First Movement: Playing Technique

This is a highly dramatic first movement. It is very joyful and optimistic in tendency, with no serious undertones. Therefore, it should never become heavy. There is one point of caution when playing lightly: the unit of two notes connected by a slur. For instance, in the right hand from beats 1-2 of measure 3, where A and F# are slurred, this poses little problem as they are quarter notes. However, caution is required for units of two eighth notes connected by a slur, such as in the right hand on beat 1 of measures 17-19.

Fundamentally, for these two slurred notes, a slight, light accent should be placed on the first note (never too strong), and the second note should be played with a release, cut short, with reduced volume, and a fading quality. Consequently, the hand should make an upward motion the moment the second note is played. It is crucial to play lightly, ensuring the second note never becomes prolonged or louder than the first, but rather fades away. This is important.

This playing technique should also be applied to the right hand in measure 38. Subsequently, in the development section up to measure 55, this unit appears in both the right and left hands; similarly, the second note should be cut short.

Incidentally, when these two slurred notes appear consecutively four times, as in measure 38, the note following the fourth unit becomes the “target note.” That is, between measures 38 and 39, the half note on beat 1 of measure 39 becomes the target note. Therefore, while maintaining the principle of playing the second note of each pair softly, a crescendo should be applied towards beat 1 of measure 39, and upon reaching measure 39, a diminuendo should commence from that point.

Similarly, in the development section, phrases occur in two-measure units, so the target point will be the note following the four slurred units.