NOTATIO

Yes, the normal conversational level, Harpsichordmaker. But as I mentioned, I am always torn between mp and mf. I usually go with mf, but it bothers me because I decide against mp since there is a connotation of soft about mp; why then is mf any better, since one would think that there is connotation of loud about mf? But perhaps that is not the case for most musicians, who have come to accept mf as the medium dynamic.

I continued to look through a lot of Chopin's pieces and so far have found only one mf, the first measure of the first prelude in op. 28. However, I found many pieces that start with no dynamic level like the Impromptu no. 1 shown above. In some cases an initial verbal indication like dolce substitutes. In other cases, there is nothing. Based on this limited evidence, it would seem that he did make a distinction between am initial mf and no dynamic marking at all. What that distinction is is open to debate.

His contemporary Schumann, on the other hand, uses mf in the modern manner, and often. Brahms, also.

I, too, have often found myself troubled by the binary proposition of mp vs. mf. It's like you're forced to pick a side.

There we go!. You said in a few words what I have been trying to articulate in too many. Thanks, Wescott!