What Did We Lose in a Hundred Years of Chopin Playing?

In this episode of the Authentic Sound Podcast, Stefan and I turn to an early-20th-century source that raises deeply uncomfortable questions about modern Chopin performance: Gottfried Galston’s Studienbuch.Galston was no marginal figure. Born in 1879, trained by major representatives of the Leipzig tradition, and active well into the 20th century, he stood at a crucial crossroads between 19th-century pianism and modern virtuosity. What he writes about Chopin’s Études is therefore not speculative—it is grounded in lived practice.We focus especially on Chopin’s Études Op. 10 Nos. 2 and 3, where Galston casually proposes tempos that today are regarded as either extreme or outright impossible. Even more striking: he describes some of Chopin’s slow pieces at speeds that modern performers would never associate with terms like lento or nocturne-like.Along the way, we discuss:* why Galston’s proposed tempos do not fit modern performance reality* how today’s Chopin tradition normalizes drastic slowing and extreme tempo fluctuation* why “lighter instruments” do not solve the problem* how pedagogy, competition culture, and recording aesthetics reshaped tempo norms* and whether we lost technical ability—or lost the original understanding of the metronome itselfThis episode is not about proving a single number right or wrong. It is about confronting a broader historical gap: a century in which Chopin’s tempo world slowly slipped out of reach, even as pianistic virtuosity expanded. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wimwinters.substack.com/subscribe