There are two symbols I do not recognise below the stretto in this excerpt:
What are these symbols? And also, form what I read the stretto here should be interpreted as an accelerando, am I correct?
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2 Answers
This is an Turn, an ornament consisting of four notes. The double-sharp symbol indicates that the lower note to be performed is a g double-sharp rather than a natural g, so the sequnce to be performed is b, a sharp, g double-sharp, a sharp.
answered Oct 23, 2012 at 11:13
I wouldn't interpret stretto as accelerando. My guess is that Chopin put it there to prevent the other natural interpretation of the passage, which is to slow down, from happening. So, instead of doing an accelerando, the passage under the dashes should just be generally faster/flowing, probably slowing down during the last hairpin (>). You'll need to experiment to find a natural way to do it.
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@Luke: No, as I said, it's a guess. I do have a master's degree in classical piano performance so you could say it's an educated guess. I don't believe you could ever actually know what Chopin really intended, even if he himself wrote a detailed description, because it's practically impossible to describe every relevant detail accurately. That's the reason for my last sentence. However, an accelerando doesn't seem to make much sense here, and neither does a noticeably faster tempo so I must conclude that it must be just slightly faster or at least not slower.– nonpopDec 1, 2012 at 7:45