tuning was not “equal” temperament as has been colloquially referred. Certainly, I believe Chopin would have found our approach to tuning our modern piano, which is much more equal in pitch distance , half step to half step compared to his piano, quite bland and lacking in color. But that is another topic for another day, perhaps. But it does have an effect upon our modern interpretations, because to compensate for lack of a more interesting and colorful tuning, we are forced to put inflections and weights on certain keys for particular effects. We may do this unconsciously as we feel it is intrinsic to the character of the music we are trying to express. Overall it takes less physical effort to play on a new grand piano constructed in the 1820s, 30s or 40s, compared to our modern 20th century and 21st century artist level grand pianos. And so when we on our modern piano, try to match the metronomically very quick tempi Chopin left, in some of his études, we instantly may have lost some finesse, lightness and delicacy inherent in that music, and perhaps other qualities, because our modern pianos require a marked degree of athleticism, comparatively, to simply play them at all. Perhaps one more étude of Chopin in which this tempo mismatch is obvious is Op. 10 no. 12 in C Minor. The so-called revolutionary étude. Has anyone heard a recording from a renowned pianist, a Chopin interpreter so-called, who actually plays 160, Chopin’s tempo? I think you’ll find 128-ish is more near the norm. And I would make the case they play it at that slower tempo because they instinctively know they lose character and other qualities by making it too fast. The fingers can move that fast, but is it really worth it? Yet these pianists don’t talk of that. They simply “do“ it. And so, since about the 1920s onward, our ears have been perhaps spoiled by not hearing Chopin‘s music as Chopin and his contemporaries would have heard it because the grand piano itself had so many changes since then. The ideal Chopin sound, if there ever was one, has perhaps become lost in antiquity. It is now but a dream we desperately try to identify and hopefully re-create. And it is with great hope, and enthusiasm, that we all try! No other Instrument has gone through such dramatic changes to the point it changes the character of the music being realized on the instrument. Concerning a string Instrument such as violin or cello - generally the older the better is the prevailing belief and experience. Modern wind instruments benefit from a greater technology to play more in tune, and more nuances due to increased ability for response to breath control and embouchure. (at least this is some of what I have heard from other colleagues) One could perhaps make at least a partial case our modern orchestral instruments are easier to play with musical intention than their more ancient counterparts. But the modern piano is a different thing entirely. it seems to be going in the opposite direction of that. If only someone could find the real blueprints and manufacturing details of the Erard Piano Chopin loved, to create a precise new instrument, not a “replica”. This could turn classical pianism on its head. In a good way. I have heard many have attempted this, but my understanding is the actual original blueprints and detailed manufacturing process was not preserved. And that the piano Craftsmans ear and experience was the final input. Although there’s one pianist that managed to avoid some of those problems, because he had his piano specially tweaked, in ways he did not completely share with the public, and generally insisted to only use that piano in performances. That was Vladimir Horowitz. Smart man. So I think the bottom line dear Annique is that you should keep doing what you are doing! I feel you are on the right track, putting the music’s character as the arbiter of the right tempo, and all other elements of a truly artistic and beautiful rendition of Chopin, or any other composer, as the first and foremost goal. And then do the best one can with our modern instrument to realize and bring to life that music. I feel the constant challenge of modern classical musicians is to continue to make that music relevant to modern life. It’s really up to all of us now as to the future of classical music. Best wishes to you always, James Heuser

Good luck at your recital. I once was a critic for Stuttgarter Zeitung and might well have covered the event if it had happened then but I live in Milwaukee now.

I'm genuinely inspired😗 Everytime I watch you play I just wanna hop on my piano and just try to learn which ever song that you were playing but then I'd stop because my skills are nowhere near yours... 14 years old, selfteaching doesn't really get me anywhere😕

Actually, it’s a very interesting speed 😮 I thought it sounds pretty good also

You should do a 1 minute 10 minute 1 hour challenge with Chopin Scherzo No. 2, It's a little challenging and really fun to learn

You amaze.

Fascinating and so great to have these insights on the wonderful Chopin Etudes! A key issue with Chopin's tempi is that he was using pianos with much lighter actions than we have today, so velocity and leggiero playing were slightly easier to achieve, especially in a piece like 10/1. On the other hand, the trade-off is the pianos of the 1830s didn't have quite the same depth and richness of tone. So perfectly acceptable (and maybe more appropriate musically) to take the tempo a couple of notches slower on a modern grand.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😍😍😍

Debussy : music is the space between the notes Chopin and Liszt : wtf hahahah hold my beer

There's a YT video of Ashkenazy playing this as an encore at a live concert and he's quite fast. It does make it a real high-wire act!

Nooooo I live near Stuttgart and couldn't go to your concert nooooooo I want to cry 😭 You have to make one in Freiburg! 😅😅

Luv u

OMG do a full version of this piece where you play at the original tempo🥰🥰🥰🥰

❤

I think you dont need to play that fast. You already play it pretty beautiful and fast❤

Most people didn't understand this Etude. The relevant melody lies in the BASS!!! The right hand does only "decorate" the melody and schould be as light as possible. For this purpose high speed is useful.

Then at what tempo (the 'metronome number) 'do you usually play this piece Annique?!

My motto is: if I can play it slow, I can play it... even slower! 🙂

The right tempo is the one you can play correctly and with clarity. 73

A Series with the Etudes will be great!

See that's the thing! What fine line do we draw that strikes the perfect balance between velocity, control, accuracy, musicality and comfort / preventing injuries?

It's a study. It's desined to push the student foward. It doesn't mean that you have to perform at the fastest tempo, but you have to try to go always a little faster with ease and with a nice sound.

Annique! I would absolutely love it if you gave theory advice!😩

Hello ! I have Etudes from (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics and the velocity written is 144 BPM for the quarter note . If it was over 170 BPM , it should have been Presto and not Allegro. This etude is a very deep one and increasing the tempo takes off this depth IMO. I wish you all the best for your concert! Viel Erfolg !!

Can you please do heroic polonaise with 60 seconds 10minutes and 1 hour challenge?

The mid-19th century grand pianos used to have very light hammers, shorter blow distance (hammer to string distance), shallower key dip and narrower keys. All that contributes to extremely light and nimble action. Remember that Chopin mostly played in salons. The needs for a grand piano to be louder and fill a bigger concert hall with sound came later when they started making them with cast iron frames that can withstand the enormous tension of the thicker (and more) strings, that in turn required bigger and heavier hammers with longer blow distance, etc. A modern piano is much louder and brighter but is also much heavier in touch and is more sluggish due to the high hammer inertia. WIth all that in mind, it's quite possible that Chopin really meant those tempi, only not on a modern piano.

You're a great pianist I was wondering how long you have been playing piani?

Cziffra is fantastic

The Pleyel piano Chopin used is much easier to play fast. I know for sure since my teacher just tried it.

Hey you play amazing

what chopin used was still a piano right? how would playing on today's piano and those days' piano make a difference to what speed you can play?

I would love to see how you would approach a piece like "Souvenir de Paganini - Chopin"

To your point, I think the accents in the right hand, the interior melody, can be forte, the rest much lighter.

You have a very unique and cool interpretation of this piece but I really advice to check out Kzysztof Jablonski's interpretation in national edition - played in original Chopin speed and true sound of Chopin. It is very fast and almost no rubato but it is interpreted so beautifully and no details are left out, and like you said, a very complete and smooth flow was there. Recommended!

What is your opinion about Seong-Jin Cho's performance from the 2015 Chopin Competition? I am mostly curious about your opinion about the stuff you mentioned about the strong bass and the lighter touch, because he is really close to the tempo you just tried.

most I could do was somewhere around 160. I'm amateur. it stretches my hand so hard, if I take a break to have a tea, I will have to warm up for 20 mins again to reach that 160 speed.

For an etude point of view, I would say the faster tempo is better. In the end of the day it's a technical piece. From a musical point of view, I like the slower interpretation (and similarly for several etudes, like Op25 No2)...

Ling ling practice for the win! :)

The short answer is yes. A friend of mine has played it at 200+bpm pretty flawlessly, so ~180 is definitely possible.

Forgive me, but I am very curious. What would a piano injury look like? Is it a repetitive stress injury or is it something else? I have played some piano myself and I have definitively "enjoyed" some developing elbow and shoulder problems before I learned to listen to the body and look into my technique and/or finger placement.

Hey Annique (srry if i didnt write your name correctly) but I was just wondering if you could do a 1 min 10 min 1 hour challenge with "The howl's moving castle -- Main theme" Its my fav song and i think it would be incredible if you managed to play it. Thanks again and good luck if you decide to give it a try ;))

Looking in my 1st copy of the Etudes---I had marked getting it @ 176 on my 22nd BD. I like160 now-----it's pretty daft to try tempi written for 100's of years old super light pianos.(???) Like his Pleyel.. If Chopin tried my Bosendorfer Imperial 97 keyed 9 foot 6----he inevitably would rethink all tempos to modern concert grand standards----or like Horowitz make yr key weight 30-40 grams instead of the normal 52( often higher) effectively " cheating. Or Josep Hofman founder of the Curtis Institute--who had all the keys made smaller to avoid stretching. The lengths pianist will go to ! It's murderous!!

I like this etude, I think is a good exercise for beginner 😄 do you think can play with a slow tempo

As if this Etude wasn't difficult enough... then that tempo marking is there and my god. When it comes to closest recording I would say Maurizio Pollini's recording of this etude from the 80s is the fastest.

I know that Chopin is known for his amazing speedy runs, but was it possible to play that virtuosically on his old Pleyel or other instruments (post-fortepiano & pre-Steinway)? Although they are mainly museum pieces by now, I would like to know whether the old instruments could sound articulate & resonant at speed or if it sounded like a muddled cacophony.

Pianos in chopins times had lighter action so fast playing on them was in fact way easier for a trained pianist.

You playing The Fingerbreaker.

👍

You could do a whole "Reality Check" series, since all the Chopin etudes have metronome markings. Lots of other pieces are crazy to play at his prescribed speed, including the Winter Wind etude.

Fun video! A super light hand is key, try fake playing the piece to warm up by playing through the piece without pressing (most) of the keys, just barley making contact with the pads of your finger. My fastest performance is around 1:35 to 1:40 (120% of 176bpm... just above 210bpm) - while still holding on to most of the details but with mistakes lol. Annique is right at some point you risk losing total control and that's not a line you should probably cross like I do (can never get 2 measures completely right at full speed, I think it's the D on the 8th run up and the C D# A D# in the middle). My best good runs are at least 1:50 long when my hand is the lightest, most relaxed state. The proper length at 176bpm is 1:58.5.

Your recording is the closest to the real piano sound I have heard. Usually recordings sound too different from a real piano, but I can see a big change here.

Il faut que ce soit votre tempo sur ce que vous avez à dire . Alors votre discours sera cohérent et magnifique

Do you think Chopin himself would be able to play his own works at their given tempos on the modern concert grand?

176 is very possible, so many people have done it at that tempo.

have you ever played any of alkans etudes?

Hello Annique! Agree! Tempo indications should not be taken as a straitjacket from start to finish. Otherwise, nuances and musicality couldn't shine like they do when you play! Congratulations and enjoy your upcoming CD & concert!

were metronomes significantly different in the 19th century from what they are today?

Argerich is the queen of this etude

Этот этюд- моя мечта наверно несбыточная), рука помирает в середине перед самой красивой частью.

The piano was a very different instrument back in Chopin’s day (the same for Mozart, Beethoven, . . .). Much lighter action, much shallower key depth, far less string tension, not to mention the temperament(s) that was/were used. All of that influenced tempo/metronome marking.

Couldn't play either tempo myself, but in this case, the faster tempo sounds right to me.

I once heard Francesco Libetta playing this etude twice the Chopin's tempo. I'm still shocked.

I interpret Chopin's etude metronome markings as maximums, warning the pianist not to exceed those tempi, not as requirements.

in the end it will turn out that Chopin was just trolling all future pianists. 😇 Beautifully played none the less. Bravo.