On Establishment of Performance Style in Music Education—Case Study of Chopin’s Ballad No.1 played by Vladimir Horowitz

Abstract

This paper takes Chopin’s ballad No.1 played by Vladimir Horowitz as the research subject. Through the quantitative analysis of speed and strength of the recording version in the four different periods, the special features of Vladimir Horowitz’s performance style are concluded. The introduction of Chopin’s ballad No.1 he played is variant, and the speed and strength is relatively free, seemingly random. For the main theme of exposition, it changes from being variant to being stable, and the transition of exposition reflects the variant features. It is hoped that this research could provide several suggestions for piano players and music lovers to position and master performance style as well as some references and inspirations for practical piano teaching of music education.