Chopin - Fantaisie Impromptu, Op. 66 (Rubinstein)
Why Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange recommends it
Music Stack Exchange users link it as a reference performance when discussing the piece's fingering and its sustained 3-against-4 polyrhythm.
Recommended by 0 people across 0 different months, 2019 to 2020.
What it is
An audio recording of Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66, played by Arthur Rubinstein, uploaded by the ClassicalScores channel. The description gives background on the piece, its tempo markings, its key changes and its cross-rhythms.
What people said
Cites Jeremy Holland · 2019-06 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “Fantaisie Impromptu - Specific fingering issue”
I've been practicing Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu for several weeks now, and while I'm by no means perfect at it, there aren't any aspects or parts of the piece that I am not confident I'll be able to tackle eventually with practice - except one: The fingering at the 3rd 16th-note quadruplet in the 16th measure (during Allegro Agitato , and its twin during the final Presto , measure 93 I think), outlined in a red box here: [LINK] In blue I've notated the fingering I'm using for both that quadruplet and the one preceding it, and it's the best one I've been able to come up with; but every time I practice (unless I'm doing so way under tempo - issues start to appear at about ♩≈100bpm during All
Cites BobRodes · 2019-08 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “How to recognise polyrhythm in a piece”
A two-against-three is sometimes called a "hemiola." (Next time you see it in a trivia game, you'll know.) You can always work out polyrhythms by taking the least common multiple of the two voices, and working out where the notes hit. So, with two against three, the LCM is six. Count in sixes. Both voices hit on one, the three hits on 3 and 5, and the two hits on 4. So, the two hits right between the second and third three. You can tap it out like this (keep saying "pa" under your breath as you go) BOTH pa R L R pa BOTH pa R L R pa. Then you can try reversing your hands. For three against four, you do the same thing with 12. The four hits every third 12th, and the three hits every fourth 12t
Cites Caters · 2020-01 · Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange · on “How to make sustained polyrhythms easier to play?”
I know that a lot of it simply comes down to lots and lots of practice. But in a piece like Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu, I will eventually reach a point where I can play the left hand with no mistakes at full tempo and I can play the right hand with no mistakes at full tempo, but playing them together will cause the polyrhythm to break. I know this from experience just trying to sustain a polyrhythm. 2:3 isn't that hard to sustain. But 3:4 is very hard for me to sustain. I have no problems when the polyrhythm is shorter than or equal to a bar like in this Chopin Nocturne that has a few moments of polyrhythm: In the case of such short polyrhythms, just practicing the passage with the polyrhyt