My second article on touch has just been published by Pianist Magazine. When I was first commissioned to write a series of three articles on touch, dealing with legato and staccato in the first one was relatively straightforward. However, the subsequent article on non-legato touches was rather more challenging and I found myself getting lost in semantics, particularly over the distinction between portato and portamento.
You Say “Portato“…
These two terms are often confused with each other, but only by pianists! Portamento means to glide between two pitches (similar to a glissando, but with all the intermediate pitches). This is the domain of singers, string and (sometimes) wind players and is clearly not possible on the piano. Pianists do sometimes use the term portamento when they might more accurately call it portato, the literal meaning of which is “carried” (implying the notes should be sustained, lengthened, and drawn out). Again, this means to play halfway between staccato and legato, and is indicated by staccato dots under a slur, or by staccato dots under tenuto markings.
You might think of this touch as a sticky staccato which is both non-staccato and non-legato, best realised by separate arm strokes for each note, through a loose and flexible wrist. The use of the wrist to add drag to the release of each key is very appropriate with this touch. Depending on the context, the notes may be played legato (but using separate arm strokes) or the notes may be slightly separated. This notation also has connotations of playing the notes freely, with rubato, or even rather slowly and drawn out, and the effect of portato in a melodic line is to communicate serious and expressive emotions.
The Pedal And Staccato
A vital thing to remember about the piano is that the ear can absolutely perceive staccato whether the pedal is up or down. This may sound surprising, but it is so! Staccato should not always be thought of in literal terms (namely a gap in sound between the notes), but rather as a type or quality of touch. If I were to play staccato in a cathedral, say, you would still perceive this as staccato even though the acoustical properties of the building would cause the sounds to live on and to blend together. It is the touch that determines the sound, irrespective of our pedalling. We use the pedal to add resonance and blend layers of sound together.
Confusion arises when staccato is said to actually be half the value of the notes. Your thoughts? Do you know if that’s an accurate statement? It seems to me that this is what portato should be (varying degrees, depending on the composition).
Everything depends on the situation (the musical context, the instrument, the performer, the performance space, etc), which is why I don’t think it is helpful to make hard and fast rules. I think the authors of the various treatises that mention lengths for staccatos, etc. felt they had to put something in writing, but to follow any of this to the letter is both pedantic and against artistry.
Graham, could you put in a word with the powers that be who produce these videos?
When the title music is played at the start of each video, how about captioning in the composer and work somewhere? They are very sensitively played.
Obviously, some of them are very famous and known to all…others not quite so much to those self-studiers with full-time jobs who haven’t mastered huge swathes of rep.
Thank you very much for this feedback! I agree with you, and will pass this on to the editor of Pianist Magazine.
Don’t you think that the whole idea of non-legato is illogical? Notes can either be joined (legato) or detached (staccato). The only room for non-legato is at the infinitesimal point between legato and staccato, but that is not what is usually (or ever?) meant.
What all the texts and tomes call non-legato is no more than a particular form of staccato … unless staccato means more than simply reducing the length of time for which a note sounds. For example by adding a slight accent. This is certainly what many performers do, whether they mean to or not.
In my opinion (which no-one is obliged to share) the whole concept of non-legato has been a source of confusion in the world of classical music for a few centuries. Lets blame Quantz and C P E Bach for the large part they played in making this illogical concept respectable.
There is also the fact that even in the period when so-called “non-legato” is said to be the conventional or usual touch there were listeners that commented on how they disliked it.
And in any case, Mozart’s sonatas sound much better played with a basic touch that is a lightly connected legato than with the disconnected and meaning-free lumps of sound that are produced by many famous performers (and that seems so popular with listeners … or at least thiose that comment on the internet).
Thanks for your comments, Tom. Yes, there is a lot of confusion over the various types of touch. Sensitivity to degrees of separation and connectedness is paramount in artistic piano of all periods, it is not a black and white matter.