Chopin: Étude Op. 10 No. 4 [Horowitz 1973]

Описание: February 8 or 15, 1973: CBS 30th Street Studio, New York City, New York (Studio)

Selected Chopin Études:    • Selected Chopin Études (Horowitz)  
Horowitz plays Chopin:    • Horowitz plays Chopin  

The Études by Frédéric Chopin are three sets of études (solo studies) for the piano published during the 1830s. There are twenty-seven compositions overall, comprising two separate collections of twelve, numbered Op. 10 and Op. 25, and a set of three without opus number. Chopin's Études not only presented an entirely new set of technical challenges but were the first to become a regular part of the concert repertoire. His études combine musical substance and technical challenges to form a complete artistic form.

The first set of Études was published in 1833. Chopin was twenty-three years old and already famous as a composer and pianist in the salons of Paris, where he made the acquaintance of Franz Liszt. Subsequently, Chopin dedicated the entire opus to him – "à mon ami Franz Liszt" (to my friend, Franz Liszt). They rank alongside the early works of Felix Mendelssohn as rare examples of extremely youthful compositions that are regarded as both innovative and worthy of inclusion in the standard canon.

No. 4 in c-sharp minor, known as the Torrent étude, features continuous semiquavers, in perpetuum mobile fashion involving both hands. The entire piece is based on the same semiquaver motif, which springs from its opening strong sforzato accent to rapidly increase its volume and compass until ending abruptly on a strong sforzato climax. Chopin scholar Robert Collet remarks that the procedure of transferring the semiquaver figuration from one hand to the other, common in Bach but rare in Chopin, "makes great demands on the left hand." Chopin [in other works] rarely treats the left hand "as if it were a second right hand."

Horowitz brought out the urgency of this piece through a very clear tone and maniacal dynamic contrast that takes place in little pedaling, which is match with what Robert described as "has more than a hint of something elemental, demoniacal and even sinister" about the study. What is worth noting in his performance of this piece is the special tempo that appears only in Chopin's pieces. Horowitz has been reluctant to play Chopin's pieces as if racing (as many pianists today do), and the same is true for this piece. This is not related to Horowitz's aging. Even in the recording of this piece from the 1930s, when Rachmaninoff #3 was played at an astounding pace, his tempo of this piece is not fast, but rather slower than this 1973 performance. This shows his unwavering philosophy on the interpretation of Chopin's pieces, and it actually sounds more lively in a relatively slow-tempo performance with clear tonal expressions.