Composers vs Engravers: Stems and Slurs part 6

[John Ruggero]

The following very unusual slurring occurs in Chopin's Etude op 25 no 11 ("Winter Wind"). The slurs that are starred do not start on a note but in a space. They seem to point to the first beat; yet they do not run to the bass note. While Chopin often doesn't start and end slurs exactly with the note heads, these slurs are clearly placed this way consciously and appear so on every similar occasion throughout the piece:

Chopin Winter Wind.jpg (49.15 KiB) Viewed 7154 times

This was somewhat faithfully engraved in the first German edition:

Chopin Winter Wind German.jpg (122.21 KiB) Viewed 7154 times

Chopin keenly felt that since the left hand motive actually starts on the first beat (see the intro.), with the right hand standing in for the missing first beat left hand chord, the slur should not start in the middle of the motive. This sensitivity is both impressive and enlightening.

The French first edition and every other that I am aware of, normalizes the slur to start on the second beat.

Chopin Winter Wind French.jpg (107.28 KiB) Viewed 7154 times

But this notation might have a negative effect on interpretation, one that I have heard frequently: the dotted rhythm is played heavily as a starting point rather than lightly in response to the missing first beat chord.

My instinct would be to engrave it like the first German edition, or actually start all the slurs from the left hand bass notes. But I wonder what Notat.io members would do.

[Christof Schardt]

The french edition shown in your post even slurs the descending bass line to the first beat, which I regard as simply wrong. I fully agree with your considerations.

[David Ward]

… …But this notation might have a negative effect on interpretation, one that I have heard frequently: the dotted rhythm is played heavily as a starting point rather than lightly in response to the missing first beat chord… …

Ha! I understand this at once and agree.

[Schonbergian]

I would either follow your interpretation or just outright slur from the first beat. Slurring from the second beat indeed makes less sense when put into context as you have done.

[John Ruggero]

Thanks everyone for for this validation. I will probably slur it somewhat like the German edition and try to make it look as acceptable as possible from the engraving point of view.

Christof's interesting point about the bass slur from the introduction is yet another slurring issue. In comparing the RH and LH slurs at this point, it would appear that the left hand slur leads on into the fast section. But given Chopin's inexactitude, this is not a certainty, thus the difference between the French and German interpretations. The bass progression is C-B-A, which one would think should be shown by the slur, since ending a slur on a passing note is not common. Another factor is the second fermata which Chopin places only on the melody note. Later editions place fermatas on the fourth beat bass note and chord. This I consider to be an editorial intrusion. Judging from what Chopin has written, it appears that he wants no stopping of motion into the next section but only a ritenuto. For this reason, I had decided to run the slur into the downbeat as in the French edition. If one feels, however, that Chopin did want a completely stop between the sections, as one often hears it, then ending the slur on the B is logical. This may be one of those matters that are impossible to determine definitively and must be left to the player's taste.