Sophia Fang Ying Lai Masters Research Proposal ID: 936611

Sophia Fang Ying Lai : Masters in Performance Research Proposal

University of Melbourne

September 2018

A Performer’s Pedagogical Approach to Recent Editions of Chopin’s Ballades

Introduction and Research Aims

The music of Frédéric Chopin has always been a great source of fascination for me as

a classically trained pianist. As a performer teacher it has been a continuous learning journey

to convincingly capture the essence of Chopin’s playing. The Ballades by Chopin in

particular, with their unique narrative structure has captured my interest as a performer

teacher for many years. This, along with the many varying discrepancies between Chopin

editions of his works has inspired this research proposal.

For this research project I am interested in undertaking a pedagogical analysis and

comparison between current scholarly and performance editions of Chopin’s Ballades. This

project will reflect recent research in Chopin’s teaching and contribute to piano pedagogy

through recommendations of interpretive decisions in Chopin’s style.

The performance recital will be framed around the four Ballades of Chopin as well as

complemented with repertoire composed in the ballad form from 19th century Romantic piano

repertoire.

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 Sophia Fang Ying Lai Masters Research Proposal ID: 936611

Initial research questions

What are the specific differences and discrepancies between recent scholarly and

performance editions of Chopin’s Ballades?

How can these be used to develop informed performance suggestions for use in music

pedagogy and teaching?

How can I articulate and develop a creative performance of the ballads based on

recent scholarly research on the performance practices of Chopin?

Literature Review

There is a vast amount of literature on the music of Chopin and his works. However,

specific literature regarding Chopin editions is scarce in comparison. This literature review

will briefly summarise relevant key dissertations, articles, books and Internet sources.

I. Dissertations

One of the most informative dissertations is written by Jeanne Holland, titled

“Chopin’s Teaching and his Students” (1972).1 There is detailed information about Chopin as

a teacher and pianist but offers little on the different editions as well as pedagogical

suggestions for Chopin’s Ballades.

A dissertation by Libby Yu, “Harmonic Structure and Performance in Some Passages

of Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F minor” (2010) is relevant as there are useful insights into the

discrepancies of the editions for all the ballades. There is also informed performance

suggestions regarding touch, rubato, textural variety, articulation and pedalling.2

1
Jeanne Holland 1972
2
Libby Yu 2010: 24

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 Sophia Fang Ying Lai Masters Research Proposal ID: 936611

Charise Hastings dissertation “The performer's role: Storytelling in Ballades of

Chopin and Brahms” (2006)3 directly analyses different performance editions of both the

Ballades of Chopin and Brahms and contributes a perspective into piano pedagogy.

Thomas Higgins dissertation “Chopin Interpretation: A Study of Performance

Directions in Selected Autographs and Other Sources” (1966)4 although dated, provides

useful musical analysis of Chopin’s notational practices and performance styles. There is

specific reference to the Preludes, Op. 28, selected Ballades and Scherzi.

II. Articles

There are about sixteen articles that are relevant to this research and they discuss

Chopin’s Ballades, editions, teaching and piano playing style.

Four of the most informative articles were “Chopin’s Ballades and the Dialectic:

Analysis in Historical Perspective by John Rink,5 “Ambiguity in the Themes of Chopin's

First, Second, and Fourth Ballades” by William Rothstein,6 “Chopin's Fourth Ballade as

Musical Narrative” by Michael Klein7 and “Frédéric Chopin as Teacher” by Elena

Letnanova.8 These articles contain clear musical and performance analysis of the Ballades as

well as reference to how Chopin editions have evolved over time. The majority of the other

articles generally focussed on performance practice and how to play Chopin’s music sense

with emphasis on fingering, rubato and ornamentation. Or they dealt with theoretical analysis

such as prolongation, motivic unity and Schenkerian analysis.

3
Charise Hastings 2006
4
Thomas Higgins 1966
5
John Rink 1994
6
William Rothstein 1994
7
Michael Klein 2004
8
Elena Letnanova 1998

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 Sophia Fang Ying Lai Masters Research Proposal ID: 936611

III. Books

There are many books published about Chopin which cover biographical information,

history of his works and editions, letters as well Chopin’s musical style, teaching and

performance practice.

Several books are directly related to this research topic. The three most useful books

about Chopin’s Ballades and editions include those by Parakilas, Samson and Witten.

James Parakilas’s book, “Ballads Without Words” (1992)9 provides detailed

discussions of the Ballades as well as editions. Samson’s “Chopin: the Four Ballades”10

discusses narrative and genre in-depth as well as performance practices.

In the chapter entitled “The Coda Wagging the Dog: The Chopin Ballades,” David

Witten identifies certain definitive characteristics of Chopin’s ‘Ballade style’.11

Two additional books related to this research discuss Chopin’s pianism and teaching

which are by Eigeldinger and Ekier.

Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger’s book, Chopin: Pianist and Teacher as Seen by His Pupils

(1986)12 is a book of huge importance for any Chopin performer or researcher as it contains

detailed information on Chopin’s teaching methods and playing style of many of his major

works including the Ballades. Chopin’s unpublished method book Sketch for a Method, the

first complete English translation is also included.

Jan Ekier’s Introduction to the Polish National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk

Chopin, (1974)13 provides detailed insight into Chopin’s compositional process and editions.

9
James Parakilas 1992
10
James Samson 1996
11
David Witten 1997
12
Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger 1986
13
Jan Ekier 1974

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Ekier is the editor of the current National edition of Chopin’s works which is widely regarded

as one of the most recent and authoritative editions.

IV. Internet Sources

The two most useful websites to this topic are Chopin’s First Editions Online14 and

The Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw15. The Chopin’s First Editions Online website is

supervised by Cambridge University Professor, John Rink of St. John’s College. The site

provides online scores of Chopin’s first editions and includes historical background

information on the publications. The Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw is a scholarly site

supervised by the Chopin scholars, Zbigniew Skowron, Zofia Chechlińska and Hanna

Wróblewska-Straus. This site provides primary and archival research, catalogues and

document scans. There are also scholarly articles on the Chopin biography, editions, teaching

and piano playing.

Methodology and Provisional Outline

For this proposed research-based Masters in Performance I intend to proceed with an

analysis of selected scholarly editions of the Chopin Ballades which will culminate in a thesis

and live public recital of 70 minutes of repertoire. The bulk of the research will take the form

of a detailed literature review relating to Chopin’s Ballades, significant

scholarly/performance editions, performance practices, and style. These will be used to

establish informed musical suggestions for performance practice and pedagogy.

The research thesis will be predicted to divide into five chapters. Chapter One will

include an overview of the project, methodology and literature review. Chapter Two will

14
James Rink 2005
15
Zofia Chechlińska

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focus on the fundamental performance practices of Chopin and his ideas on pianism and

teaching. Chapter Three will address the different editions of Chopin. This will include key

editions relevant to present day; National, Henle, Schirmer, Alfred as well as Padarewski and

Cortot. Selected Ballades from each edition will be compared and analysed and informed

suggestions on the suitability of editions for teaching will be provided. Chapter Four will

elaborate on pedagogical analysis of selected Ballades as well as address the technical and

musical challenges in the Ballades. There will also be mention of other significant works

composed in the Ballad genre which followed Chopin’s Ballades in 19th century Romantic

music. Chapter Five will present conclusions and ideas for future research.

Proposed Performance Repertoire

For the 70 minute recital I propose to perform the four Ballades of Chopin as a set;

Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op 38, Ballade No. 3 in Ab

Major, Op 47 and Ballade in F minor, Op. 52. Through this research my recital will portray a

variety of Chopin’s distinct piano playing style and informed stylistic decisions.

To complement the Chopin Ballades I propose the programming of the four Ballades

Op. 10 by Brahms which were composed after Chopin’s works. The four Ballades are No. 1

in D minor. No. 2 in D major, No. 3 in B minor and No. 4 in B major. Brahms Ballades

provide direct contrast to Chopin’s Ballades as they show a continuation of a narrative poetry

style which I believe will provide a well-rounded repertoire programme. The duration of both

works combined will result in seventy minutes of repertoire.

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 Sophia Fang Ying Lai Masters Research Proposal ID: 936611

Bibliography
Bońkowski, W. (2016). Editions of Chopin's works in the Nineteenth Century: Aspects of

reception history.

Bellman, J. (2009). Préludes , and: Balladen = Ballades , and: Ballades Op. 23, Op. 38, Op.

47, Op. 52 (review).

Eigeldinger, J. J. (1988). Chopin: pianist and teacher: as seen by his pupils. Cambridge

University Press.

Hastings, C. (2006). The Performer’s Role : Storytelling in ballades of Chopin and Brahms.

(Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from University of Michigan archive.

Higgins, T. (1966). Chopin Interpretation: A Study of Performance Directions in Selected

Autographs and Other Sources. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from University of Iowa

database.

Higgins, T. (1981). Chopin’s Practices. The Piano Quarterly 29, no. 113, 38-41.

Higgins, T. (1973). Tempo and Character in Chopin. The Musical Quarterly, 59(1), 106-120.

Holland, J. (1972). Chopin's teaching and his students. University of North Carolina.

Klein, M. (2004). Chopin's Fourth Ballade as Musical Narrative. Music Theory

Spectrum, 26(1), 23-56. doi:10.1525/mts.2004.26.1.23

Letnanova, E. (1998). Frédéric Chopin as Teacher. Clavier 37, no. 2, 7-10 and 49.

Magrath, J. (2010). “Chopin’s Teaching.” Clavier Companion 2, no. 3, 8-9.

Moon, Y. (2015). A Pedagogical Analysis of Chopin’s Waltzes, Op. 64 & Op. 69. (Doctoral

dissertation). Retrieved from University of Georgia database.

Rink, J. (1994). Chopin's Ballades and the Dialectic: Analysis in Historical Perspective.

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Rothstein, W. (1994). Ambiguity in the Themes of Chopin's First, Second, and Fourth

Ballades. Intégral, 8, 1-50. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40213955

Samson, J. (Ed.). (1994). The Cambridge Companion to Chopin. Cambridge

University Press.

Samson, J. (1996). Chopin. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Witten, D. (1997). The Coda Wagging the Dog: Tails and Wedges in the Chopin

Ballades. Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: Essays in Performance and Analysis,

117-86.

Yu, L. (2010). Harmonic Structure and Performance in Passages of Chopin’s Ballade No. 4

in F minor. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from University of British Columbia

database.

Editions and Sources

Brown, M. J. E. (1972). Chopin: an index of his works in chronological order. Macmillan.

Chopin, Frederic. (1986). Balladen. Wien: Wiener Urtext Edition, edited by Jan Ekier.

Chopin, Frederic. (1976). Balladen. Munich: G. Henle Verlag, edited by Ewald

Zimmermann.

Chopin, Frederic. (1991). Complete works, [Vol. III]: Ballades. Twenty-Third Edition,

Warsaw: Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, edited by Ignaz Paderewski.

Chechlińska, Zofia. “The Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw.”

http://www.chopin.pl/edycja_1999_2009/spis_tresci/index_en.html#homepage.

Accessed September 23, 2018.

Ekier, Jan. (1972). Introduction to the Polish National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk

Chopin. Warsaw: Fryderyk Chopin Polish Music Publishing.

Grabowski, Christophe, and Rink. (2010). Annotated Catalogue of Chopin’s First Editions.

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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Michalowski, K., & Samson, J. (2001). Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek. The New Grove

Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5, 706-725.

Paderewski, J. (1911) Chopin: A Discourse. Translated by Laurence Alma Tadema.

London:Adlington.

Rink, J. (Ed.). (2002). Musical performance: A guide to understanding. Cambridge

University Press.

Rink, J. (2005). “CFEO Chopin’s First Editions Online.” http://www.cfeo.org.uk. Accessed

September 24, 2018.