āItās not a naughty thing to break the handsā
Iām quoting Seymour Bernstein from his livestream Brahms Op 118 in A major. He says this in minute 6,18. I think I know what he meansā¦.. the idea that you can let go of notes under a phrase, shortening their value to capture the next chord without having to physically hold note with the sustain pedal assisting. I just need to make sure understand what he means.
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I think perhaps rather he is referring to desynchronisation of the hands eg playing the bass note fractionally earlier than the soprano treble so as to allow it to sing ever more clearly. It was an expressive technique much used in 19th century but became out of favour around mid 20th century when absolute fidelity to the score became the norm. Examples may be heard in very early wax cylinder recordings eg of Reineke. Refer the excellent book by Neal Peres Da Costa āOff The Recordā for further explanation and more examples.
