{"id":4954,"date":"2018-06-06T16:13:47","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T14:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.henle.de\/blog\/en\/?p=4954"},"modified":"2018-06-06T16:12:50","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T14:12:50","slug":"the-%e2%80%9cpicardy%e2%80%9d-major-third-in-chopin%e2%80%99s-incredibly-sad-c-sharp-minor-nocturne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/2018\/06\/06\/the-%e2%80%9cpicardy%e2%80%9d-major-third-in-chopin%e2%80%99s-incredibly-sad-c-sharp-minor-nocturne\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cPicardy\u201d major third in Chopin\u2019s incredibly sad c-sharp minor Nocturne"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>What a liberating, even redemptive impact that the unexpected major third closing a piece in the minor can have, is known above all to those of us who play and listen to Bach. To give just one example that everyone would know: The strictly and relentlessly advancing c-minor prelude from the first volume of the \u201cWell-Tempered Clavier\u201d bursts into bloom on the very last beat with a wonderful C-major triad. (Also, my favourite Bach prelude, the one in f-sharp minor, ending in F-sharp major, from the second volume.) \u201cPicardy\u201d is what Rousseau calls such a kind of replacement of the third at the end of a minor piece.<\/p>\n

In the post-Bach period, this powerful composer\u2019s \u201ctrick\u201d becomes ever rarer. Minor stays implacably minor (see, for example: Mozart\u2019s Piano Fantasia in c minor).\u00a0 Or, the Picardy third broadens out on a large scale to include the entire final movement of a symphony, occurring, for example, as is well known, in Beethoven\u2019s \u201cFate\u201d Symphony No. 5 in c minor: From the night to the light\u2026.<\/p>\n

In the case of Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin\u2019s piano music, the Picardy third is encountered occasionally, though by no means frequently. When, just a few days ago, I was asked to judge the piano playing of more than 100 children, along with piano professors Michael Sch\u00e4fer and Claudius Tanski, as part of our publishing-house\u2019s annual YouTube piano competition, a lively discussion suddenly got started about the right ending of the world-famous Nocturne in c-sharp minor, op. posth. (KK IVa No. 16). Many of the young artists had selected this piece from the annual mandatory volume \u201cAt the piano | Chopin\u201d<\/a>. This incredibly sad piece became \u201cworld-famous\u201d from the shattering movie \u201cThe Pianist\u201d<\/a> by Roman Polanski.<\/p>\n

Some children played the major third (with e sharp<\/em>) only at the very end (in the penultimate measure 61), in the somewhat dying-away light of the triple pianissimo. With great effect. Others played the major third already from measure 59 \u2013 also with good effect, but giving less the impression of \u201credemption\u201d. There, we in the jury were in agreement: The Picardy third only at the very end does give the stronger impact. But the e sharp<\/em> comes in the Henle edition already in measure 59. An error?<\/p>\n

Thanks to being immediately able to consult the Henle editorial staff and our comprehensive source collection, the already surmised music\/sources issue was quickly resolved. \u201cBoth\u201d versions are legitimate. In the Henle Urtext edition of all Chopin\u2019s Nocturnes<\/a>, both versions are therefore even published (nos. 20a \/ 20b), in the series \u201cAt the piano | Chopin\u201d, but only the version coming down to us from Chopin\u2019s sister Ludwika J\u0119drzejewicz. She writes e sharp<\/em> with the accidental \u266f already in measure 59, then not (!) in measure 60, but then again in measure 61:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ludwika\u2019s model was evidently Chopin\u2019s fair-copy autograph of the final, revised version. But just that is unfortunately lost. Ludwika is considered a reliable copyist (and has rendered her brother\u2019s unpublished estate an infinitely well-deserved service). In addition, another copyist, that is, Oskar Kolberg, copied Chopin\u2019s lost autograph. And in his copy the Picardy e sharp<\/em> comes only at the end. Implication: either the sister or Kolberg is wrong. So, 1:1. But Chopin had first of all drafted his c-sharp minor nocturne before making his fair copy, and this autograph draft has survived (and was published in 2003 in a beautiful facsimile by the Chopin and George Sand Museum on Majorca) \u2013 and there in the closing measure of this autograph clearly comes the # sign, ultimately more convincing to me and my jury colleagues:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Henle editor (Ewald Zimmermann) does not want to decide the issue (\u201cmust remain open\u201d) and simply prints both versions. Jan Ekier, in his edition for the Wiener Urtext (UT 50065), edits the \u266f only in measure 61 and comments on the earlier, sisterly major as \u201cpresumably a mistake since \u266f is missing in bar 60\u201d.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, the Henle YouTube jury was so touched by the very mature interpretation of nine-year-old Elina Baron that we unanimously awarded her the first prize in age group II. You certainly must hear the young artist with the c-sharp Nocturne; if you, dear readers, listen to the 4:30 minutes all the way to the end, then you will also know where Elina plays the immensely touching e sharp<\/em>:<\/p>\n