Chopin. (Piano Works.) With the authentic fingering and phrasing
of Vladimir de Pachmann. Transcribed and with notes by
Marguerite de Pachmann-Labori.
London: Augener, 1934, 1935, 1937.
Works included:
Ballade Op.23 in g minor
Ballade Op.47 in A flat
Berceuse Op.57
Etudes Op.10/1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12
Etudes Op.25/1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11
Fantasie-Impromptu Op.66
Impromptu Op.36 in F#
Nocturnes Op.27/1 in c# minor, Op.27/2 in Db, Op.37/1 in g minor, Op.55/1 in F minor
Polonaise op.53 in Ab
Valses Op.34/1 in A flat (brillante), Op.64/2 in c# minor
Introductory Note:
NOTE
THOSE who have heard Vladimir de Pachmann play will remember
how even in public he used with innocent pride to speak of his fingering,
and the solutions of difficult problems which it represented.
All pianists, of course, attach great importance to fingering,
but with Pachmann it was the essence of his method—that
method which he described as his life's work.
He never wearied in his search for the fingering that would enable
the hands always to retain the position which he, like Chopin,
considered so desirable—the
position in which they appear to glide over the keyboard and are,
at the same time, capable of articulating perfectly the individual notes,
rendering each one as clear as crystal, or, in quick passages,
showering them like pearls.
Pachmann's choice of fingering depended often upon the quality of the tone
he desired to produce.
This should be remembered if, at times, his fingering appears difficult
and even awkward.
No one has ever been able to dispute the beauty of Pachmann's touch.
His fingering once mastered, the most intricate passages will be exempt
from any blur or unevenness,
and the hands will retain the position in which they seem to move effortlessly,
with never a jerk or twist.
In this way a perfect legato is attained.
Let us remember how highly Chopin prized an easy position and smooth motion
of the hands.
* * * * * * * *
This Edition is published to give the public, at last,
Pachmann's fingering and phrasing of Chopin's works.
During his lifetime he guarded jealously for himself what was the result
of years of experiment and ingenious art.
As he wrote in a letter dated August 11th, 1931, he had
"communicated it to one person, and one only."*
But in that same letter he expressed satisfaction at the idea
that eventually others should benefit by his method.
I possess all the music Pachmann left, fingered and annotated by himself;
and also my own copies,
likewise fingered and annotated by him at the time when I was his pupil.
The present edition reproduces the fingering and phrasing of those copies.
Sometimes he would leave no note unfingered,
and would insert every comma or breath-mark punctuating the phrases.
MARGUERITE DE PACHMANN-LABORI.
* [The writer of these lines]