How big were Chopin's hands?
Mon, Mar 29 2010, 5:35PM
From the " Frédéric Chopin – a centenary focus" article at
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/frédéric-chopin-–-a-centenary-focus
"[Chopin is] the only great composer whose every work involves the piano – no symphonies, operas or choral works and only a handful of compositions that involve other instruments. He wrote just under 200 works; 169 of these are for solo piano."
200 - 169 = 31.
That's a very large number of fingers for a "handful" :-)
Cheers
Spider.
Tue, Mar 30 2010, 9:52AM
#2
RE: How big were Chopin's hands?
Chopin had surprisingly small hands ... there is an anniversary exhibition of Chopin at the British Library in London at the moment, which includes a cast of Chopin's hands taken shortly after his death.
There's a picture of the left hand on the Wikipedia page for Chopin, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frédéric_Chopin#Death_and_funeral
There's also a discussion (albeit a rather confused one, at times) of Chopin and Beethoven's casts at http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/432575/Chopin's%20and%20Beethoven's%20Hands.html
I'll work in London on and off, so will try to get to the BL, although it shuts rather early for me to get there after work.
Thu, Apr 1 2010, 2:16PM
#3
RE: How big were Chopin's hands?
LISZT's right hand measured 19.6 cm from the tip of the middle finger to the beginning of the wrist. In case this should be of interest to anyone, my hand is exactly the same length, the major difference being that Liszt's fingers were a deal more muscular.
Mon, Apr 26 2010, 10:51PM
#4
RE: How big were Chopin's hands?
Musicfan,
My hand is surprisingly around the same size. It's strange because I thought Liszt hand fairly large hands, given all the amazing piano music he wrote requiring big stretches. How far can you stretch? I can comfortably reach a ninth, but a 10th is really pushing it, almost impractical for fast pieces.
Sat, May 1 2010, 12:32PM
#5
RE: How big were Chopin's hands?
The more one stretches one's hands the wider they will stretch - up to a point and without resorting to the sort of device Schumann used.
Thu, May 6 2010, 7:30PM
#6
Chopin's and Liszt hands?
Are you sure about Liszt's hand?
My hand is 20,2 cm but i can difficulty reach a 10th on withe keys and impossible to reach it on a black and a white key (for exemple Db, F) And, believe me, my hand is very flexible because i can stretch it. How could liszt reach a 12th? May be because old piano's keys were smaller them modern pianos? Do you think liszt could be able to reach a 12th on a modern piano?
Thu, May 6 2010, 7:40PM
#7
RE: Chopin's hand?
I'm looking for the cast of the chopin's hand. I was searching on ebay and other sites but i couldn't find it. Anyone can help me?
Chopin had surprisingly small hands, in fact, and had to come up with some imaginative fingerings for his music in order to be able to play it. If you are able to get there, there is an anniversary exhibition of Chopin at the British Library in London at the moment, which includes a cast of Chopin's hands taken shortly after his death.