Fantaisie Impromptu

By Fryderyk Chopin
Katie Frye Professor Katherine Preston Piano in the Nineteenth Century MUSC 150W 11/25/2008

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Fryderyk (Frdric) Franciszek Chopin (1810-1849) is known as one of Polands most celebrated composers and virtuosi, as well as a huge contributor to the music of the Romantic period. One of Chopins most famous solo piano pieces is Fantaisie Impromptu or Impromptu no. 4. Chopin was completely responsible for the creation of the piece, but each performer brings his or her own ingenuity to the work in each performance; it is as if the piece is recreated each time. Because each performer interprets a piece differently to some extent, we can better comprehend and appreciate a work by comparing different performances, as I did with three recordings of Fantaisie Impromptu: by Abdel Rahma El Bacha (1 Jan. 1998), Garrick Ohlsson (25 Aug. 1993), and Pavlos Hatzopoulos (2003).

Chopin was born near Warsaw and died in Paris. Although he only lived for thirty-nine years, he created over one hundred fifty musical works. In Warsaw, Chopin studied under Adalbert ywny (17561842) and at the High School of Music with Jzef Elsner (17691854).1 He started his professional career by playing for prominent aristocratic households in Warsaw until his move to Paris in 1831. This move marked the first of two changes in Chopins musical style, for his compositions began to have a more mature sound. He began to pay more attention to detail, especially regarding melody and rhythm.2 In Paris Chopin became a part of a famous inner circle of illustrious artists such as Franz Liszt, Eugene Delacroix, and George Sand.

Jim Samson. Chopin, Fryderyk. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Earl Gregg Swem Library. (Accessed 2 Nov. 2008.) Keyword: Chopin.

Gerald Abraham. Chopin's Musical Style. (Oxford: University Press, 1939), p. 44.

Frye 2 Chopin came to his renowned status as a performer and skilled improviser by his performances in drawing-rooms. He always felt a bit disdainful of public concerts and his continually deteriorating health did not help to change that opinion. Chopin was known for his delicate piano playing; according to witnesses he would play an infinite number of fractions of piano dynamics, created with a combination of light fingers and careful pedaling. His soft touch was partly due to his personal discretion and partially because of his weakness caused by tuberculosis. Whether out of necessity or preference, Chopin demonstrated a partiality to small dynamic nuances in his many piano compositions. Unlike the famous works of his contemporary Robert Schumann, Chopins pieces do not have extra-musical meaning. Scholars agree that form was never Chopins strong point in his compositions. He preferred simplistic forms such as binary and ternary. Although, there is nothing wrong with using a simple form, many of his contemporaries chose to make the forms of their pieces much more complex and intricate. What he lacked in form, however, he more than made up for in his harmonies and rhythm. He also was a master at improvisation. A. J. Hipkins, the established Chopin-player of England, heard Chopin at Broadwoods in 1848. He later wrote, Chopin never played his own compositions twice alike, but varied each according to the mood of the moment, a mood that charmed by its very waywardness.3 He overcame his weakness of sound by playing in small Parisian salons. In doing so, he developed techniques such as rubato (letting the tempo of the piece vary fluidly), innovative pedal effects, and his infinite degrees of shading. 4

Quoted in Abraham, 52. Harold C. Schonberg. The Great Pianists. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987), p. 152.

Frye 3 Chopin developed his own unique style of composition, including dissonance and unexpected harmonies. With this new style he impressed his audiences and fellow artists. Liszt wrote that he was one of those original beings adrift from all bondage, emphasizing how Chopin failed to fall slave to established chord progressions and accepted tonal structures. 5 One illustration of such freedom is Chopins Prelude op. 28. The melody is simple and the chord progression makes little sense, but it is haunting and the beautiful harmony works with the piece as it descends chromatically, one note at a time. Fantaisie Impromptu is an excellent example of his work as a mature composer. It was written in 1834 after his move to Paris in 1831. It was published posthumously in a collection by his friend Julian Fontana in 1855. This collection included op. 66-70. This work is structurally simple; its form is ternary (although there have been some cases made for binary). It is the cantabile melody of the B section contrasting with the frenzied chaos of the A section that gives this piece its appeal. The melody of Fantaisie Impromptu is predominantly diatonic. The harmony was most likely inspired by improvisation and is full of chromatic scales. The piece begins with two full measures and the first eighth-note of a third (marked sforzando) of a double octave of G-sharps in the bass followed by a double octave of C-sharps. This dominant-to-tonic introduction resonates before the piece continues on to four measures of C-sharp minor arpeggios in the left hand (marked Allegro agitato). These four opening measures are followed by the first of three subsections of the A section, the introductory melody played to the same C-sharp minor arpeggiated pattern in the left hand.

Quoted in Schonberg, p. 145.

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The A section has its own ternary form within the ternary form of the whole piece. The b section of the A section starts a different melody comprised in the (relative major of E-sharp) of broken double octave intervals in the right hand, all the while being backed by a solid harmony of arpeggiated chords in the left hand. The "a" subset of the A section repeats with a variation at the end, followed by cascading notes of the chromatic scale. The B section is calmer (marked Moderato cantabile) with the key changing to the parallel major (C-sharp Major), which works tonally in the context of the piece. Chopin does something a bit different by spelling it enharmonically, however, having the major mode be written in D-flat Major. I enjoy this section specifically because it feels as if the meter is changing when it is not really. The left hand arpeggios, initially dividing the measures into duple meter (consisting of two sextuplets per measure), switches to four emphasized beats instead of two (the left hand consisting of four groups of three eighth-notes).

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The B theme is also repeated with minor changes. This section is punctuated with trills, grace notes, and dotted-eighth and sixteenth-note combinations, decorating to the original melody. Chopin plays with the theme in the B section, most probably from successful improvisations. Eventually, the piece returns to the A section which is repeated in its entirety in the original C-sharp minor mode. Chopin finishes this section with an Agitato development for ten measures and a reappearance of a truncated version of the B section. This version is different from the original B section because the melody is now in the left hand and the arpeggiated harmony is in the right hand. The piece gently ends with pianissimo chords that are quite the opposite of those heard at the very beginning. The last chord is a C-sharp Major chord. In order to compare of different styles of playing Chopin, I listened to and analyzed three different recordings of Fantaisie Impromptu. The performances I chose are by Abdel Rahma El Bacha (1 Jan. 1998), Garrick Ohlsson (25 Aug. 1993), and Pavlos Hatzopoulos (2003). Abdel Rahma El Bachas performance was methodic and upbeat. El Bacha artfully plays through the piece without making the listener feel that the music is dragging. He also allows the quick succession of notes to fly, making it difficult to distinguish one note from another but giving the piece the element of chaos it needs. The performance begins without a huge difference in the dynamics between the introduction of the piece and the start of the A section. El Bacha emphasizes the high C in the B section like in m. 60 (the highest pitch of the entire section). This emphasis on the C contrasts with the lulling fluid melody of the section and grabs the listeners attention. El Bacha plays this section quickly. He slows down the tempo of the two Largo measures between sections A and B

Frye 6 considerably and picks it back up as the B section begins.6 He plays the articulation of the trills and grace notes smoothly and in a way that coincides nicely with the main melody of the right hand. El Bacha plays the Cantabile (B) section in such a way that the melody sings. The repeat of the A section is a culmination of the last two sections; the Cantabile section seems to move the listener along to get to Allegro again. Also, El Bacha played it louder than the previous section. The Allegro agitato has a circular feel between the dynamic patterns of soft and loud and the corresponding rubato of the tempo. The performer does a wonderful job, allowing the repeat of the A section to give the piece its climax. The ten measures of agitato before the second appearance of the B theme are reminiscent of brooding after an angry fight. As the music is marked poco a poco pi tranquillo and the second B theme is revealed, the music becomes softer and the left hand plays the melody.

Frederyk Chopin. Chopin Impromptus for the Piano. Fantaisie- Impromptu IV. Rafael Josseffy, ed. Vol. 1039. (New York: G. Schirmer, 1936), m.40-41.

Frye 7 The piece ends with a beautiful, mellow, and satisfying block C-sharp Major chord at end. Garrick Ohlssons plays with a big variety of dynamics throughout his performance of the piece. It is very fluid and expressive. He plays the first three measures very slowly, pausing between the G and C-sharp octaves, and begins to accelerando in the third measure after the first note. Although this interpretation gives the introduction a languid feel, the music sounds murky. As Ohlsson plays the "a" subset of the A section (Allegro agitato), the fast notes seem light and quick. He constantly increases the tempo rather than maintaining a quick and steady one. Ohlsson plays the trills in the B section so lightly, they are almost inaudible. He also applies a generous amount of ritardando towards the end of each phrase and takes liberties with the tempo at this point, changing it as the phrase progresses, giving it the feel of triplets (such as the last four eighth-notes in the right hand at m. 43). He plays heavily on the left hand in the B section and the melody does not sing. Ohlsson plays to the phrase in such a way that there is a short silent pause between the cadence of the first phrase and the beginning of the next, creating a lovely silence. As he plays the A section again, he continually speeds the tempo, giving this section a frenzied sound. The melody of the return A section is muddled with the harmony until you can no longer hear it. Because of a lack of contrast in the tempos of the A section, Ohlsson does not achieve a climatic effect as he nears the end of the piece. He plays the truncated version of the B theme very quietly. He plays so quietly that the listener can hardly hear the last chord.

Frye 8 Pavlos Hatzopoulos performance is crisp and Hatzopoulos takes a quick tempo. I believe the crispness is due to a more conservative approach to using the damper pedal. Much of the excitement that Fantaisie Impromptu exudes was lost by its dragging tempos and stiff technical articulations. Hatzopoulos does not do much to change the tempo throughout the A section. That makes it easy to hear the beat in left hand. By listening to the volume of left hand notes, you can tell that the pedal is being played sporadically. Hatzopoulos uses a rather long time span to play the two Largo measures before the B section. The tempo changes a little as he progresses to the B section and he does a good job bringing out the melody, although he plays it very slowly. A quieter approach might have been more effective in this section. The trills and other articulations sound deliberate but not quite in synch with the melody. Hatzopoulos does not change the dynamics significantly as he transitions from the end of the B section and the beginning of the repeat A section. In the b subset of the A sections, Hatzopoulos emphasizes the bottom note of the double octave melody played in the right hand. These sections are not played as fast as they should be, leaving the mood a little lackluster. He did not play the left hand melody in the truncated B section loudly enough to stand out from the harmony in the right hand. Hatzopoulos plays the last chord arpeggiated. Although the concluding cadence sounds more final as a block chord, it is actually notated as a broken chord.7

Chopin Impromptus for the Piano.

Frye 9 I preferred El Bachas performance because it is quicker than the other two and keeps the piece going at a nice pace. He actually plays the B section rather quickly in comparison to the other two performances. The end of the second A section has a climax feel that the Ohlsson and Hatzopoulos recordings do not quite achieve. Ohlssons performance is characterized by more of a dramatic pause between the double octaves in the introductory measures than in the El Bacha recording. He also plays the A section at a faster speed than El Bacha. Ohlsson plays the trills in the B section much lighter than the other two performers. He also plays with more dynamics variation in that section and uses more ritardando towards the end of each phrase. El Bacha and Hatzopoulos carry a steadier tempo throughout the B Section and are more skilled at making the melody in the right hand stand out from the left hands harmony than Ohlsson. Ohlsson does not emphasize the high C in the B section as much as El Bacha. I do not feel that Ohlsson achieves the same climatic effect as El Bacha, perhaps due to a lack of contrast in the tempos of the A sections. He plays the repeat of the B theme much quieter. Ohlssons interpretation of the Fantaisie Impromptu seems truer to Chopins original intention than that of El Bacha or Hatzopoulos. Although Chopin was known to change his performances of the same piece, he was very famous for his rubato. Ohlsson plays with much bigger variety of dynamics throughout the piece. Hatzopoulos takes a quicker tempo than El Bacha and Ohlsson in his performance. Also, the scarce pedal work takes away from the cascading sound achieved by the other two performers. He does not use the pedal nearly as much as the other two performers. Hatzopoulos takes much longer playing the two Largo measures before the B section, making the piece drag. Hatzopoulos brings out the melody in this section, although he plays it very slowly compared to the El Bacha and Ohlsson performances. The way in which Hatzopoulos plays the trills and

Frye 10 other decorative articulations with less fluidity than the other performers. Hatzopoulos is the only performer of the three who plays the last chord arpeggiated. This was my least favorite of the recordings I studied. The three recordings by El Bacha, Ohlsson, and Hatzopoulos illustrate three different interpretations of the same piece. Although Chopin notated exactly how he wanted his Fantaisie Impromptu to be played, he still left room for discrepancies. After all, if Chopin himself was not entirely consistent, why should anyone else have to be? Each performer played it a little differently, but they all represented an appreciation for classical music around the turn of the twenty-first century.

Frye 11 Additional Sources Consulted Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek. Fantasy-Impromptu (Impromptu no. 4). Perf. El Bacha, Abdel Rahma. Rec. 1 Jan. 1998. Forlane CI. Ivan Pastor. MP3. Classical Music Library. Earl Gregg Swem Library. (Accessed 6 Nov. 2008.) Keyword: Fantasy Impromptu.

Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek. Fantasy-Impromptu (Impromptu no. 4). Perf. Hatzopoulos, Pavlos. Hnssler. Rec. 2003. MP3. Classical Music Library. Earl Gregg Swem Library. (Accessed 6 Nov. 2008.) Keyword: Fantasy Impromptu.

Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek. Fantasy-Impromptu (Impromptu no. 4). Perf. Ohlsson, Garrick. Arabesque. Rec. 25 Aug. 1993. Adam Abeshouse. MP3. Classical Music Library. Earl Gregg Swem Library. (Accessed 6 Nov. 2008.) Keyword: Fantasy Impromptu. Drabkin, William. Diatonic. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Earl Gregg Swem Library. (Accessed 21 Nov. 2008.) Keyword: Diatonic.

Gide, Andr. Notes on Chopin. New York, NY: Philosophical Library Inc., 1949.

Jonson, George C. A Handbook to Chopin's Works: For the Use of Concert-Goers, Pianists and Pianola-Players. Boston: Ayer Company, Incorporated, 1977. p.184

Loesser, Arthur. Men, Women and Pianos: A Social History. Minneapolis: Dover Publications, Incorporated, 1991.

Melville, Derek. Chopin: A Biography, with a Survey of Books, Editions, and Recordings. London: Clive Bingley, 1977.

Parakilas, James. Piano Roles: A New History of the Piano. New Haven: Yale Nota Bene, 2002.

Frye 12 Samson, Jim. The Music of Chopin. New York: Routledge, 1985.