2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Chopin's organology: focusing on the relationship between four Ballades and Pleyel's instruments

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	21K19941
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	0101:Philosophy, art, and related fields
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	Matsuo Risa 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 学術研究員 (80909846)
Project Period (FY)	2021-08-30 – 2023-03-31
Keywords	ショパン / ピリオド楽器 / プレイエル / エラール / シングルエスケープメント / ダブルエスケープメント / バラード / パリ
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This research project focuses on the relationship between Fryderyk Chopin's compositions and the pianos he actually used. In particular, the Pleyel piano which he loved had a single escapement function, and compared to the double escapement developed by Erard since the 1830s, it must have been an instrument that still made it difficult to hit the same keys rapidly. I focused on how the characteristics of this company's instruments affect the performance of repeated chords, as typified by the coda of his Ballade op. 38. The results suggest the following two points: 1) it is possible that a performance in which each chord is grasped one by one is more suitable than a series of speedy hits, 2) the influence of the keystroke feeling of the instruments he used in Warsaw up to 1830 may have remained until the latter half of his life. For this research, I would like to thank Ohtagaki Piano Studio and Musee de la Musique de Paris for their particular cooperation.
Free Research Field	音楽学、比較芸術
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	本研究成果の重要な意義は、「19世紀前半の欧州では現代のピアノと様々な点で機能の異なる楽器が使われており、さらに音楽家（ショパンかそれ以外の作曲家か）によっても、好んで用いられた楽器の特徴が異なる」という点である。現代のピアニストたちがこの点を踏まえることで、同じショパンの作品でも演奏解釈に広がりが生まれたり、演奏困難に思われた箇所でも当時のピアノの特徴を知ることで、その困難を解消できる可能性が生まれてくる。また、本研究遂行の拠点となったパリ音楽博物館の楽器展示・演奏企画は大変参考になったため、そのノウハウを、今後は日本の音楽博物館の楽器活用や、子供や一般向け企画の充実にぜひ繋げていきたい。