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==== SOURCES and FOREWORDS ====
  • Chopin. Deux Etudes op.25/6 en tierces, op.25/8 en sixtes. Soigneusement revues, doigtées et phrasées par Wladimir de Pachmann.
    [Chopin. Two Etudes op.25/6 in thirds, op.25/8 in sixths. Carefully revised, fingered and phrased by Vladimir de Pachmann.]
    London, Mayence, Paris, Bruxelles: Schott, 1904.

  • Henselt, Adolphe. Seven pieces for the pianoforte. Edited and fingered by Wladimir de Pachmann. London & New York: Novello, Ewer, [(Number 7545) c.1888].

    Foreword by Pachmann:

    The fingering in this Edition is made with regard to the position of the hands; that which at first sight appears awkward will be found calculated to give a fluent rendering of the technical difficulties, and at the same time a tranquil movement of the hands. Any alteration in the Notes is made with the approval of the Composer, and by his wish published.

    W. de P.

  • Chopin. (Piano Works.) With the authentic fingering and phrasing of Vladimir de Pachmann. Transcribed and with notes by Marguerite de Pachmann-Labori. London: Augener, 1934, 1935, 1937.

    Introductory Note:

    NOTE

    THOSE who have heard Vladimir de Pachmann play will remember how even in public he used with innocent pride to speak of his fingering, and the solutions of difficult problems which it represented.
    All pianists, of course, attach great importance to fingering, but with Pachmann it was the essence of his method—that method which he described as his life's work.
    He never wearied in his search for the fingering that would enable the hands always to retain the position which he, like Chopin, considered so desirable—the position in which they appear to glide over the keyboard and are, at the same time, capable of articulating perfectly the individual notes, rendering each one as clear as crystal, or, in quick passages, showering them like pearls.
    Pachmann's choice of fingering depended often upon the quality of the tone he desired to produce. This should be remembered if, at times, his fingering appears difficult and even awkward. No one has ever been able to dispute the beauty of Pachmann's touch.
    His fingering once mastered, the most intricate passages will be exempt from any blur or unevenness, and the hands will retain the position in which they seem to move effortlessly, with never a jerk or twist. In this way a perfect legato is attained.
    Let us remember how highly Chopin prized an easy position and smooth motion of the hands.

    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

    This Edition is published to give the public, at last, Pachmann's fingering and phrasing of Chopin's works. During his lifetime he guarded jealously for himself what was the result of years of experiment and ingenious art. As he wrote in a letter dated August 11th, 1931, he had "communicated it to one person, and one only."* But in that same letter he expressed satisfaction at the idea that eventually others should benefit by his method.
    I possess all the music Pachmann left, fingered and annotated by himself; and also my own copies, likewise fingered and annotated by him at the time when I was his pupil. The present edition reproduces the fingering and phrasing of those copies. Sometimes he would leave no note unfingered, and would insert every comma or breath-mark punctuating the phrases.

    MARGUERITE DE PACHMANN-LABORI.

    * [The writer of these lines]

==== USES TO WHICH THE SCORES MAY BE PUT ====
  • Compare these editions with the earlier ones which Pachmann evidently took as his starting point — for his Chopin editions for Augener, generally the Klindworth editions also for Augener. Those editions were not "Urtext" but interpretative ones. They might be made available on this site in the future. The comparison will show Pachmann's contribution over his starting point.
  • Find any errors in these editions, not out of pedantry but to help judge their reliability. (My impression so far is that they have been very carefully prepared.)
  • Attempt to find evidence of Pachmann's technique of playing the piano. His fingerings very much depend on his technique; if readers play from these scores with their customary technique, they will not understand the rationale and will probably conclude that the fingerings are "difficult"; yet from all descriptions of Pachmann's playing they cannot have been so for him. An introductory attempt has been made in Piano Journal No. 109, 2016.
  • Compare in detail Pachmann's editions with his recordings, listed in the above table. The date of each recording may have to be taken into account.