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J.S. Bach - Frédéric Chopin
Vingt-Quatre
Préludes et Fugues
(Le
Clavier bien tenpéré. Livre I)
Annoté par
Frédéric Chopin
Commentaire de Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger
Paris, 2010. Format:
oblong, 4° (29 x 21 cm), lxxii, 110 pp. Full-color reproduction of
the Richault edition (pl. nos. 1169.R & 1168.R) with Chopin's
performing annotations.
$111
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| Chopin's relation
to the cult of Johann Sebastian Bach forms an important and compelling
chapter in the history of music—one that awaits more detailed work in
the light of new sources and studies. How did the Polish master, who
lived during a decisive period in the development of Bach scholarship,
view the Leipzig Cantor at various stages in his life? What did
he know of this music, and under what circumstances did he get to know
it? Which works did he play or hear in performance?
In his triple activity as composer, performer, and teacher, Chopin
constantly tunrned to Bach as a supreme point of reference. The
Well-Tempered Clavier is said to be the only score he took with him to
Majorca in the winter of 1838-39, at the time he was completing his 24
Preludes op.28—in other words, at the heart of his career as a
composer. The influence of Bach on Chopin's compositional style is
indeed a powerful one. It can be detected at various levels
throughout his works, from the youthful Sonata op.4 to the late, stark
Sonata op.65 for cello. The essentially linear conception that
predominates in his development of musical ideas—the logical, elegant
voice leading—appears to stem from an intimate connection with the work
of J.S. Bach.
Until now the important role played by the Well- Tempered Clavier in
Chopin's teaching has been known on the basis of literary sources. The
document published here for the first time confirms it with living
proof of a different kind, a live record, so to speak, of his teaching.
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| This precious score,
held in a private collection, emanates directly from Pauline Chazaren,
a pupil of Chopin and teacher of Cosima Liszt. The score was
probablly purchased in Lyons around 1843 prior to Pauline's Parisian
sojourn and was brought or sent to Paris, where it was used in the
lessons with Chopin. The score shows no trace of interventions
that could be ascribed to Pauline or anyone else.
Leafing through the pages of this copy of the Well- Tempered Clavier I,
one cannot fail to be struck by the neatness with which the signs and
words indicating tempo, metronome marks, phrasing, articulation,
dynamics, left-hand octaves, and so on, have been notated. All of
Czerny's indications (probably taken from the 1843 Veuve Launer
edition), save fingerings, have been copied out by Chopin. The
systematic copying stops after Prelude 7, as do the sporadic
indications in ink.
The comment made by Georges Mathias in 1897, a professional pupil of
Chopin, sheds light on Chopin's interpretation of the masters: "Chopin,
exécutant de génie, interprétait Mozart,
Beethoven, avec le sentiment de Chopin, et c'était très
beau, c'était sublime. Il n'était pas de la
catégorie des exécutantes critiques, historiques" /
"Chopin, a genius of a performer, played Mozart and Beethoven in the
spirit of Chopin, and it was very beautiful, indeed sublime. He was no
critical, historical performer"). Commentary in
Fr/Eng/Pol. Hardbound. (text adapted from J.J. Eigeldinger)
(see
listing of other Chopin works) |
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distributed
by:
OMI - Old Manuscripts & Incunabula PO
Box 6019 FDR Station, New York NY 10150 tel 212/ 758-1946 • fax 212/ 593-6186
• http://www.omifacsimiles.com • immels@earthlink.net
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