At the end of Poulenc's 3rd Novelette in Em (Chester edition) there is "m.g." under the final chord. Can anyone tell me what this means?

Thanks,

Daley.

The m.g. is 'main gauche' ie french for left hand. You play the D and B in the treble clef with the G# in the bass clef all with your left hand (Its a 10th, a bit of a stretch!)

I think it may be "main gauche" (ie left hand) but without the copy in front of me it's only a guess.

f#minor you beat me there - but your reply is clearer too !

Damn, I'm not a good student am I? French undergraduate living in Paris - typical!

Thanks, both of you

have fun with the novelettes freda.

I enjoy the first 2 very much, and I'm playing them for my ATCL in december. Both are very nice and contrasting for a wonderful finale, especially the 2nd novelette.

I didn't get a chance to look yesterday, but I've noticed that in my edition the G# is tied from the previous bar. Is that not the case with yours? On the recording I've got too, it doesn't sound like it's played again.

I agree there is a slur sign, but I really dont think the G# is meant to be tied, as there's a note in between.

Really? That would be a very typically Poulenc thing to do though, just looking through the other two Novelettes. Plus, there's a very low E, is that tied from two bars previously? Otherwise there'd be no way to play it. I'd assume here, Poulenc was going for his trademark blurred pedal sound.

It may mean that you should use the sostenuto pedal (the third, centre pedal on some expensive grand pianos!) which only sustains the notes that are being played at the moment you depress it. Any notes played later are not affected.