When interpreting a piece of music, there are a number of ways to add interest to it and one of these is something I’ve noticed lots of professional pianists use – I call it Inner Voices. That is to say things that seem to be written as part of the harmony or the bass which can be brought out to add extra colour to the music.
An Inner Voice can be a type of Counterpoint (as you might find in Bach), a simple rhythmic emphasis, a portion of a baseline or a progression found within the harmony. Of course, frequently a composer will actually make this type of intention clear by the notation used such as this example from Rachmaninof’s 18th Variation – note the progression of notes underneath the melody that he calls out.
If you listen to Arthur Rubinstein’s interpretation of the E flat major Nocturne (Op. 9 No.2) – in the very closing bars he makes the upper B flat sing within the figuration almost like a gentle bell – picking up from the highlighted crotchet in the Left Hand. Leaning on how Chopin has written it.
However, it can also be used where there is nothing actually explicitly marked in the score. Rubinstein for example used this technique often (although selectively) even in lots of the simpler repertoire we amateurs like to learn to add that little extra without diverging from the music itself.
Take the example of how he plays Chopin’s Waltz in C Sharp Minor (Op. 64 No.s). Here, in the very last part of the quaver passage, he emphasises certain notes – slightly at first then more markedly in the repeat. If my ears do not deceive me, he catches the note he wants to emphasise in the pedal and then releases the pedal soon after the following bass not has sounded so as to avoid unpleasant dissonance. This is entirely his addition in terms of interpretation.
If you have heard Lang Lang’s version of the Minute Waltz (Op. 64 No.1), then he employs this technique with a fragment of the bass line as shown below. He brings this out very strongly, thereby, adding that something different – letting the left hand sing under the twinkling melody.
I find it fun to look for these voices in the score. I noticed another place in the C Sharp Minor Waltz where there is a chromatic progression towards the end of the first main theme. Once I had noticed this, I realised just how much nicer the Waltz sounds when I make it sing out properly.
I’ll be fascinated to learn of any inner voices you’ve discovered – especially those that aren’t so evident in the score itself …. let me know in the comments.
