Étude, Op. 25 No. 3
Recordings
Historical and comparison recordings, outside the concert’s running order.
- HMV DB 860, side 2Vladimir de Pachmann, piano · 26 June 19254:36
Vladimir de Pachmann recorded two Chopin pieces on this side of HMV DB 860 in 1925: the Étude in F major, Op. 25 No. 3, followed by the Waltz in C♯ minor, Op. 64 No. 2. Pachmann, born in 1848, made the recording by the new electrical process.
Listening notes
- Étude Op. 25 No. 3 before the Waltz
The first piece is Chopin’s F major Étude, Op. 25 No. 3. Its hands jump sideways while four voices share the galloping rhythm. Pachmann puts it before the C♯ minor Waltz on a single HMV record side.
- Electrical recording sessions, Hayes, 1925
At Hayes on 26 June 1925, Pachmann recorded for HMV on his own Baldwin. These sessions produced the company’s first electrical solo-piano recordings. In The Gramophone that December, the critic K. K. complained about the new sound but welcomed one improvement: “he does not utter a word the whole time.”
- Opening of the C♯ minor Waltz
The C♯ minor Waltz begins with a melody in paired notes, held across the bar line. Short turning figures follow it, over a bass note and two chords in the left hand. The four voices of the Étude are followed by three beats in the bar.
- Pachmann’s recital programme, Yale
On stage, Pachmann talked before playing and sometimes while playing. The surviving programme of his all-Chopin recital at the Yale School of Music, which is undated, announced his Baldwin piano. Its inside cover carried an advertisement for Steinway.
- Final cadence in C♯ minor
The waltz’s running tune continues to the end. Its descending quavers reach the cadence in C♯ minor, which ends both the second piece and the record side.