Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner What is the correct way to play Bach, musicaly?

Either you don't know who Friederike Streicher-Müller was or...hmm, donno. As for the OK folks - delusions of grandeur?

If you're serious, please tell us where that reference has anything related to what we're talking about, or what you said, or in fact, anything relevant at all, whatsoever.

Otherwise, we have to assume you're skrewing with us, as you have sometimes been known to do....

skrewing?? You really don't know who Friederike Streicher-Müller is do you? May I suggest an opportune Google?

I too have been told something of this sort about Chopin. Cannot give a written reference, it was in conversation.

As far as I know Chopin didn't publish a method book with a teachers copy. As with everything at the high levels of artistic traditions, the most important ideas are passed personally from master to pupil.

Right. As I said, I think that using no pedal should be the starting point, for the reason I stated - but I didn't mean to imply it was also the end point (although it very well could be, too). I have heard plenty of good performances of Bach on piano where the pianist used pedal.

@Mark C Not being able to verify someone's facts, is not the same as that person lying. I don't think we have to ignore what Keyboardklutz said at all.

You kind of DO have to when the link isn't at all supportive of the issue at hand. I know who the person to whom klutz is referring is, but that really means nothing in regard to the topic at hand.

Those in the know in the Chopin world are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for publication of these letters. Shame that to some(one?) that just translates as 'skrewing with us'.

If you don't want to know what's in sought after unpublished letters re: Chopin by one of his top pupils that's your business - others may have an interest.

Enquiring minds want to know!

On his punctuality, contrary to other sources, she said it was poor - sometimes not turning up at all. At other times he sat in an adjacent room working while she played. He didn't allow much, if any, limb movement and on pedaling, as I've said, disallowed it till the fingers knew what they were doing. That's all I remember for now - hopefully some of them'll be published soon.

Klutz, methinks you do enjoy winding people up... This does sound very fascinating. Do I take it that you were at the EPTA conference?

You mean bach-pedaling?

Of course I'm interested in the letters, but that's not the point here. Someone asked you for evidence backing up your statement, but you've not given any...unless, of course, you've read aforementioned letters and found something we're unaware of.

Yes, and as such you could say I've read extracts from the letters (from a projector screen along with everybody else there).

Right -- but usually things like that were put in writing somewhere by somebody. There's a book (by a guy named Eigeldinger) that focuses on what his students said about his teaching, and many other sources that talk quite a bit about it, and those serve as the main references about this. Our fellow here gave a reference that supposedly had stuff about what he said -- but it doesn't.

If it's nowhere except what some of us 'heard somewhere,' it's probably not true, especially since it makes very little sense as a blanket rule. (Really I would say "none," but I'm trying to be kind.)


He backed it up with something that supposedly bore out what he said, but actually doesn't say anything about it. BTW I didn't say he was lying, I just think he was wrong and he's reluctant to say that he might be.

Clearly the reference was to the speaker at the conference who is a descendant of the Streicher family. Friedericke Mueller-Streicher was a student of Chopin and is cited as such by many references, including Eigeldinger. Apparently a large number of her letters describing lessons with Chopin have been found, and, presumably, said speaker shared some excerpts with the audience. Excerpts of which were shared here by Kbk and in his trademark style.
So it is a bit disingenuous to claim that the weblink has absolutely no relationship to what he said. On the other hand, there are no quotes from said letters there (or anywhere else). I suppose we will have to wait and see what gets published.. I would not necessarily extrapolate and radically pronounce him "wrong" AND reluctant to admit it!!!

Sorry, but that part is plainly wrong, and obviously I disagree with much of the rest too. I assumed he did mean that the link had something about what we were talking about, esp. since he said 'see page 2.' "Disingenuous" means I realized there wouldn't necessarily be anything about it there and I'm just being rhetorical or something like that; in fact I genuinely feel what I said -- and I think you must have missed something or else you wouldn't doubt it: I assumed it so much that, as I mentioned, I even looked carefully through the other pages to see if maybe the page numbers were showing up differently for me than for him, or maybe he made a mistake about which page it was.

When someone wonders about backup for a specific point, and the other person gives a link and points you to a certain page......well, I'm very surprised you think what you said.

There's no talking sense to some people. Here's my original reply:
UNPUBLISHED! In fact Mrs Steicher's talk was the first time they'd been presented to the public. Quite exciting in my book!

That can be seen either as an argument that the hands are not of paramount importance, or an argument that piano music should be performed without any use of the hands. If the former, then it is exactly the point that landorrano already made in the first place, and no explanation of anything is necessary since nobody disagreed even if they claimed to. If the latter... well, Hofmann's nose must have been pretty sore most of the time.