Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
IN CHOPIN
Chopins oeuvre holds a secure place in the repertoire, beloved by audiences, performers,
and aesthetes. In Harmony in Chopin, David Damschroder offers a new way to examine
and understand Chopins compositional style, integrating Schenkerian structural analyses
with an innovative perspective on harmony and further developing ideas and methods put
forward in his earlier books Thinking About Harmony, Harmony in Schubert, and
Harmony in Haydn and Mozart. Reinvigorating and enhancing some of the central
components of analytical practice, this study explores notions such as assertion, chordal
evolution (surge), collision, dominant emulation, unfurling, and wobble through analyses
of all forty-three mazurkas Chopin published during his lifetime. Damschroder also
integrates analyses of eight major works by Chopin with detailed commentary on the
contrasting perspectives of other prominent Chopin analysts. This provocative and richly
detailed book will help transform readers own analytical approaches.
D AV I D D A M S C H R O D E R is Professor of Music Theory at the University of Minnesota.
His current research focuses on harmony in tonal music, a project that began with a
careful examination of historical analytical practices and was the basis for his book
Thinking About Harmony: Historical Perspectives on Analysis (Cambridge, 2008). The
project continues with focused studies on selected repertoires: Harmony in Schubert
(Cambridge, 2010), Harmony in Haydn and Mozart (Cambridge, 2012), and the present
book. He has written textbooks on music fundamentals and on ear-training and sightsinging and his articles and reviews have appeared in numerous journals. In addition, he is
working on a textbook, Tonal Analysis: A Schenkerian Perspective (forthcoming). As a
complement to his scholarly work, he occasionally performs on fortepiano and modern
piano.
HARMONY IN CHOPIN
David Damschroder
The University of Minnesota
Contents
Preface
Part I Methodological orientation: the mazurkas
1 The architecture of a tonic pillar: twenty-seven regular tonic pillars from the
mazurkas
2 Between the tonic pillars: tonal trajectories in twenty-seven mazurkas
3 Irregular pillars in the mazurkas: alternatives to the perfect authentic cadence
Part II Masterpieces
4 tude in C Minor(op. 10, no. 12) in response to Graham H. Phipps
5 Nocturne in C Minor (op. 27, no. 1) in response to Felix Salzer
6 Preludes in E Major and E Minor (op. 28, nos. 9 and 4) in response to Fred
Lerdahl
7 Prelude in G Minor (op. 28, no. 22) in response to Alison Hood
8 Prelude in C Minor (op. 45) in response to Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger and to
Charles J. Smith
9 Ballade in F Minor (op. 52) in response to Edward Laufer
10 Barcarolle in F Major (op. 60) in response to John Rink
Notes
List of references to music examples
Select bibliography
Index of Chopins works
Index of names and concepts
Preface
Given my intention to explore harmony from Haydn through Debussy in depth, the
decision to devote a volume to Chopin needs no special justification. Despite the narrow
range of his compositional activities, Chopins oeuvre holds a secure place in the
nineteenth-century repertoire, both beloved by audiences and admired by aesthetes. So,
having recently published Harmony in Schubert and Harmony in Haydn and Mozart, I
take a respite from Vienna (where I assume Beethoven and Brahms will wait patiently),
following Chopin westward to Paris. My decades-long fascination with his mazurkas here
reaches its culmination in the presentation of probing yet concise analyses of all fortythree mazurkas that Chopin published during his lifetime. (While at work on this project I
also performed these compositions in fortepiano recitals and taught them in a graduate
seminar.) Readers are invited to join me in exploring these wonderful creations over the
course of this volumes first three chapters. (As was the case in my seminar, a semesters
study of Schenkerian analysis should be regarded as a prerequisite.) The remainder of my
offering (chapters 4 through 10) continues a practice I pursued in Schubert and
Haydn/Mozart (note my abbreviations for those volumes): a focus on masterpieces by
Chopin that have been addressed in print or online by at least one other analyst, so that the
reader may juxtapose my interpretations with alternative viewpoints and, with my
guidance, explore the differences. Though I provide numerous detailed Schenkerian
graphs (crucial for creating hierarchy-sensitive harmonic analyses), the Roman numerals
and other symbols below the music notation will be the principal focus of my attention.
This study is intended for anyone who both especially enjoys listening to or
performing Chopins music and concurrently possesses an interest and facility in the
analysis of tonal music. Though one might suppose that such attributes would describe all
musicians, clearly some are more inclined towards nineteenth-century repertoire and to
analytical undertakings than are others. As both teacher and author, I endeavor to offer
analyses that are both insightful and vibrantly presented, hoping that any initial resistance
might eventually melt. That said, the rigorous pursuit of analysis requires dedication. This
is not a book that can be digested quickly. Especially, chapters 1 through 3 should be read
at a leisurely pace, ideally with time for repeated listening to each mazurka and (by those
who are able) for making each work come alive at the keyboard.
of the illumination were moving towards the right at a swift pace. Without adding
something to what is literally presented in the painting, this passage must remain a
mystery. For those who know the story, however, the illumination is central to the
paintings meaning: it comes, of course, from torches (hidden behind the hedge) carried by
men, led by Judas, intent upon arresting Christ. Likewise, elements of a musical story may
be hinted at though not explicitly stated in a composition. There is much about how music
works that will remain a mystery if one is unwilling or unable to imaginatively extend
beyond the printed score when analyzing music. By gaining a clear understanding of a
composers practice when all requisite notes are present one becomes well equipped to
make sense of more elusive passages.
My close engagement with selected contributions by numerous other analysts gives
my harmony project a unique panoramic perspective regarding tonal analysis in the
current era. These commentaries (set off by shading in chapters 4 through 10) should not
be regarded as neutral reviews such as one might find in a journal, but instead as
documentation regarding how other ways of analyzing music appear from my distinctive
vantage point. Consequently readers may engage with my perspective through an inviting
mix of opportunities to assess my own analyses and to encounter my reactions to various
alternative viewpoints (and eventually, in other publications, the reactions of others to my
viewpoints). Because so many perspectives will be assessed over the course of my project,
I have established some ground rules. First, though some analysts have been very prolific,
I will devote only one chapter to each within my set of books about music before 1850.
(Where warranted a second turn may be granted during the post-1850 phase of the
project.) Second, only analysts whose outcomes significantly contrast mine (even if we
share similar methodologies) will be the focus of a chapter. Third, I must hold a neutral
relationship with another analyst in order to write candidly about his or her work: friends,
mentors, and former students consequently are excluded. As a result, some authors one
might expect to find in a monograph on Chopin are not featured in individual chapters.
For example, one of the leading Chopin authorities of our time has published admirable
analyses of profound insight; and, I occasionally share quarters with him at music theory
conferences. Thus for reasons two and three, no chapter herein focuses on his work
(though I do quote him on occasion in the endnotes to reinforce my points or to
acknowledge alternative interpretations).
I appreciate the feedback on drafts of this work that I have received from various
quarters. I also acknowledge the support of an Imagine Fund award from the University of
Minnesota. As in the earlier volumes of my project, Peter Smucker has provided expert
setting of the music examples. All analyses are based on the scores as printed in the recent
National Edition (Cracow). In a few instances other editions and their editorial
commentaries are drawn into the discussion. I am grateful to the New York Public Library,
Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations, for allowing me to purchase on microfilm and to
make reference to the Oster Collection: Papers of Heinrich Schenker.
though less precise, alternative to the complete analytical symbol.) The bullet symbol ()
indicates an absent root. For example, B-D-F in C Major will be analyzed as V7 (or, with
less precision, as V).
Likewise a progression of chordal roots generally is presented in capital letters (C
DGC), though on occasions when quality is a factor in the discussion a capital letter
may refer to major quality, a small letter to minor quality, and a small letter followed by a
degree circle () to diminished quality: for example, CaFdbGeC.
A bracket is used to connect the analytical notation for two musical events that
normally would follow one another but that in the context under discussion occur at the
same moment: for example,
ant.
anticipation
CP
chromatic passing note
CV
chromatic variant
HC
half cadence
IAC
imperfect authentic cadence
IN
incomplete neighboring note
N
neighboring note
P
passing note
PAC
perfect authentic cadence
prg.
progression
susp.
suspension
W
wobble
Of course, the graphs often will incorporate Roman-numeral harmonic analyses, and in
this regard I sometimes depart from Schenkers practice. Because it is innovative, I
document my Roman-numeral usage very carefully as the chapters unfold.
Because measure numbers are a pervasive feature in my close analyses, I have
developed an abbreviated style of reference, in the form measurebeat. For example, the
symbol 23 indicates the third beat of measure 2. Generally the word measure will not
precede the number. I regard measures in and as containing two beats. A measure
designation such as 14/16 means that a given chord is prolonged from measure 14 through
measure 16, with contrasting content occurring between statements of the chord, whereas
the designation 1416 indicates a continuous prolongation of a single chord without
significant internal contrast. The symbol 15|16 indicates measure 16 along with its upbeat.
Part I
Chopins mazurkas are admired especially for their harmonic creativity. As Jim Samson
suggests, Chopin reserved for the mazurkas some of his most astonishing harmonic
adventures, at times almost to the point of iconoclasm.1 Our substantial investment of
time and energy in these works over three chapters should offer the dividend of a striking
and vivid perspective regarding Chopins harmonic practice over the course of his career
as a composer.
All of the forty-three mazurkas that Chopin published during his lifetime contain at
least one regular tonic pillar, which is built from a phrase or group of phrases that
concludes with a PAC in the mazurkas tonic key. Though usually the tonic chord will
occur at or near the beginning of a tonic pillar, a delayed initial tonic is a viable
alternative, as long as I is established eventually and the progression then leads through V
back to I for the cadence. The initial tonic might exceptionally occur during an
introduction or only in the listeners imagination (as will be explained in due course), in
which cases the tonic pillar may be already engaged in the progression to the local
dominant at its outset.
The twenty-seven mazurkas that we explore in chapters 1 and 2 are distinguished
from the sixteen that are deferred until chapter 3 by the fact that all of their tonic pillars
(between two and four will occur within one mazurka) are regular. An irregular pillar will
cadence on the tonic without a concurrent descent to (IAC) or on the dominant (HC) or
the mediant, or it will be presented in a key other than the tonic. In all such cases a pillar
later in the mazurka will conclude with a PAC in the tonic key and thus will be regular.
Chapter 1 offers a detailed assessment of how twenty-seven regular tonic pillars are
constructed. Five broad categories are proposed to account for Chopins range of
Uninterrupted third-progressions
As is common in tonal music of this era, the projection of the tonic key in one of Chopins
mazurkas often is accomplished through the stepwise filling-in of the tonic triads lower
third for example, E>D>C in C Major supported by a harmonic progression that
proceeds from I through V back to I. Though the ten tonic pillars explored in this section
all convey these structural features, they nevertheless offer a considerable variety in terms
of how these foundational chords are embellished and connected. Though II or IV often
serves as an intermediary between I and V, in some cases Chopin proceeds directly from I
to V or pursues a sequential trajectory rather than relying on one of those harmonic
resources.
Opus 6/2
The Mazurka in C Minors eight-measure introduction projects a B<D melodic third,
covered by a static G. Invigorated by dissonant F at 92 (as the A1 section gets
underway), these elements yield to the tonics E>C third, covered by G. The stemmed
notes above the bass in 1.1 reveal the first-species foundation of A1s linear strands: thirds
and
Opus 7/1
The high spirits that Chopin conveys in his Mazurka in B Major result in part from the
persistent refusal of the melody to be confined by the line that traverses the pillars
middleground
coordinates with each of these elements, and even greater heights are attained as well. For
example, the F of 23, already a third above the structural D, is embellished by neighbor G
in measure 3, during a
Opus 24/2
The Mazurka in C Majors introduction provides the venue for the initial sounding of the
tonic harmony. By the time A1 commences at 51, the progression has already proceeded to
the tonics 6-phase chord within a local expansion of I-space [1.4]. Some imaginative
thinking is called for in measure 5, since the upper E within an E<G<C<E arpeggiation to
the Kopfton is elided to make way for the subdominants F. (Note the parentheses in 1.4.
The score presents the E<F voice leading an octave lower.) The local IV V7 I progression
that extends the initial tonic through 63 is deployed again immediately thereafter to
provide similar support for the tonics 6-phase chord, which is secured at 83.
Opus 24/3
An unfolded G<D diminished fifth during measure 1 energizes the opening of the
Mazurka in A Major, which announces the tonic through the melodic unfolding of its
signature A<C third from 03 through 21 [1.5]. (Though the A sounds without chordal
support, it nevertheless represents the tonic: G is neighbor to A, not the reverse.) Upper
third E, which corresponds to similar thirds preceding or following the arrival of in
most of the mazurkas we have explored thus far, soon emerges. By the end of measure 4
the tonic surges towards IV. (I often use the word surge both noun and verb to denote a
dominant-emulating transformation. Here I is transformed into I through the raising of
its fifth to E and the addition of G as seventh.) The continuation from IV to V seems
more melodically focused in the tenor register (D>C>B) than in the soprano. In fact, the
soprano D>C over the bar line between measures 7 and 8 makes the perception of a PAC
at that point doubtful.7 A modified traversal of the phrases second half (extending what
might have been a normative eight-measure phrase to twelve measures) brings the D-toB third into somewhat better focus (though note that D appears within parentheses in
1.5 since it does not sound in the upper register in either traversal), with a more decisive
landing on A in measure 12. (Compare with 1.3, measure 12.)
Opus 24/4
The extraordinary opening of the Mazurka in B Minor involves the concurrent chromatic
filling-in of two intervals from the F-A-C embellishing chord that precedes the initial
tonic. Whereas the path from F to A is traversed in the lower strand five pitches in all
a chromatic descent from F to C in the upper strand encompasses six pitches, and so when
A arrives in measure 5 the upper strand has descended only as far as D, a half step shy
of goal C. Chopin ingeniously employs this distinctive sonority (one that recurs often in
his compositions) as a substitute for the intended one by treating downward-tending D as
an anticipation of the following tonics third, Kopfton D. Consequently the descending
fourths goal C is elided, as conveyed by the parentheses around the C notehead in 1.6.
Similar elisions and anticipations recur during the tonic pillars subsequent progression to
V.
Opus 30/2
Initially the Mazurka in F Minors opening sixteen measures might seem to represent the
tonic pillar for a Mazurka in B Minor.8 Yet the absence of a PAC should raise eyebrows
among astute listeners. Noting that these measures do not recur later in the mazurka (and
thus do not conform to the behavior of a tonic pillar), that the mazurka concludes in F
Minor (despite the scores two-sharp key signature), and that the normative cadential and
universal repetition characteristics of a tonic pillar are fulfilled instead by the material of
measures 16|17 through 32, one may reasonably interpret the opening sixteen measures as
an introduction on F Minors subdominant [1.7]. Though two mazurkas (opus 30/4 [3.4]
and opus 56/1 [1.9]) commence with the supertonic, in those cases the tonic is achieved in
the context of the initial musical idea. Opus 30/2 is unique in the extent to which the
tonics arrival is delayed. One might legitimately propose that Chopin has here gone too
far that the clash between the compositions retrospectively wayward opening in B
Minor and eventual settling down in F Minor is something that cannot be fully reconciled
by the listener.9 Nevertheless, 1.7 makes as strong a case as I can muster for tonal
coherence.
(C)
(C)
(A)
A ,
Note that the initial opening is not pursued beyond measure 2 (a fresh start is offered in
measure 3) and that the concluding melodic F is delayed until after the written-out repeat
(at 163). That F goal serves as the starting point for an ascent to the Kopfton, achieved at
182 by means of the reaching-over technique.10
The A1 prolongation of F Minor coordinates ascending bass motion from the tonic
through the mediant to the dominant with a rising melody, so that the normative
descending second from Kopfton A to G is presented as an ascending seventh. (Compare
with the similar tonic pillar in opus 24/4 [1.6], where the lower register is retained.)
Despite that anomaly, the line continues downward to F, so that a PAC is achieved
within the phrase. The pillars repetition commences with an interesting variant on the IV
of measure 16: D-G-B-F at 243 is an evolved IV6 (=II). (That is, diatonic IV B-DF here is expanded through the incorporation of its sixth, G. With the assertion of G
as the chords root, diatonic G-B-D-F further evolves through the raising of chordal
third B to B. Since this chord correlates not to a dominant seventh sonority, which
would be conveyed via the symbol II, but instead to what is often called an augmented
sixth chord here the French version I deploy an outline arrow to the right of the
Roman numeral: II. All chords designated by arrows are surging: through added
dissonance and/or chromaticism they target the chord with root a perfect fifth lower, here
GC.)
Opus 30/3
Many features of the Mazurka in D Majors tonic pillar, displayed in 1.8, correspond to
structural elements from mazurkas we have explored above. The tonic harmony initiated
by the fifth scale degree during an introduction relates to 1.2. The transfer of Kopfton to
a higher register corresponds to 1.4. The embellishment of all three pitches of a thirdprogression by upper thirds recalls both 1.3 and 1.5. Its first-species foundation (F>E>D
against D>C<D over bass arpeggiation DAD) was similarly noted in relation to
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.6. What most distinguishes this tonic pillar is the infusion of elements
from the parallel minor key. At several points Chopin backtracks, presenting a passage a
second time or even a third and fourth time (measures 12, 14, 15, and 16) alternating
major- and minor-key pitch collections. (The minor-key accidentals are displayed within
parentheses in 1.8.) During A1 the pillars concluding tonic is built with minor third F,
which is retained for the G chord of the circular progression that initiates the B section.
Looking ahead, we note that Chopin allows the tonics F to shift back to F at the end of
the A2 tonic pillar to conclude the mazurka (measure 95).
Opus 56/1
Though the Mazurka in B Majors tonic pillar will establish the key of B Major, the B
major chord of measure 2 is not asserted as that tonic.11 It instead is an internal element
within a connection between antipodal C minor and G major chords, achieved via an
obstinate circular progression that emphasizes descending whole steps, as shown in 1.9.
Chopin here taps one of tonal musics most astonishing properties: the antipode the
chord that seems to be the furthest possible tonal distance from an initiating chord may
in fact map back onto that initiating chord.12 One type of chordal evolution is denoted
using a solid arrow (). For example, the C-E-G at this mazurkas outset could have
evolved into C-E-G-B or E-G-B-D to invigorate the succession to the F dominant
of measures 12 and 13. Another common evolution, especially prevalent with the II
harmony, involves the lowering of the chordal fifth (or retaining that fifth in a minor-key
context).13 An outline arrow () is used to denote such evolutions, which here might
result in a chord spelled as C-E-G-B or E-G-B-D.14 Though the relationship is
masked when a nickname such as German augmented sixth (which I eschew) is
employed, observe that C (a pitch that often will be omitted) serves as the root for a
chord that incorporates the antipodal triad of pitches G, B, and D! Consequently
Chopins seemingly wayward journey further and further from the initial C chord in fact
leads to pitches that, once E emerges at 121, intensify the natural tendency of the C
supertonic to proceed to dominant F. As 1.9 reveals, this potent II expansion delays V
until measures 12 and 13. The prolongation of V via a embellishing chord in measure 14
puts off the tonic arrival until measure 16.
IVs upper-fifth chord as consonant support for IVs passing seventh, D.16 This reading
wins out against the hypothesis that the tonic is restored at 183, especially since Chopins
modified repetition of the concluding measures retains the IV but dispenses with the
upper-fifth chord.
Opus 56/2
A Polish folk spirit is especially pervasive in the Mazurka in C Major, with a
drone
sounding throughout the tonic pillar. The four-measure introductions G serves as the
starting point for an ascending arpeggiation to Kopfton E [1.10]. Though a higher G
sounds immediately thereafter, it replicates that in the tenor register, to which the A that
follows G at 53 immediately transfers. (That line then continues upwards through B to C.)
Consequently the F and D during 61 serve as neighbors to the C and E of 51. (I admit that
this reading may seem wayward. Yet compare with Chopins variant in measures 53 and
54, where Fs role as neighbor between two Es is more overtly stated.) Chromatic F is a
wobbly note (or wobble) a note that temporarily takes on a chromatic inflection that
eventually will be revoked that soon reverts to diatonic F. The G initiates an upperoctave replication of the initiating G<C<E arpeggiation, reaching C at 71 (one beat after its
arrival by step in the interior register) and eventually (via a reaching-over above D) E at
133. Thus the pillar may be divided into two regions: that in which an octave connection
between the lower and upper presentations of the Kopfton transpires (as conveyed by the
dotted slur in 1.10), supported by a prolonged tonic and local embellishing chords; and
that during which a third-progression descending from the Kopfton leads to a PAC at
201.17 In my view the altered context justifies the analytical interpretation of the chord at
1923 as an asserted dominant, with the D of the E>D>C descent that it supports taking
precedence over the maintenance of E (thereby contrasting the emphasis upon Es arrival
an octave higher in measure 13, confirmed by the reiteration of E in the lower register at
161).
Uninterrupted fifth-progressions
The four mazurkas in this section project the tonic harmony by means of an uninterrupted
fifth-progression descending from the tonic triads fifth to its root. Several contrasting
means of supporting
and
Opus 7/4
The determination that , rather than , serves as a compositions Kopfton can be a
difficult call, especially given that another potential reading the embellishment of
Kopfton with an upper third occurs frequently. How the tonic pillar fits within the
mazurkas broader context sometimes provides useful data. For example, the chord at 363
in the Mazurka in A Major, which I propose would be spelled correctly as G-B-D-F,
features the dominants minor ninth F [E] poised towards resolution to the tonics fifth,
E, for the final statement of the tonic pillar.18 Note also that at 71 (during the initial
phrases written-out repeat) Ds arrival from above is emphasized through the resolution
of a suspended E (the grace note). Consequently I propose that the preferred reading
should be a fifth-progression from E, rather than a third-progression from C with upper
neighbor D.
Though challenging to comprehension, occasionally in music one initiative begins
before a prior one concludes: here the bass descent from tonic root A to subdominant
third F gets underway before the soprano arpeggiation of the tonic E<A<C<E
concludes. (A diagonal line in 1.11 connects the open-notehead pitches A and E to
emphasize their structural alliance. As an experiment at the piano, delay the left-hand G
and B at 23 by half a beat to sense the second-species origin of Chopins conception.) It is
reassuring to hear the high A at 31: just as an upper third often embellishes Kopfton , an
upper fourth often embellishes Kopfton .
is shifted to the following strong metrical position, thereby becoming an accented passing
note
chord at 323 as I, as once was common and still persists in some quarters.
Opus 33/1
Once Kopfton D is established in measures 3 and 4 of the Mazurka in G Minor, three
pitches A, C, and E create a rich embellishing chord that at first extends Kopfton
(highlighting a D<E>D neighboring motive that plays an important role at various
points during the work, including the melodys first three pitches) and then supports the
descent through to [1.12]. As usual, the dominant supports before the PAC on .
The D-to-G descent is shadowed a third lower by B>A>G>F <G.
the second time. Through these means the tonic pillars footprint extends for twelve
rather than sixteen measures.
As has been the case in several other mazurkas, the structure of the opening depends
upon imaginative thinking. (Note the parenthetical bass G at the outset in 1.12.) Since the
D at 03 corresponds to that at 63, where bass G supports a tonic chord, I do not think I
have misrepresented Chopin by proposing a tonic context for the initial lone D. However,
I have held my imagination in check during 12. Do these pitches assert themselves as II?
22 Or is this an instance (similar to that discussed above in the context of opus 7/4, 2
3) of
passing motion getting underway just as an emerging chordal structure takes shape
(chromatic C against the tonics G and B)? I have left some empty space below the staff
(at measures 1 and 7) in 1.12 for readers more persuaded by the supertonic interpretation
than I am to jot in a II numeral.
Example 1.13 Mazurka in E Minor (op. 41/1) (a) Analysis of mm. 14; (b) Analysis of
mm. 18.
The subdominant of measure 2 supports
subdominants A extends into V-space (where it sounds an octave lower), during which the
descent through G to F transpires. This is a hard call, especially since the melody of
measure 3 resembles that of measure 1. A viable alternative would be to propose an
imagined G at the end of measure 2 (thus IV8(7)), so that the G at 33 functions as a
neighbor to an already established .24
In the phrase repetition Chopin extends IV by means of a shift to its 6 phase (a
common occurrence between IV and V) in measure 7, here deploying chromatic Fnatural, attained through descent from 8 rather than the more common ascent from 5. (The
pitch F functions as a wobbly note, which one would expect to be revoked through the
reinstatement of F as the dominants diatonic fifth.) Alas, that initiative consumes two
beats of the phrases third measure, which in the earlier phrase was devoted exclusively to
the dominant. During the one beat remaining before the tonic arrival on the downbeat of
measure 8, Chopin elects not to sound the dominant root or to convey the conventional
melodic descent to scale degree 2, elements of the structure that were presented
A, unfurled) comes between the tonic and the supertonic, presented as II at 223. In
conjunction with this II, a melodic excursion extends upwards from E through F to
Interrupted third-progressions
Repetition occurs in many musical contexts, most obviously when a repeat sign instructs
the performer to play a passage a second time. A more sophisticated deployment of
repetition involves two related phrases in which the first fails to fully close while the
second does in fact achieve closure. The term interruption and some related notation
within graphs are deployed when in one phrase (the antecedent) the melodic descent
proceeds from or from to (supported by V), and in the next (the consequent) a new
try is inaugurated, this time achieving (supported by I). All of this sections tonic pillars,
from works with Kopfton , are constructed in this manner, thereby offering a more
complex inner organization than prevails in the pillars we have explored already. Analysts
display interruption using either of two distinct styles of graph notation. Though in this
book I conform to the preference that developed during my extensive study of this topic
while writing Tonal Analysis: A Schenkerian Perspective, I trust that readers who are
accustomed to the other method, which maintains a greater visual distinction between the
antecedent and consequent parts of a graph through separate beaming and separate
Roman-numeral analyses, will be able to adapt to the method on display here for the
duration of this study. Also note that analysts do not all concur with regard to how similar
the two halves must be to one another for the notion of interruption to be viable. I am
willing to allow a significant amount of variation between the two halves, so long as the
deeper structure conforms to the principles of interruption.
Opus 6/4
The four-measure theme that transpires during the Mazurka in E Minors tonic pillar is
divided into two halves that are equal in length but not in structural content. (The entire
theme is then repeated, with a few subtle alterations.) This inequality results from one of
tonal musics most prevalent and effective structural devices: the juxtaposition of similar
phrases that cadence on the dominant and on the tonic, melodically realized through an
interruption of the structural descent after . The mazurkas Kopfton is (to be justified
presently). The
Opus 17/3
The Mazurka in A Majors sixteen-measure tonic pillar derives its binary shape from the
interruption that occurs after the first phrases cadential dominant. Chopins prolongation
of this dominant correlates motivically with the preceding tonic prolongations: whereas
C>B>A is heard repeatedly during I-space (measures 1 through 6), B>A>G is
projected during V-space (measures 7 and 8) [1.16]. Another set of thirds plays an equally
important motivic role: just as E emerges above Kopfton C in measure 2, D follows B
and C precedes A during the pillars final two measures. (Compare with 1.3.)
incompletely realized. I have chiseled away at the E to reveal the D that it conceals,
using parentheses to acknowledge my participation.28 The phrases harmonic defect,
like its failure to achieve a PAC on , is rectified during the second phrase.
measure. Not only is the surging VI absent; IIs surge is retracted as well (so that the
subtler diatonic II7 serves as herald of the dominant).
Interrupted fifth-progressions
Interruption is as useful in developing structures emanating from Kopfton as from
Kopfton
supporting the descent from that did not emerge among the non-interrupted lines
explored above.
Opus 7/2
The tonic pillars two phrases in the Mazurka in A Minor offer related yet contrasting
harmonizations of the structural line descending from Kopfton . During the antecedent
phrase the span from to transpires during an expansion of I-space, followed by II,
which, with embellishment, serves as the initial support for before the HC dominant
arrives [1.19]. During the consequent phrase a shift to I6 coincides with the arrival of . In
a minor key I6 is innately suited for a dominant-emulating role, which may be enhanced
through the addition of a minor seventh, propelling a surge (as VI) towards II. Since
Chopin realizes that potentiality here, the two phrases offer a strong contrast at this
juncture: supported by II versus supported by II. (Compare 73 and 141 in 1.19.)
Though II is not innately inclined towards V, listeners have accustomed themselves to
the IIV succession, which composers have promoted as a means of preventing their
compositions from leading into the abyss. An extension beyond the diatonic pitch
collection is held in check: BE occurs rarely in A Minor, whereas the antipodal B-toE continuation has become the norm. (Here Chopin forgoes presenting II in its first
inversion, a common means of softening the effect of the antipodal root connection.) The
melodys B wobble temporarily displaces diatonic B, which duly emerges during the
dominant that follows though not in the soprano register, where parentheses denote its
imaginative presence within a descending fifth-progression in 1.19.
Opus 17/2
During the Mazurka in E Minors tonic pillar, Chopin devotes equal time to the
establishment of the initial I-space, with Kopfton , and to the fifth-progression that leads
ultimately to a PAC. Both of the pillars phrases are twelve measures in length. Over the
first six measures a dotted slur in 1.20 connects Kopfton B in its middle and upper
registers. Both outer voices pursue arpeggiations of the tonic pitches: E<G<B<E in the
bass, and B<E<G<B in the soprano. Mediant G (measure 4) is achieved in the bass via a
circular progression (EADG) during which Kopfton B is embellished by its upper
neighbor, C. A reminiscence of that embellishment occurs in the context of the upper Bs
arrival in measure 6, where C again serves as a neighbor.
phrase is suppressed: the earlier IIV HC gives way to a VI PAC. Though most of the
phrases content corresponds to what was presented earlier, Chopin offers a particularly
delicious innovation between 231 and 241. Observe how, above F (=
), some residual
upper-note activity based on chromatic lower neighbors and their resolutions emerges:
A<B
A<B
G<A
The underlined notes reiterate the chromatic line of measures 6 through 8 (and 18 through
20). There the B and A were components of the middleground structural descent; here they
represent an interior strand hoisted to a position above the structural F. As the arrow in
1.20 indicates, dissonant As resolution pitch G sounds in the restored interior register,
below the cadential .
Opus 17/4
As a preface to our exploration of the tonic pillar in the Mazurka in A Minor, a review of
1.11 is warranted. Observe how Chopins melody there accomplishes the upward transfer
of Kopfton E by means of arpeggiation. It is especially notable that the bass has already
begun its descending trajectory from the tonic root A before the upper E is secured. Yet
once that happens the soprano joins the bass in pursuing a downward trajectory. Three
consecutive sixths
For the Mazurka in A Minor I depart from standard analytical notation to show the
essence of Chopins writing in an overtly contrapuntal manner. In 1.21a the essential
content of 1.11 is maintained, transposed into A Minor. The representation of soprano C in
its foundational role as an unaccented passing note reveals the motivation avoidance of
parallel fifths that would cause a composer such as Chopin to shift its presentation to the
following accented beat. Several types of expansion are applied concurrently in the
transformation of 1.21a into 1.21b. First, by leading the initiating soprano pitch E to its
upper neighbor F, a series of 76 suspensions graces the descent. Second, a chromatic link
connects the G-B-E passing chord and the F-A-D subdominant.30 Third, the dominant is
expanded via a
voice exchange.
Example 1.21 Mazurka in A Minor (op. 17/4) (a) Contrapuntal model for the tonic
pillar; (b) Analysis of mm. 120.
The measure numbers annotating 1.21b assert that this model serves as the
foundation for Chopins tonic pillar. Notably the Kopfton is omitted at the outset. The
mazurkas first sonority an A-B-D-F embellishing chord that resolves into I6 (at 42 and
61) rather than I5 syntactically follows the imagined moment of the initiating tonic.31 As
in 1.11, an ascending transfer achieved via arpeggiation occurs in the opening measures,
but in this instance that transferred pitch is not the Kopfton ( ), but instead its upper
neighbor: F (presented during the introduction) through A (53) and C (61) to F (72).
Throughout the melodic descent various substitutions occur: F for E at 91, F for D/E at
101, E for C at 111, and C for A at 121. The last two of these substitutions do not occur
during the consequent phrase: the first because a C (an octave higher) actually sounds at
191 (justifying the omission of parentheses around that pitch in 1.21b); the second because
the passing note is omitted when measures 11 and 12 are condensed for presentation in
measure 19. (Chopins abbreviation of the dominant makes room for the consequent
phrases cadential tonic.)
Opus 63/2
The two halves of the tonic pillar in Chopins Mazurka in F Minor pursue contrasting
harmonic trajectories [1.22]. Though both begin with a motion from a prolonged C
embellishing chord to the F Minor tonic, during the antecedent phrase a sequential
progression connecting the tonic and the mediant supports the descent from through an
imagined (above which a prolonged F serves as a substitute) to , while is delayed
via a wobble, supported by II. (Compare with 1.19, measures 14 and 15.) During the
consequent phrase, in contrast, the initial minor tonic is elided, with I in its place
(measure 12). Consequently the progression proceeds to IV, which supports
the surging tonic targets IV, measure 13 is aptly interpreted as
. (Because
rather than as an
Opus 6/1
The two phrases that constitute the Mazurka in F Minors tonic pillar do not conform to
the interruption-generated antecedent/consequent structure of the two-phrase pillars we
have explored above. In fact, the first phrase amounts to a false start: once tonic F Minor
and Kopfton are established (employing reaching-over during the initial ascent), the
bass and soprano both lead upwards a third [1.23]. So far, so good! In most cases the bass
would continue upwards from the mediant to an inverted II or II or to IV, followed by
V. (Compare with the first phrase in 1.22.) Here, however, the phrase unexpectedly loses
its harmonic propulsion. Astonishingly, we waft gradually downwards through tonal space
for four measures, maintaining outer-voice tenths while guided by the circle of fifths:
The C chord upon which the descent lands is, of course, the same C chord as that which
occurred in measure 1.33 In this manner Chopin gives himself a second chance to make
something of his promising opening.
during V, facilitating a
normative contexts for an incomplete upper neighbor displayed in 1.9 and 1.15.) In this
case, exceptionally, B extends into the domain of the goal tonic. As 1.23 reveals, a daring
non-alignment of the soprano and bass elements of the structure occurs, with a belated G
(during 161), which belongs with the dominant chord of 153, serving as the thirdprogressions .36
|:
a1
:|:
a2
:|
Consequently the a2 region must somehow balance what precedes it structurally, despite
its comparatively modest dimensions. Chopin accomplishes this by sacrificing the
mediant.
Example 1.24 Analysis of Mazurka in A Minor (without opus 42B), mm. 0|132.
The mazurkas Kopfton is a primordial entity that does not literally sound in the
upper register at the outset. The melodic C>B from 22 through 31 (matching the preceding
inner-strand A>G) functions as a suspension and resolution based on the assumption of a
prior C preparation.38 An even bolder claim is required for the mediant expansion that
follows: whereas Chopin provides a location (at 03) for an imaginative insertion of the
tonic root A and Kopfton C, the corresponding location for imagining the mediant root and
its E (in the vicinity of 43) is elided. Fortunately both C and E are stated in measures 17
and 18 (after the repeat of the first eight measures), so that both s successor, (B), and
the descant E>D<E in measures 19 and 20 are well grounded.
The means by which Chopin extends III during measures 17 and 18 is called into
service during measures 21 and 22, transposed down a third, to reinstate the tonic
harmony and Kopfton C, this time with no imaginative insertions required. Now the
supertonic (which here evolves into II) links I and V directly. Note that the descant,
which extended the mediants E in measures 18 through 20, is absent. Compactly, a2
indeed succeeds in completing the structure that was initiated during a1 and b.
Opus 50/1
The half cadence characteristic of an interruption is not the only means by which a
composer may express a sense of irresolution in music. In the Mazurka in G Major Chopin
composes eight measures without proceeding beyond the initiating tonic, whose final
iteration within the phrase by default serves as the cadence.39 (Beats 2 and 3 of measure
8 play a transitional role between the tonic pillars two phrases.) A structural departure
from I-space emerges only after the fresh start in measure 9 [1.25].
instead an accented passing note connecting the preceding outer C and interior A: is an
unfolded interval of V7.) Thus, though the structure is unevenly distributed, with almost
all of the content falling within the second phrase, it eventually begins to resemble what
we have come to expect of a tonic pillar with Kopfton .
Opus 50/2
Whereas the tonic pillar in 1.25 begins with a phrase that goes nowhere tonally, and that in
1.23 ascends a third, that in the Mazurka in A Major descends a third [1.26]. Chopins
timing is at first extraordinarily luxuriant: an eight-measure introduction arpeggiates
E<G<B<D, preparing the arrival of the tonic harmony and of Kopfton C (=
).
Though the melody sounds both a C and an E during measure 9, here the structural
priority of C is emphasized through the linear descent of C>B>A over four measures.
(Compare with the less decisive situation in 1.25.) The tonics progression is then repeated
a third lower during the following four measures. In sum, Chopin has devoted eight
measures to a mere I56. Rather than continuing with this languorous trajectory, he chose
to start afresh in the next phrase: the G-E-D chord at the end of measure 16 functions in
the role of the introductions chord, facilitating the restoration of the initiating tonic
harmony in measure 17.
the outer voices. (The parenthetical A in the upper voice [1.26, measure 26] sounds an
octave higher in the score.) A conventional I6 approach to II follows, though the II and
its successor, V7, collide. (That is, the supertonic sounds over the dominant root during
2712, as indicated by the bracket placed above the II and V numerals in 1.26.)
Incorporating upper-third play (B<D C>A) reminiscent of that which embellishes the
foreground C>B>A line of measures 9 through 12, Chopin achieves a PAC in measure
28.
The tonic prolongation of measures 17 through 26 is based on a I III V7 I
progression, as displayed in 1.26. Note the wobbly E above bass C and the presentation
of V7 in its position. The connection between the tonic and the mediant is achieved via a
circular progression: A D G C. The first link in that progression is filled in as
A>F>D.40 At this foreground level one belatedly discovers how Chopin incorporates
the A>F span, introduced during the a1 phrase, into a broader structure. With that
succession now condensed into four measures through an elision (A>E<A>F becomes
A>E<F), the F divides the circular progressions initial descending fifth into two thirds.
Opus 63/3
An unusual occurrence in the Mazurka in C Minor should induce some analytical
speculation: whereas the initial tonic pillar employs four phrases, spread over thirty-two
measures, its reprise near the end of the mazurka occupies only two phrases and sixteen
measures (49 through 64), followed by a partial repeat incorporating variation. Clearly the
initial pillar must contain some dispensable content. The second and third phrases pursue
two common though optional features of minor-key compositions: an upward shift to
the mediant during the second phrase, and an interruption during the third. Neither of
those devices is employed in the condensed reprise of the pillar. However, 1.27 reveals
how both devices contribute to the establishment of a ternary internal form for A1
reminiscent of that in 1.24. Whereas the second phrases extension to the mediant could
have linked the initial I and an upward continuation to the dominant (again like 1.24), here
Chopin devotes the first part of the third phrase (measures 17 through 22) to reestablishing the C tonic.41
The analyses in this chapter provide compelling evidence that, despite the
extraordinary richness and diversity on display in these tonic pillars, Chopins
compositional style depends to a large extent upon mixing and matching a finite range of
structural devices, all designed to perform specific roles within either broad or local
traversals of harmonic progressions from the tonic through the dominant back to the tonic,
as support for descending third- or fifth-progressions from the Kopfton to the tonic pitch.
Whereas chapter 1 has focused on the tonic-to-tonic harmonic progressions characteristic
of a regular tonic pillar, chapter 2 will place these pillars within the broader tonic-to-tonic
trajectories of complete mazurkas.
In the mazurkas that we explore in this chapter, repetitions of the tonic pillar alternate with
episodes that pursue a wide range of tonal paths, usually diatonic though occasionally not.
The most common trajectories are the maintenance of the tonic key (perhaps with a shift
of mode) or proceeding to the dominant (perhaps tonicized). Around a third of the
episodes pursue tonal paths, marked by shading in table 2.1, that extend beyond the tonic
or the dominant.
Table 2.1
Opus
Key
Examples
Pillars
First Non-Pillar
Trajectory
Second Non-Pillar
Trajectory
6/1
1.23, 2.18
V prolonged
I to V
6/2
1.1, 2.19
V tonicized
I to V
6/4
1.15, 2.1
I prolonged
6/5
1.2, 2.2
I to tonicized V
7/1
1.3, 2.20
V tonicized
I to V
7/2
1.19, 2.15
I prolonged
I prolonged
7/4
1.11, 2.21
I to V
I to V
17/2
1.20, 2.3
I to V
17/3
1.16, 2.16
I to V
17/4
1.21, 2.22
V prolonged
I to V
24/2
1.4, 2.23
I to upper third
(CV1)
24/3
1.5, 2.4
I to upper third
(CV1)
24/4
1.6, 2.24
I to upper thirds V
I to upper thirds V
30/2
1.7, 2.5
I to upper third
30/3
1.8, 2.6
I to lower thirds V
33/1
1.12, 2.7
I to upper third
33/2
1.17, 2.8
I to lower third
(CV2)
33/3
1.18, 2.17
V tonicized
I to V
41/1
1.13, 2.9
V tonicized
41/4
1.14, 2.10
I prolonged
42B
1.24, 2.11
I prolonged
50/1
1.25, 2.25
progression in tonic
key
progression in tonic
key
50/2
1.26, 2.26
upper third
tonicized
lower fifth
tonicized
56/1
1.9, 2.27
I to lower third
(CV1)
I to lower third
(CV2)
56/2
1.10, 2.12
lower third
tonicized
63/2
1.22, 2.13
I to V
63/3
1.27, 2.14
I prolonged
To conserve space the examples in this chapter present the tonic pillars in an
abbreviated form. In each case a more detailed graph may be found in chapter 1. For the
same reason a phrase pair defined by a local interruption may be abbreviated. Because
most of the mazurkas contain multiple episodes, it was not feasible to arrange the analyses
in this chapter according to their various tonal trajectories. (The data in table 2.1 facilitates
locating all the episodes that proceed along any given path.) Instead, we shall proceed by
opus number in three groups, distinguished by the total number of tonic pillars: two, four,
and then three. Exploring the four-pillar mazurkas before those with three pillars is
warranted because in some cases the latter are conceived as abbreviations of the former.
Though a coda generally will be displayed more compactly than will the mazurkas nonpillar episode(s), it will be at least minimally acknowledged in the voice-leading graph
when one occurs.
Two-pillar mazurkas
Opus 6/4
The Mazurka in E Minors B section repeats the foundational structure of A1:
middleground
mode or key. (Compare 1.15 and 2.1.) Yet contrasting mechanisms are employed to
connect and
progression featuring IV occur, while a local interruption allows two measures of content
to be spread over four measures. In B a circle of fifths is deployed as the means of
connecting I and V. It is paced so as to spread the structural content over four measures.
The confluence of dissonance and local chromaticism in the second and fourth chords of
the circle creates surges that push towards the succeeding downbeats, thereby emphasizing
the descent in tenths displayed in 2.1. Whereas the bass connects the E and B roots, an
upper line traverses a G>D diminished fourth.1 An F, emerging above that D from a
strand that transpires in the tenor register, helps to shape the third-progression (beamed in
2.1) that spans the four measures.
a note that in its tonic context serves as an upper third to the Kopfton to perform a deep
structural role when transposed into the dominant key. The voice leading works as
follows:
Opus 17/2
The Mazurka in E Minors tonic key is established through the fifth-progression that
transpires during the A1 tonic pillar [1.20]. The components of the extended B section that
follows pursue a range of tonal goals. At first the tonic is prolonged, with a temporary
modal shift to E Major in measures 31 and 32 [2.3]. Next E Minors mediant G-B-D is
tonicized. Chopin extends this mediant through measure 49 using local embellishing
chords infused with chromaticism. Finally an unusual realization of IV56 leads to the
sections tonal goal, V, which falls into place at the last possible moment at 523,
coinciding with the melodys upbeat B that inaugurates A2. (Compare with 03.) By this
point the background descent has reached
(which sounds first in the bass and then in the tenor register) is covered by B, the of
A2s initial tonic.
a slur placed within parentheses) and the ultimately triumphant G-to-D tonic-to-dominant
motion are juxtaposed in 2.3. The background descent from through
to occurs
from G through A to B in the soprano. This important activity may take listeners by
surprise, since Chopin here converts melodic devices that had played embellishing roles
during the mediant prolongation into the instigators of the harmonic motion to
Opus 24/3
When a mazurkas B section leads to the dominant, a background descent from Kopfton
or to
often occurs. That option not only provides a high level of contrast, but also
ideally prepares for the tonics return during A2 for a post-interruption descent to .
Another option occasionally employed by Chopin is to proceed to the mediant, which
offers neither the level of contrast nor the tonic-targeting characteristic of the dominant
harmony. Because both and are components of the mediant, the Kopfton generally
will be prolonged.
The Mazurka in A Majors A1 and A2 sections open with a melodic unfolding of the
third from A to C [1.5]. That interval also guides the broad bass trajectory during the B
section [2.4]. It appears that Chopin intends to traverse that span via a descending circle of
fifths: A D G C. However, in his execution of that agenda the projection of the initial
A>D fifth as two thirds is abandoned after F is attained at 183. Observe how local upper
thirds (reminiscent of the upper thirds that pervade the A1 section) embellish various
points along the way. The initial bass A is preceded by downward motion from a C minor
chord. Likewise F emerges from upper third A. In my view the F minor chord at 192
should initially be perceived as the starting point for another descending third, this time
from F to D. But Chopin, recognizing that his strategy might become tedious if pursued
adamantly, elides this passage. (It appears within square brackets in 2.4.) Instead, a
collision occurs: a D indeed does emerge in the bass sooner than expected and in
coordination with an apposite though accelerated soprano A>G>F but concurrently the
following chord in the broad circular motion sounds.4 Because this collision does not
allow diatonic D to wobble to D, the G chord emerges as G.5
transpires during measures 36b through 43. Though a structural close on is achieved in
measure 36, residual echoes of the Kopfton persist.
Opus 30/2
In the Mazurka in F Minor, the A1 tonic pillars initial IV (at 163) was preceded by the
introductions prolonged subdominant [1.7]. In contrast, the A2 pillar (whose initial IV is
embellished through the addition of 6-phase G at 483) is preceded by the III that is
attained during the B section [2.5]. As often is the case, a segment of the circle of fifths
(F B E A) serves as the means by which the tonic and the mediant are connected.
Concurrently the melody within the B section focuses on C, which falls within a
downward trajectory connecting A1s cadential F to A2s reinstated Kopfton A.
key that conforms to Chopins misleading key signature of two sharps) seems at first to be
performing the role of tonic pillar.
Opus 30/3
Chopin confronted options at every turn as he composed each mazurka. Whereas usually
listeners hear only one out of several potential harmonic trajectories, in the Mazurka in D
Major Chopin makes a point of juxtaposing alternatives. The road not taken becomes
instead one of two roads that he takes in succession. Earlier we noted how he alternates
between retaining D Major and moving into D Minor during the tonic pillar. The
accidentals within parentheses in 1.8 convey his maybe yes, maybe no attitude, which
persists until the wobbly note F reverts to F in the mazurkas final measure. Other sorts
of options are juxtaposed during the B section.
Note in 2.6 the connection between the pillars tonic root D and the dominant root
A of measures 58 and 59. (This dominant resolves to I6 rather than to I5, a topic to be
addressed later.) Bass G (measure 57), which supports an inverted II, precedes A.
Chopin well understood that two very common strategies for connecting the A1 sections
tonic root and measure 57s supertonic bass are an ascent via the mediant (D<F<G) and
the progression I56 II (in which the tonics 6-phase chord might be dominant-emulating:
VI targeting II). Decisions, decisions! In this case Chopin surprises us by not deciding:
he instead juxtaposes. The descending circle of fifths at the onset of the B section connects
I and VI (measure 32), which could have continued directly to II (as arrives eventually,
in measure 57). Chopin instead halts the harmonic trajectory, backtracking to pursue the
circle of fifths again. This time he proceeds along the circle only as far as F. After an
extended mediant prolongation (in measures 49 through 56, not shown in the graph), the II
harmony finally is attained.
the
In some especially creative writing, he slithers downwards chromatically from F (the root
of B Minors dominant) to D (the root of D Majors tonic) during measures 70 through
79. The mazurka concludes with a reprise of the tonic pillar, this time with the cadential
tonic shifting from minor to major quality at a breathtakingly late moment.
Opus 33/1
The melodic B>A>G that played a prominent role during the Mazurka in G Minors
tonic pillar [1.12] guides the B section on its path from tonic G to an inverted C chord,
initiating a circular progression to the diatonic mediant, B major [2.7]. Complementing the
descending fifth-progression within A1 (D to G), that C chord supports the upward
arpeggiation of a sixth (G<C<E in measures 21 and 22). Consequently an upper
neighbor, E, embellishes the Kopfton in the middleground structure, echoing the local
D<E>D neighboring motions within A1 (measures 01, 34, 5, etc.). Often the mediant
will serve as an intermediary in a progression from the tonic to the dominant (as in 2.3 and
2.6).8 In this case it serves as an upper-third embellishment of the tonic (akin to the
structure of 2.4). As was the case at 03, the lone D at 363 signals the return of I-space.
the prolongation of the neighboring F, the unaccented passing note D shifts to the
following downbeat position. Similarly in measure 23, C>B over cantus pitch E (fourth
species) is embellished by the chromatic lower neighbor B and the upper neighbor D, so
that the C suspensions resolution pitch is delayed until 241, where it coincides with the
tonic root. The foundational structure without these local rhythmic shifts is displayed
in 2.8.
[1.13]
is
complemented
by
an
ascending
sixth-progression
(D<E<F<G<A<B), connecting the dominants third and octave, during the B section
that follows [2.9]. Though the dominant often supports the Urlinies descent to , here
is maintained. In fact, inner-strand D takes a position above Kopfton B and serves as the
initiation point for a descending fifth-progression during the 6 phase of a dominant
prolongation
melody close to the B sections D starting point, which is restored at 411, preceded by a
retransitional embellishing chord featuring the diminished fifth
. A renewed ascent to
B, achieved at 451 and again covered by D, gives the B section a ternary internal form.
by proceeding neither back to B nor to G, but instead to the restored tonic E of A2. Outervoice parallel octaves are averted through the presentation of the surging tonic in
position.
That D is restored to the upper register during the following dominant harmony
(assuming that the D at 561 belongs in the preceding measure). The cadential C (at
562) occurs in that register as well.
As the measure numbers that annotate 2.10 indicate, a second traversal of this
progression occurs immediately after that cadence. All goes well until the cadential
moment (651), at which point Chopin substitutes C Minors I6 for the expected C-EG tonic. This insertion results in a second approach to the tonic goal, temporarily
reminding listeners of the darker forces of C Minor that underlie the mazurka. The
progression transpires as
m.
65
69 71
72
73
C Minor:
I6
IV56
opening tonic is displaced by I6, with a restoration of I5 (at 443) only after the
49/51
52
53
54
55
57
58
Opus 56/2
The G<C<E arpeggiation that initiates the Mazurka in C Majors tonic pillar [1.10]
performs the same initiation duty, now transposed into tonicized A Minor and filled in by
passing notes, at the onset of the B section: E<F<G<A<B<C during measures 28 and
29. Though E serves as the movements Kopfton (now a fifth above tonicized root A,
rather than a third above C), it temporarily remains out of the limelight so that C may
serve as the starting point for a descending third-progression (with interruption) during the
B sections first eight measures [2.12]. As was also the case during A1, Chopin moves
freely between registers: the third-progression begins in the lower register, yet concludes
in the upper register. Kopfton E re-emerges during measure 38.14 As we have seen on
several other occasions, a circle of fifths (here with surging chords: A D G C) is
deployed to connect the tonic and the mediant. A conventional II
I cadence supports
the latter half of the fifth-progression from E, which is then repeated in full.
not emphasize the E beyond its initial statement in his reformulated A2. Concurrently he
invigorates another basic idea: the persistent F>F that occurs six times during A1.
Normally if one had to choose one of those two pitches to eliminate, it would be F,
leaving F as a diatonic neighbor to Kopfton E. Chopin surprises us by retaining F in place
of F. (The latter will have its turn also, in measure 56 and its replicates.) Within this
mazurka Chopin has created contexts for (measures 6 and 56),
and
(measures 3738),
Opus 63/2
During the Mazurka in F Minors tonic pillar, the antecedent phrases melodic descent
from Kopfton C through imagined B to A transpired in the context of I proceeding to III
[1.22]. The background
in a similar way, though in this case III arrives before the descent begins [2.13]. The
continuation to the supertonic is not surprising, since II points toward the B sections
dominant goal, which will arrive after a repetition of what has been accomplished thus far
within B. One pitch during that repetition is especially noteworthy: D at 303. Whenever I
and III are juxtaposed, the analyst should consider whether the III assumes a prominent
position along the path to V, or whether it instead resides within a broader prolongation
of I. The first of these interpretations is projected in 2.13, based on how measure 22 is
structured: though the tonic pitch F sounds, it serves there as a passing note connecting
IIIs E and IIs G. (Via chordal unfurling, F is doubled in the bass.) Chopins
reconfiguration of this chord during the repetition (at 303) instead supports the second
interpretation, since with D the chord now represents a chromatic variant of I6 (F-A-CD), another common herald of II. Though it is a small point, Chopins subtle change
reveals the richness of his thought on harmonic processes.
turn out to play contrasting roles. Chopins repeat of I6 II (measures 30 through 32) in
the more assertive form VI II (measures 33 and 34) provides a strong incentive to
interpret the next two measures as V I. Yet in 2.13 the potential tonic chord is displayed
instead as a passing within a prolongation of the dominant harmony. This passage
parallels the mazurkas first three measures: the tonic arrives in measure 4, not measure 2.
Even when the is unfurled (as in measure 42 and measure 36), F is not asserted as the
tonic root. Chopin goes even further in developing this construction. Whereas in measure
37 a D is added to the embellishing chord as a neighbor, in measure 39 that D is
absorbed as a chord member, consequently lowering its resolution by a third, to an A
major chord. In the broader context this A chord serves as an embellishment of the
dominant (as conveyed by the figures and the abbreviations N and W in 2.13). The
dominant function resumes at the onset of the A2 tonic pillar, followed by the reemergence of Kopfton C and tonic root F, setting the stage for the descent to the final
PAC.15
Opus 63/3
The ascent from C through D to Kopfton E during the opening measures of the Mazurka
in C Minors A1 section provides the kernel that Chopin creatively expands during the B
section [1.27 and 2.14]. An interior E that sounds inconspicuously at 322, during A1s
PAC, serves as the initiation point for a stepwise ascending line that traverses a full octave
(filling out that from 03 through 42), leading to the restored upper-register Kopfton for
the A2 section. (Though Chopin employs a D Major key signature in his score, that of C
Minor is retained in 2.14.) At first the tonic is prolonged (from 343 through 442), taking on
first the major third and later also the minor seventh of I. The long-extended E results
in a temporary conversion into C Major. Consequently the subdominant that resolves I
is IV. Yet the ascending 56 sequence (with surging 6-phase chords) that leads to IVs
upper-third chord targets C Minors A major (measure 49), rather than C Majors A
minor. The broader progression continues with IVs 6-phase chord in its II incarnation
(at 493).16 By this point the melodic content of the A2 tonic pillar is commencing, with a
harmonization that at first contrasts that of the A1 presentation. Yet with the
of
measure 50 the correlation is restored. Though the tonic pillar within A2 is shortened and
modified, a suitable PAC is achieved in measure 64. Those modifications are of special
interest, in that they correlate with highlights of the B section: I recurs in measure 60,
IV in measure 61, and II in measures 6162. An imitation-enhanced repetition of most
of the modified pillar concludes the mazurka.
Four-pillar mazurkas
Opus 7/2
The four presentations of the tonic pillar (a) within the Mazurka in A Minor are arranged
as follows:
A1
|: a1
:|: b
a2
A2
:|
A Minor
|: a1
A Major
:|: b
a2
:|
A Minor
Consequently the B section stands out more boldly than do the b regions. Whereas b
resides within an internal rounded ternary form, B is a more independent entity what
musicians often call a trio. Given how often the tonic pillar recurs, it is not surprising that
its internal binary structure (the antecedent and consequent phrases shown in 1.19) is
truncated during the a2 statements, where only its consequent half is presented.
The embellishing chord that occurs during the a regions first measure influenced
how Chopin shaped the b region. Whereas in its initial statement the chord might be
imagined as deriving from concurrent neighboring motions E<F>E and (C)<D>C
another common context for a would be
8
Chopin devotes the entire b region to filling in the space between this devices
and
components, deploying a hybrid circle of fifths. Whereas bs first two measures present a
viable start from a1s A through D (realized as F-A-C-E = D) to G, Chopin
abandons that progression, backtracking to pursue a more novel route. From a reinstated
D in measure 19 he drops down a third to B.17 The continuation of the circle of fifths
proceeds along this lower trajectory, as shown by the letter names that annotate 2.15.18 A
corresponding upper-third shift occurs as the circle draws to a close in measure 24,
where E-G-B-D arrives as if rooted on C, but is departed as if rooted on E. Over the
course of the b region the melody fills in the tonics E>A fifth, while the bass concurrently
fills in its A>E fourth. (These expanses are slurred in 2.15.) The continuation in measure
25 (which corresponds to measure 1) is unfurled into position to accommodate the
inverted A chord of 243.
Opus 17/3
During the Mazurka in A Majors tonic pillar the Kopfton C (= ) serves as the starting
point for a descending third-progression to the tonic root [1.16]. In the context of the A1
sections internal a1 b a2 form (in measures 0|1 through 40), that third-progressions C
leads through B during b to the restored pillars endpoint A during a2 [2.16]. (These
pitches will constitute the background descent during the reprise after the mazurkas B
section.) The b region begins with six measures of strumming on II, focused melodically
on the chromatic filling-in of IIs F>D third, thereby prolonging the Kopftons upper
neighbor, D. The next two measures feature an evolved dominant, during which the
regions melodic goal (B) is attained.21
also energizes measures 41|42 through 45|46, where the arpeggiated bass from the tonic
root to the dominant root (F<A<C) is mimicked in the soprano as C<E<G, after
which C is restored preceding the descent to F. For locomotion, Chopin deploys a
circular progression with one omitted element: F (B) E A D G C. Consequently
the bald parallel motion on display in 2.16 does not occur in the musical foreground.
moves beyond the B chord, ultimately to D Majors dominant, A-C-E. Consequently the
soprano F here functions broadly as a chromatic passing note, rather than as a wobbly
note, even if its successor E sounds in the bass (at 691) rather than in the soprano, where
yet another appears within parentheses in my graph.
Whereas IIs root E serves as the diatonic second scale degree in both D Major and D
Minor, the diatonic sixth scale degrees are not identical. In D Major, B serves as , and in
the context of I56 II the tonics 6-phase chord often evolves into a surging VI, targeting
II. In a minor key, where B serves as , one might instead encounter VI targeting II,
wherein the supertonics lowering fixes the augmented fourth interval from diatonic
up to diatonic (transferring the imperfect interval to the connection between II and V).
Observe that in this mazurka Chopin in fact proceeds from B-D-F (the I6 from the
parallel minor key) to E-G-B (II). How is this accomplished?
Though B<E is an awkward relationship within diatonic tonality (modulo 7), it is a
favored relationship within chromatic tonal space (modulo 12), since it represents exactly
half the span of an octave. It can be traversed with ease once the bounds of diatonic
tonality are removed: for example, as 2+2+2 or as 3+3. Chopin pursues the latter course:
10 1 4 in modulo 12 numerical notation (where C = 0). Because music notation was
designed to accommodate compositions conceived in modulo 7, composers had to contend
with infelicities such as a succession from B to D (the first +3) followed by one from
D [C] to E (the second +3).
Turning now to some details not conveyed in 2.17, note that the D Major tonics
chromaticized 6-phase chord (B-D-F) is tonicized during an eight-measure phrase
leading from B to a cadence on its F dominant (measures 49 through 56). The following
phrase, charged with undertaking the first +3 ascent, first converts to the parallel minor
(B-D-F), thereby placing goal D within a locally diatonic context. The D-F-A chord
that arrives in measure 62 plays no role within D Major. It instead is a connector (within
an obstinate circular progression: 3+3) between two chords that do function within that
broad context.
Chopin deals with the task of enharmonic conversion at 651, where a dominantemulating evolved state of the D/C chord targets F. Yet the F-A-C chord does not
take hold. Chopin backtracks, resolving the E-G-B-D chord repeatedly. Only on the
third try does its resolution endure and function within the broader harmonic progression.
That chord is not F minor, but instead A major (in measure 70). The accomplishment of
the second +3 is sudden and unexpected, yet alert listeners would of course be aware of
the special properties of the particular evolved chord that Chopin introduces in measure
65. Whereas C-E-G-B would have targeted F forthrightly, E-G-B-D offers
alternatives. Chopin demonstrates that its root might be C, or that it might be E. By
measure 69 we come to understand that E-G-B-D stands for G-B-D-F, an
interpretation confirmed when ninth F yields to root E. Having achieved II (thereby
completing the 3+3 ascent), the dominant goal is easily attained in measure 70. The
mapping of A1s structure into the A2 space rounds out the mazurka, as shown in 2.17.
The background arrival on is followed by a tonic-focused coda.
Three-pillar mazurkas
Opus 6/1
The pitch C, the upper third to Kopfton A (= ), is prominently projected during the
Mazurka in F Minors a1 tonic pillar [1.23]. When A gives way to G (supported by V)
during the A1 sections b region, C serves as an upper fourth, repeated forcefully on the
downbeat of every second measure.24 At first this buries G, though a forzando G
emerges in the upper register at 202 (still below the highest C). The dominant is
prolonged without a tonicizing harmonic progression [2.18]. Instead, three concurrent
descending lines connect chord members during the regions eight measures: most
prominently, the third from G to E (which serves as the dominants counterpart to a1s
A>F third); the fourth from C to G; and the fourth from E to B, in parallel sixths
below. G is restored in the lower register as the terminus of the C>G fourth (during
243). The return of the melodys A during the a2 region that follows conforms to the
structure of an interruption (here at the middleground level), as shown in 2.18. The goal of
the melodic descent, F, arrives at 402.
Opus 6/2
Since serves as the Kopfton for the Mazurka in C Minor [1.1], as it did also in opus
6/1, it is not surprising that the young Chopin created virtually identical foundational
structures for the A1 sections of these two works. (Compare 2.18 and 2.19.) A descending
line again prevails during the internal b region of opus 6/2, this time with more overt
harmonic support than was the case in opus 6/1, as the G Major tonicization displayed in
2.19 suggests. Whereas C , following its surge tendency (), might have led upwards to
D for the dominant harmony, followed by an 87 descending motion through C to the
melodys B goal, in this case that D is elided, permitting a direct connection between C
and C.25
statement of the tonic pillar with written-out repeat substitutes for a full a1 b a2 reprise)
achieves closure on .
Opus 7/1
The Mazurka in B Major, whose tonic pillar projects Kopfton
[1.3], shares an
interruption-based middleground structure for its rounded ternary A1 section with opus 6/1
and opus 6/2, with modest variations in the detail. (Compare 2.18, 2.19, and 2.20.) An F
sounds above both the D (= ) of the a1 tonic pillar [1.3] and the C (= ) of the b region,
and in both cases upper neighbor G embellishes this F. A structurally deep interruption
occurs at the close of the B section (again matching opus 6/1 and opus 6/2), here achieved
via a chromatic D>D>C descent (completed in the tenor register), supported by I II V.
The restoration of the tonic and the post-interruption descent to occur within A2, which
abbreviates the full reprise of the initial A1. Chopin instead inserts repeat signs requesting
a second pass through the B and A2 sections (reminiscent of the once common, though by
Chopins day often neglected, repeat of the development and recapitulation sections within
a likewise ternary sonata-form movement). That feature is not shared with opus 6/1 or
opus 6/2.
Opus 7/4
Though serves as the Mazurka in A Majors Kopfton [1.11], the structural agenda of its
A1 section (divided into a1, b, and a2 regions) still corresponds to those of the three
mazurkas with Kopfton that we have just explored: namely, a local descent to (here
prolonging rather than ) during a1, an interruption on
Opus 17/4
Kopfton (E), prolonged via a local fifth-progression during the Mazurka in A Minors
tonic pillar [1.21b], is the starting point for a middleground descent commencing during
the ensuing b region [2.22]. Note how Chopin auditions two alternative harmonizations
for C (E-A-C in measures 38 and 42 and D-F-A-C in measure 40) before proceeding to
B. (Some upper neighbors embellish E-A-C, as shown in 2.22.) Since the descent is
interrupted at , the A1 sections middleground fifth-progression is completed during its
a2 region.
This mazurkas coda is extraordinary. The reading in 2.22 depends upon two
potentially controversial assertions.27 First, I suggest that the II harmony spelled as DF-A-C in measure 109 is prolonged through measure 114 (where Chopin spells D
enharmonically as E). A parallel progression of diminished seventh chords (embellished
by two anticipations, F and B) connects those two supertonic statements.28 The
melodys unfolded D>C is complemented by B<D in measure 115 and A<C in measures
115116.29 Second, I suggest that the bass A, which functions as a pedal point, prevents
the interior A pitch (doubled) during measure 115 from descending to G, as its role as a
suspension normally would require. The A-B-D-F chord substitutes for G-B-D-F (a
highly evolved V). A tonic resolution occurs in measure 116. Once that progression has
been repeated and briefly extended, Chopin proceeds to echo the material of the
introduction. Consequently the mazurka closes with a tonic chord embellished by F, an
unresolved upper neighbor.
Opus 24/2
The relationship between G-B-D and D-F-A in measure 13 of the Mazurka in C Major is
interpreted in 1.4 as a embellishment (unfurled) leading into the harmonically asserted
supertonic . A similar , now both unfurled and tonicized, is prolonged throughout the
works B section of this five-section (A1 B A2 C A3) mazurka [2.23]. This tonicization
offers a surprise. Normally if the pitch F is established as a temporary tonic in C Major,
the diatonic pitch collection of F Major will be employed. However, in this case the C
Major pitches are retained (B instead of B), despite the fact that a I II V I harmonic
progression clearly establishes F as a local tonic. Whereas the B of measure 22 occurs
often as a chromatic pitch in F Major (as the third of II), the B in the melody at the end
of measure 27 projecting V7 as a chord with a major seventh is not characteristic of
that key. Consequently the mode of the F tonicization is not major, but instead Lydian.
surging E chord, a strategy motivated by the fact that this mazurkas A sections commence
on I6. An idiosyncratic ascending 56 sequence serves as the means of locomotion.
Whereas a diatonic sequence with evolved 6-phase chords might proceed as
C56
D56
E5
C A
D B
D56
E56
E5
C A
D B
E C[B]
When a linear pattern works in units smaller than the diatonic steps, some enharmonic
conversions will be required, as here an inevitable consequence of using notation
designed for diatonic modulo 7 tonality to convey what is essentially a chromatic modulo
12 conception (here with the cycle targeting D elided).
One detail of Chopins writing during the sequence is astonishing. Note that measures
7374 and 8586 are identical in pitch content. Yet one precedes an E chord and the
other an E chord. How can this be? In the former, Chopin treats the E as an upper
neighbor to chord member D, so that
targeting the E chord of measure 84. In the latter, Chopin treats A as an anticipation of
the following E chords third (alas, occurring at the same moment as an enharmonic shift),
so that
Opus 24/4
In a minor-key composition the mediant often emerges on the path between the tonic and
the dominant (as is the case during this mazurkas tonic pillar [1.6]). Yet it may serve
instead as a sort of major-key oasis: from the tonic to its upper-third chord and back again.
The Mazurka in B Minor deploys such an oasis twice: during A1s b region, and again
during the B section. Though Chopin uses contrasting means to attain the mediant in these
two cases, they both conclude with the same strategy for tonic restoration, designed to
accommodate the specific manner in which the tonic pillar opens.
As often happens in a minor-key context, a segment of the descending circle of fifths
connects I and III at the onset of A1s b region in conjunction with a stepwise ascent from
Kopfton D to A [2.24]. When serves as a movements Kopfton, it generally will
appear at the bottom of a third- or fifth-progression during the tonicization of the mediant
key. The harmonic progression that transpires through measure 28 supports not only the
melodic descending fifth from A to D, but also an interior strand that descends by step
from D to F. The mediant oasis continues with a repetition of the structure (not
graphed).30 Yet a surprising turn of events emerges in measure 35, where the progressions
penultimate chord, V7 in D, loses its will to continue and quickly veers downwards in
half steps, landing on the V7 of the mazurkas B Minor home key (retaining the wrong
note D in place of C, as was also the case during the initial statement of the tonic pillar
[1.4]). Squiggly lines in 2.24, like those in 1.23 and 2.6, indicate the free fall through tonal
space.
Chopins strategy for accomplishing the B-to-D shift during the B section contrasts
the earlier circular strategy, yet it is closely allied to the D-to-B shift that closes both of
these contrasts to the tonic pillar. We noted above that two dominants are juxtaposed at the
end of A1s b region:
D Major:
B Minor:
Chopin employs the same principle in reverse during measures 53 through 64:
B Minor:
D Major:
F
A
In this case there is no free fall (in part because the bass ascends from F to A), but
instead a harmonic trajectory is pursued in the context of D Major, noted in 2.24. While
attaining the mediant, Chopin also transfers Kopfton D down an octave.
Above and beyond the contrasting melodic and harmonic frameworks, two features
of the B sections D tonicization differ from what occurred during A1s b region. First,
despite the apparent intent to contrast the minor-mode tonic, D Major soon takes on
features of D Minor. Second, the phrase that establishes D as a local tonic ends in a half
cadence at both measures 76 and 92 (extended). Consequently the dominant harmony that
Chopin calls upon in his strategy to get back to B Minor is already established as a goal
and does not need to be removed from its context, as was the case with the A dominant in
measure 35. Chopin adds a further element of excitement during this second traversal: his
free fall begins not with the dominants fifth (E) in the melody, but with its seventh. The
third G>F>E>E (measures 95 through 97) precedes the E>D>D that occurs in A1s
b region.
The mazurkas background structural descent transpires during A2. Though the
preceding B section dwarfs the A2 phrases eight measures, Chopin elected not to reprise
the entire A1 rounded ternary predecessor as A2. Instead, after stating the tonic pillar a
second time (as was the case during A1s a1 region as well) he proceeds immediately to a
substantial coda, where a poignant surprise emerges: at the end of a second pass through
an extended and evolving embellishing chord, the tonic re-emerges with major third D (at
1282), which is retained through the end of the mazurka.
Opus 50/1
The D-F-A-C chord that precedes I at the opening of the Mazurka in G Major does not
participate in a substantive harmonic progression [1.25]. However, in both the B and C
sections of the five-part form, Chopin creates a vibrant tonic-prolonging harmonic
progression that calls upon this chord (at the onset of the second and third statements of
the tonic pillar) to take on a more assertive harmonic role, as V7 within a I56 II() V I
progression [2.25]. The B section proceeds only so far as II, pointing to A2s initiating
V I. During C, V (initially with both ninth and seventh) is attained and then reiterated
once the tonic pillar (A3) begins. In the former, II surges towards V, whereas in the latter
the tonics 6-phase chord surges (as VI) towards II.
Opus 50/2
Recall that a C major chord (C minor with a wobbly E) crops up during the Mazurka in
A Majors tonic pillar [1.26, measures 22 through 24]. Later, a C Minor tonicization
extends through the B section within the mazurkas five-part form [2.26]. Its initial C
chord likewise incorporates E, propelling (in conjunction with the seventh, B) a surge
towards C Minors IV at the outset.33 (The chords diatonic C-E-G state is elided.) In
fact, since the section ends with a Picardy third, a minor tonic never sounds. It is sensed
through the pitches A, B, and D that occur during the phrase interiors. The two phrases
(measures 2932 and 3336, which are integrated in 2.26) differ in two principal respects.
First, the second phrase is more overt in its harmonic orientation, with the bass potently
projected as C>F<G<C. Second, they realize the notion of antecedent/consequent pair in
an uncommon way. Here Kopfton C is an octave above tonicized root C. Chopin elects to
traverse a descending sixth-progression (from C to E) over the course of the section,
proceeding only so far as the dominants seventh (F) during the antecedent phrase.34 The
concluding E resolves that dissonance definitively only during the consequent phrase (at
the end of which the inner-strand D>C is transferred to the top of the texture).
deploys a familiar tonal trajectory during the middle part (y) of the sections three-part
form: from the tonics 6-phase chord through II to V7. The II harmony is enlivened by the
pitch C, an anticipation of the following dominants third. (The C results from Chopins
maintenance of measure 70s melodic contour despite the contrasting harmonic trajectory.)
A final statement of the tonic pillar brings the mazurka to a close, with a background
descent to coordinating with the PAC.
Opus 56/1
The Mazurka in B Majors tonic pillar is unusual in that it begins with an extended II to
V7 harmonic succession, preceding the tonic arrival at 161 [1.9]. Consequently the tonal
design of the B1 and B2 sections must be compatible with having II as an immediate
successor, a situation not encountered in any of the other mazurkas we have explored.
Chopins instinct to use the tonics 6-phase chord as the B1 sections goal (measures 69ff.)
reflects the prominence of I56 II V7 I progressions in the music he knew and composed
[2.27a]. In this case I6, unfurled as diatonic G-B-D, sounds initially in its first chromatic
variant, G-B-D, which Chopin spells enharmonically as A-C-E. Because a D [E]
region (a tonicized expansion of Gs upper-fifth embellishing chord that eventually
targets G as D) precedes the G [A] chords arrival in measure 69, an E Major key
signature is employed. As is often the case in ascending a third from the tonic (here B to
D [E]), a segment of the descending circle of fifths is deployed (B E A D).
Whereas D arrives during the fourth measure of the B1 materials first statement
(measure 48), it is present from the onset of the second statement (measure 61). In the first
statement a G [A] chord (measure 53) functions as IV within the local tonicization of
D Major, whereas at measure 69 it takes on the role of I6 in the connection of B Majors I
and II. Despite the potential for this prolonged G chord to surge as VI, targeting the C
supertonic that begins A2, Chopin here restores diatonic G-B-D at measure 79, just
before the continuation to C. Though that event often would signal that B will be
absorbed by the C chord as its minor seventh, here that is not literally the case, though
one might easily prolong the B imaginatively through beats 1 and 2 of measure 81, with
resolution to A on beat 3.
Example 2.27 Mazurka in B Major (op. 56/1) (a) Analysis of the work; (b) The
sequence of measures 181 through 189.
Chopins tonal plan during the B2 section concludes with an astonishing passage.
Recall that the essence of the B1 section was to proceed from D to G, with time
devoted to attaining and then tonicizing the D chord before its surge reached full
force. At the onset of the B2 section (measures 102103), a variant of that trajectory, D
G, occurs swiftly. Whereas the B1 sections G-B-D is the unfurled first chromatic
variant of the B Major tonics 6-phase chord, the B2 sections G-B-D is the second. Due
to its immediate arrival, more time is available for a G Major tonicization. As 2.27a
shows, it appears that a fifth-progression descending from D (a wobble from Kopfton D)
is in the works. An antecedent phrase proceeds as far as G Majors dominant, supporting
A, the penultimate note in that fifth-progression. Will the consequent phrase that begins
in measure 119 succeed in attaining a PAC in G Major?
Whereas the B1 sections G chord leads effectively to the C supertonic that initiates
the tonic pillar, the B2 sections G chord does not. Might the pillar begin a half step lower
(a Neapolitan transformation) during its A3 presentation to accommodate the G major
variant of I6? Or might the G chord somehow be raised by a half step to lead effectively to
the diatonic supertonic? Chopin chose the latter alternative, which he realizes in a
flamboyant manner. In both phrases a D emerges at the top of the dominant chord that
might lead to the PAC tonic. (In the graph this is condensed into a single presentation,
labeled with measure numbers 112/132.) Over the course of measures 136 through 142
Chopin deploys arpeggiated
downwards through tonal space from that dominant to a tonic that happens to be one half
step higher than the expected one. That half-step elevation is the very correction that will
allow the B2 section to proceed effortlessly to the supertonic that begins the A3 tonic
pillar, repeating the trajectory that led from B1 into A2.35
The coda confirms B Major through two consecutive statements of a magnificent
hybrid circle of fifths (measures 181189 and 189197). Though Chopin incorporates a
number of minor deviations, such as anticipations and suppressed melodic pitches, the
normative contour displayed in 2.27b guides its course. Whereas the circle might have
proceeded in an alternation of 8 and 5 in the outer voices throughout, its first half
transpires with the bass lowered by a third, so that the 8 5 alternation is replaced by 10 7
(thereby charged with dissonance).36 Of course, this lowering from B to G replicates the
tonal course of the mazurkas B1 section. In this case an ascending third restores the
normative bass for the second half of the progression.37 The two boxes below the staff in
2.27b denote the sites of the lowering and raising by a third.
The projection of a mazurkas tonic key is sometimes accomplished via a tonic pillar that
does not conclude in a PAC on the tonic. Closes on the dominant, on the mediant, or with
an IAC on the tonic are viable alternatives to a regular tonic pillar. For example, irregular
and regular tonic pillars may serve successively in shaping the A sections of a broad A1 B
A2 form. An irregular pillar that concludes in a half cadence may be referred to as a IV
tonic pillar, while one that leads to the mediant may be referred to as a IIII tonic pillar.
These situations, as well as some more unusual designs, are explored in this chapter,
which brings our exploration of all the mazurkas that Chopin published during his lifetime
to a close.
Opus 17/1
The Mazurka in B Majors enigmatic tonic pillar might elicit several potential structural
interpretations. Does the principal line connect and , and , or and ? Is the line
traversed in four measures and then repeated, or instead spread over eight measures?1 The
prominence of Fs upper neighbor G in the mazurkas B section (sounding first in measure
29) is a factor in choosing F rather than D as the Kopfton. The model for a1 displayed in
3.1a seems to me the most apposite. Kopfton F is prolonged during I-space, where an
embellishing facilitates the local descent of a third (F>E>D). The V that follows
supports
close on , where, this time, the motivic third (D>B) lacks an internal C. The entire
phrase is then repeated in measures 5 through 8, with modest variants (such as the 43
suspension in measure 7).
Example 3.1 Mazurka in B Major (op. 17/1) (a) Analysis of mm. 0|129; (b) Analysis
of the work.
Chopin alters the tonic pillar in important ways during its a2 presentation (measures
17 through 24), following the b region. The A that enlivens I-space from the outset
results in a surging approach to the embellishment (here with minor-hued G
substituting for G) from above: (elided B)>A>G>F connects the boundaries of I-space
during measures 17 and 18. The presentation of the tonic chord in its second inversion at
183 allows for a stepwise connection to bass G for the inverted
(again with a
borrowing from the parallel minor key) that now shares duties with V in supporting .2 In
the phrase reiteration that follows in measures 21 through 24, Chopin further develops the
supertonic, both through its evolution into II and through the expansion of the preceding
I-space into I56, a characteristic means of leading into II. (Observe that I6 is here asserted
as VI, pointing dynamically toward the supertonic.) Note also how measure 24 differs
from the similar measures 4, 8, and 20 (all of which sound D on their third beat,
supporting my reading of within linear descents from at those points). In that the
tonic pillars as yet have presented only the upper half of the F>B fifth, measure 24 is the
day of reckoning: will the line achieve its B goal, resulting in a PAC; or will we have to
settle for an IAC as the structural close? Whereas earlier the b region (to be explored
presently) introduced the second scale degree, now the descent through
to occurs
quickly just as the section (or, during A2, the entire work) comes to a close.
The b region that comes between a1 and a2 to shape the mazurkas A1 section deploys
II V to succinctly achieve its dominant goal. Though the that serves as s successor
in the linear descent is presented forzando in the low and middle registers at 91, its
sounding at the top of the texture is delayed until 151 (at the end of a crescendo). The
structural content is presented in four measures (9 through 12) followed by a varied
repetition, thereby matching the format introduced during the a1 region. Chopin indulges
in a flamboyant flourish during that repetition, with a rapid traversal of a circle of fifths
supporting a stepwise descent through the dominants C>F fifth.
The B section is structured as an autonomous trio [3.1b]. The B tonics embellishing
chord (first heard in measure 2) is here unfurled and asserted as the key of E Major.
Though the chordal progressions at various structural levels remain uncommonly simple,
the embedding of one interrupted progression within a broader one is sophisticated.
Chopin undertakes excursions above the melodys fundamental structure. The third from
C to A, filled in chromatically between 343 and 363 and between 431 and 433, is
especially intriguing. In fact, given that in both contexts the motion continues downwards
(by leap) to F, a reference to measures 15 and 16 may be discerned, despite the contrasting
tonal contexts (fifth to root of dominant F in B Major versus ninth to fifth of dominant
B in E Major).
The that is restored along with the resumption of the B Major tonic for the onset
of A2 again serves as the starting point for a descending fifth-progression. Because the A2
section concludes the work, this time that descent corresponds to the Urlinie.
Opus 7/3
In a mazurka whose A1 section closes with a PAC in the tonic key, the B section may
initially extend that tonic and then pursue a dominant goal. (As an example, see 2.3.) That
strategy may prevail even if A1 ends in a vibrant HC. In 3.2, which displays an analysis of
Chopins Mazurka in F Minor, observe how the melodic A>G that transpires over the
course of A1 (with written-out repeat) is followed by the quick reaching-over of B, which
resolves to a restored Kopfton A early in the B section. Consequently the background
tonic extends into measure 28, despite the HC in measures 16 and 24.
C, an embellishing chord
of the preceding F tonic) or A-C-E, which likewise possesses a natural dominantemulating tendency (as A, which embellishes the 6-phase D-F-A, here abetted by the
addition of G at 613). Chopin pursues the latter course, first attaining the A chord via a
segment of the descending circle of fifths (measures 26 through 30) and then tonicizing it
until it surges towards D. The proposal of an omission, mentioned above, stems from the
fact that I6 often leads to II, which in turn targets V. In a minor key, a very special
relationship exists between I6 and II: the former (D-F-A in Chopins mazurka) may be
a subset of the latter (D-F-A-B).4 Yet instead of adding B in the vicinity of measure
73, Chopin allows the three pitches of the unfurled I6 each to descend a half step in turn,
in a direct approach to V.5 This memorable and unusual voice leading heightens the
emotional impact that Chopin seeks to attain also through the pianissimo dynamic
indication and the ritenuto, sotto voce, and smorzando markings. Rewarding those
listeners who noted the II omission, the following dominant prolongation (which
reprises the mysterious introduction) uses the very notes of II D-F-A-B in an
embellishing context. Though Vs arrival concludes the B sections harmonic
progression, the embellishing chords that follow uncannily project the unsounded
harmonic predecessor of V.
The A2 section is constructed as a regular tonic pillar. Though its first phrase again
ends on V, the phrase that follows is no mere repeat of the preceding one (as are
measures 17 through 24). It instead serves as a conventional consequent phrase,
concluding in a PAC that supports background .
Ultimately the A1 sections irregular close is of only local significance. The circle of
fifths that leads out of I-space soon after the onset of the B section would transpire just the
same regardless of what cadence occurs in measure 24.
Opus 30/1
Several features of the Mazurka in C Minor [3.3] echo those of the Mazurka in F Minor
[3.2]. The A1 sections of both works present a IV tonic pillar, employing II to lead to
V. Likewise, a restoration of the tonic function occurs at or near the beginning of both B
sections, followed by a segment of the descending circle of fifths that leads to the mediant.
In the Mazurka in C Minor that restored tonic (at 163) is surging, already targeting the next
chord in the circle of fifths. Both mazurkas tonicize the mediant, and both reach V by the
end of the B section. During A2 suitable revisions convert what was an irregular pillar
during A1 into a regular one.
Because of the persistent repetition during the A1 and B sections, the two dominant
arrivals should be understood as equivalent. Chopin achieves his goal; then he backtracks
and presents another pathway to the same goal. To enhance clarity the graph integrates
those trajectories as much as possible, favoring the latter when they diverge.
One way or another, the irregular tonic pillar of A1 must be transformed into a
regular one during A2. The latters opening phrase reprises the full content of A1s IV
progression. What follows starting at 451 which one might even resist calling a phrase
attains tonic closure in an unusual way. Instead of proceeding through the dominant to the
expected PAC, it merely prolongs its initiating tonic. Consequently the local E>D>C
descent of measures 46 through 48 serves as a motion to background , the endpoint of
descending lines from at three distinct structural levels, as indicated by the multiple
beams in 3.3.
Op. 30/4
The chords of the Mazurka in C Minors introduction precede not only the tonic harmony
that opens the A1 section, but also, through their recurrence at the end of the B section, the
initial tonic of A2 as well. Their structural implications will be discussed below in terms of
the latter context, which the introduction replicates only in part. Once the tonic harmony
and Kopfton E emerge in measure 5, a broad tonic expansion ensues. Fs roles as both
neighboring note to E and passing note to upper-third G are on display in 3.4. The II
harmony serves as the principal connector between I and V during the expansion of .
Though the arrival of the pillars cadential dominant is placed at measure 31 in 3.4,
Chopins writing in measures 28 through 31 teases listeners: should the passage be
interpreted as repetitions of V I followed by V, or instead as repetitions of V
(with the chords unfurled)?
between measures 66 and 95 (parts of which are displayed in 3.4). Chopins tonal plan
involves a conversion from subtonic B to dominant G.7 The harmonic analysis in 3.4
displays the B chord as a not yet fully formed dominant: the pitch B is the wobbly third of
the G major dominant, with the arrival of root G delayed until measure 99. The B-DF tonicization is an upper-third substitution for the rightful G-B-D dominant
tonicization. Chopin negotiates the transition between B and G by juxtaposing
embellishing chords targeting each: F in measures 94 through 96 and D in measures
97 and 98. By the time the G chord arrives, it is too late for further tonicization. Its minor
seventh F is already in place, and so instead of content extending its role as I in tonicized
G, it asserts its background role as
the A2 section. As mentioned above, the D and G chords were first encountered
within the mazurkas introduction.
The A2 section offers an intriguing reprise of the dominantsubtonic relationship.
Certainly a PAC must be attained at the close of A2. The dominant at measure 128 is
where the precedent harmonic trajectory of A1 concludes. How will Chopin achieve a
tonic cadence? His extraordinary response involves a plan to proceed from the already
attained dominant to its subtonic upper-third chord and then back again. Both of those
moves are accomplished through an inspired yet unconventional construction. Whereas
the subtonicdominant connection within the B section was negotiated via a shift of
embellishing chords, in these final measures Chopin instead deploys a linear progression
to connect the G and B chords themselves: a wondrous application of the descending
circle of fifths, filled with altered pitches, added dissonances, and enharmonic spellings,
which transpires as
m.
128
129
130
131
132
In this interpretation, a collision at beat 3 of measure 132 involves two adjacent chords
within the circle F (which in a familiar evolved state would be correctly spelled as AC-E-G) and B (spelled as B-D-F-A) that are enharmonic equivalents of one
another. The passage in fact comes across as a parallel progression of major-minor seventh
chords as a temporary transfer from diatonic modulo 7 tonal space into the modulo 12
realm, where spans such as this G>B may be traversed by unconventional means, in this
case through a descent in half steps: 8 (7) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 11 (with C = 0).8 The dominant
restoration is likewise inventive. Whereas B-D-F-A would be a suitable successor of
the subtonic chord, projecting a conventional intensification of the dominant function, in
this case leading tone B is displaced by an anticipation of its resolution: C-D-F-A is
prolonged during measures 133 through 138.9 At the cadence F resolves to E and A
resolves to G above tonic root C. The soprano tonic , anticipated during the dominant
harmony, sounds only in the bass at the cadence. Consequently the C that concludes the
background
own four-measure phrases. Some are preceded by their upper thirds. (The descending third
E>D>D>C beginning in measure 9 inverts the ascending sixth E<A<B<C in the left
hand of measures 1 and 2.) Others are perched a third higher, in a temporary tonicization
of the mediant, attained via a segment of the descending circle of fifths in measures 15
through 17 (the same means by which the mediant is attained in 3.2 and 3.3). The that
arrives at 331 is of a higher order. The dominant root E that supports it is attained by
means of a gradual bass ascent from the initial tonic A through mediant C, supertonic third
D, and surging D. Its arrival at the outset of a four-measure phrase strengthens its impact.
Though the melodic line starting at 332 matches that of the opening measures, the context
does not support a tonic assertion.10 (In this case C-D-F-A serves as an embellishing
chord between two dominant chords, rather than as an asserted II connecting I and V.)
Even the tonic that seems to re-emerge at measure 37 might serve foundationally as an
unfurling of the dominants embellishment (as displayed in 3.5a), here asserted as I at
the foreground level to inaugurate a synoptic repetition of the pillars I-to-V trajectory.
Example 3.5 Mazurka in A Minor (Without opus 42A) (a) Analysis of mm. 140; (b)
Analysis of the work.
The mazurkas B section is a binary construction [3.5b]. Both halves begin with an
unhurried attainment of the major tonic (measures 44 and 60), which is then extended via
a I IV56 V7 I progression. During the x1 half, the progression continues thereafter to the
mediants first chromatic variant, of major quality. (Whereas during A1, tonic A-C-E
proceeds to C-E-G, the x1 half of B proceeds from tonic A-C-E to C-E-G.) Though
the opening of x2 is modified harmonically to accommodate the continuation after the
mediant (as opposed to the dominant, as was the case at the juncture of A1 and B), the
tonic re-emerges as expected in measure 60. Prolonged through measure 68, the
progression then continues with
Passing motion to
divide between B and A2, this dominant functions at the background level, supporting the
Urlinies . As is often the case, an interruption of that lines descent coincides with the
A2 tonic restoration, which here also re-engages the diatonic Kopfton C, rescinding the B
sections C wobble.
The tonic pillar that ensues within A2 is regular: is attained in the context of a PAC
in measure 110. Numerous reiterations, which complement the local
that pervade the initial portion of A2, extend this close.
descents
Op. 63/1
The eight-measure phrase that opens the Mazurka in B Major proceeds in a conventional
fashion: from I56 through II to V [3.6a]. (An unfurled embellishing chord in measure
3 extends the initial tonic.) The next phrase is not a consequent ending in a PAC, but
instead a repetition of the progression to the HC, with the melody presented an octave
higher. Consequently the tonic pillar is irregular.
Example 3.6 Mazurka in B Major (op. 63/1) (a) Analysis of the work; (b) Analysis of
mm. 3161.
As in the four mazurkas explored earlier in this section, the tonic is restored soon
after the B section begins. (Like measure 24 in 3.3, the tonic in measure 21 of this
Opus 6/3
The establishment of the tonic harmony and of Kopfton at the outset of the Mazurka in
E Major integrates multiple layers of arpeggiation, with some filling-in by passing notes.
The melodic pitch B is emphasized during the eight introductory measures not only
through its repeated sounding in the left hand but also through the descending arpeggiation
B>G>E. (The initial C neighbor recurs in the upper register at 121.) Further local
arpeggiation transpires to hoist B up an octave during measure 9, followed by a deeper
level of arpeggiation traversing the tonics remaining pitches E in measure 10 and Kopfton
G in measure 12 [3.7]. Some playful embellishing arpeggiation occurs between passing
note F and goal G in measures 11 and 12. The tonic expanse is followed by II V,
accomplished in such a way that the E<F<G leading up to the Kopfton is matched by a
reciprocal F>E>D. (The accented B>B octave during measure 16, corresponding to the
B<B of measure 9, completes the reciprocation.) During A1 the content from measure 9
onwards is repeated beginning in measure 21, resulting in an irregular tonic pillar. Later,
during A2, a tonic-cadencing consequent substitutes for that repetition. That relationship is
critical for determining just how far into the movement the opening tonic pillar extends.
Though the content of measures 33 through 40 brings the harmonic progression initiated
during the pillar to a tonic cadence, those measures do not reside within the pillar.
is complemented by a full
The chord, which arrives unfurled in measure 50, is tonicized: a descending thirdprogression (C>B>A) in A Major transpires over the course of eight measures [3.7].
During a repetition of this passage beginning in measure 58, Chopin creatively modifies
the harmonization so that a fully chromatic filling-in of a descending seventh connects the
tonic root A at 581 and the supertonic root B at 631. The chromatic line takes on the
character of a stupefying feat, enhancing the mazurkas robust character.
The restoration of the tonic in measure 69 coincides with the onset of a fresh
B<E<G arpeggiation to initiate A2. As mentioned above, this time suitable revisions are
made (beginning in measure 87) so that a PAC is achieved in the tonic key, resulting in a
regular tonic pillar. Because the B section features the Kopftons upper neighbor, A
(flagged in 3.7), the third-progression from to (interrupted) during the A2 section
serves as the background descent.
Opus 24/1
A recurring formula for Chopins irregular pillar usage may be observed in the Mazurka in
G Minor. The first sixteen and the last sixteen measures of the composition are equivalent
except at their endpoints: II V (= HC) in the former is replaced by V I (= PAC) in the
latter. Chopins large-scale tonal plan takes advantage of the fact that the pitches of V7
occur during the pillars opening measure. Whereas in that context they serve locally as an
embellishment of measure 2s initiating tonic, the broad tonal trajectory extending through
A1 and B leads to this chord as an asserted member of a middleground harmonic
progression I56 II
measure of A2 [3.8].
In mazurkas explored earlier in this chapter the initial IV tonic pillar has been
followed after variable amounts of delay by a tonic restoration before the B sections
agenda continues. Consequently listeners might expect minor seventh C to emerge soon
after the D-F-A chord of measure 16, so that D targets a G tonic. Yet in this case
Chopin skips the tonic restoration, instead proceeding to the tonics closely allied upperthird chord. Consequently the addition of dissonance is integrated with an upward hoist of
a minor third during measures 17 through 20, where F-A-C-E (= F) targets B-D-F.
This B chord persists through the cadence of measure 32. (The first ending at that point
incorporates a transition back to the G tonic for a repeat of A1 and the first part of B.)
Relief from the emotionally distraught mood projected during A1 is offered not only by
the shift of mode to major during the B section, but also by the absence of such features as
the melodic augmented seconds of measures 3 and 6|7 and the chordal collision during
measure 7. Instead one is treated to some luscious chromaticism, for example during the
descent in parallel sixths from 223 through 242. (Note how Chopin seamlessly increases
the chromatic density during the repetition of that passage, where not only the D>C and
F>E seconds are filled in, but also the upper lines concluding C>B and the F<G below
in measure 32a.)
A G-to-B opening bass trajectory in a minor-key composition might proceed directly
to bass C (supporting IV or an inverted II or II) and then to dominant root D; or a surge
(B) may lead the progression to E, the G tonics 6-phase chord. The latter trajectory
occurs here, with Es arrival occurring in measure 34. Two eight-measure phrases
(equivalent until their final measures) prolong the E chord, with the main melodic
interest being the juxtaposition of B>G thirds and B<G sixths. The delicate succession
from I6 to II occurs during the second phrases final measure 48. The pitch C (at first
spelled enharmonically as D) against E-G-B is sufficient to infuse the chord with the
sense of rootedness on A, with a II function.12 The ninth B (an incidental dissonance)
resolves to A within the chord, before II proceeds to
of C to D is elided. Instead, the dominants seventh C sounds during all of measure 49.
As mentioned above, the mazurkas second tonic pillar is regular. Because no
interruption occurs during the B section, Kopfton B is still in force at the onset of the A2
section. An interrupted third-progression leads through background A at measure 56 to
goal G in the final measure.
Opus 50/3
Though by definition a regular tonic pillar is intended to project I-space, that which
Chopin created for the Mazurka in C Minor is disproportionately devoted to the
dominant: the G-B-D-F embellishing chord of the first four measures will be
deployed in an abbreviated form later as a dominant extension (measures 32|3334),
whereas a long internal dominant prolongation (measures 9 through 15) nearly
overwhelms the pillars initiating and closing tonics (measures 5 and 16) [3.9a]. The
irregular pillar that occurs within this mazurka (the second of four, in measures 32|33
through 44) results from simply not following through to the conclusion of the regular
pillar, as presented in measures 0|1 through 16. In fact, with such potent dominants on
both edges as well as an internal dominant pedal point one might doubt whether the
tonic chord of measure 35 (repeated in measure 39) can overpower the dominant
hegemony in that region. In the fourth pillar, which repeats the content of the second, only
the freshly composed continuation after the dominant of measure 133 (leading to a
cadence on the tonic in measure 157) tips the scale decisively in favor of the tonic.
Though the initial a2 pillar reprises (in abbreviated form) the I II V portion of the
preceding a1 pillar, at best it represents a mere reiteration of the approach to the dominant
attained during the b region (akin to what is displayed in measures 37 through 40 of 3.5a).
Its supposed tonic chord might even be interpreted as an unfurled embellishment of the
dominant (expanding upon the content of measure 3, as graphed in 3.9a).
Example 3.9 Mazurka in C Minor (op. 50/3) (a) Analysis of mm. 0|192; (b) Analysis
of the work.
A tonal trajectory connecting the tonic and the dominant is an attractive option during
the b region of a ternary A1 section. (Compare with 2.16.) The fact that the middleground
interruption at the end of b will not be resolved during the upcoming irregular a2 pillar has
no effect upon how the b region transpires. In this instance the tonic is extended through
measure 24 via a sequential connection between two tonic chords. Whereas normally the
sequence employed would proceed with bass C>G<A>E<F>C supporting a
descending sixth-progression from Kopfton E, in this case the G chord is internal to a1
and thus resolves to tonic C before the A chord emerges in measure 17. During the II
that follows after the sequence, the melody gradually builds back upwards to the D
(measure 27) that succeeds Kopfton E at the middleground level and connects with the D
of V (measure 32).
As indicated above, a2s tonal plan demotes the impact of the tonic restoration,
instead favoring dominant prolongation. Consequently the b regions
ultimately is left
dangling at the end of the a2 region. Chopins re-engagement with the thematic content of
a1 here involves contraction: the essence of measures 0|1 through 9 is stated in measures
32|33 through 37 and is then repeated even more succinctly. The region closes with a fourmeasure melodic arpeggiation of the pitches of V, segueing into the B section, which
begins in measure 45.
Though the V that concludes the A1 section unexpectedly lacking a tonic
resolution is a middleground event and the V that ends the B section (measures 8992)
is a background event, the uncommon dominant density at this juncture makes a
conventional I-to-V trajectory ill suited for B. Chopin therefore has elected instead to
tonicize a chromatic variant of the dominants upper-third chord. Because dissonant BD-F cannot be tonicized, Chopin allows B to wobble to B. That lowering, introduced
in measure 45, is not rescinded until measure 89. Because B Major is in a sense the
wrong key, the trajectory that Chopin sets in motion for its tonicization a local ternary
form divided by an interruption after the
fully realized (and thus resonates with the unresolved ternary interruption during A1). In
this case the y region is extensively developed, with a surging I leading through IV56 to
V, while the x2 region that follows proceeds only through its initial pre-surge I phase.
One foreground detail (not graphed) plays an important role in the realization of
Chopins tonal plan for the B section: namely, the incorporation of the B tonics 6-phase
chord as a substitute for the dominant during the repeat of x1 (measures 53 through 60).
The basic idea, which extends into the onset of the y region, is I87, the conversion of the
stable B-major tonic into a surging chord targeting IV. That tonic is expanded via a local
B>F<B bass arpeggiation, into which bass G (an unfurled I6) is inserted. That very 6phase event will recur at the same location during x2 (measure 89), where, with G
asserted as root and with major third B, it assumes the role of background V, thereby
bringing the G roots upper-third expansion to an end.
The chief structural concern during the traversal of A2 is that its a2 region should not
conclude on the dominant, as it did during A1, but instead forge ahead to become a regular
tonic pillar. As 3.9b displays, the potent dominant achieved in measures 129 and 133 is
the foundation for an extended passage whose prolongation eventually leads to a PAC in
measure 157. (The graph shows the principal strand, D>C, covered by F>E.
Concurrent with the background close on , this E opens the tonal space that will be
traversed as a reprise of the E>D>C descent during the coda.13)
The magnificent coda deploys the lowered supertonic (measures 165 and 171) as the
principal intermediary between the tonic and the dominant [3.9b]. Though usually that
chords wobble (here D) would be rectified by the dominants D, in this case a
supertonic evolution during measure 173 results in a D-rooted version of II occurring
prior to the onset of V.14 (I have displayed the chord as F -A-C-(E) in 3.9b, though D
might be imagined instead of E: both convey the function II.) Chopins means of
connecting the tonic and the lowered supertonic incorporates an obstinate circular
progression that I propose resides outside of conventional modulo 7 tonal space. Instead,
once it gets on track modulo 12 chromatic tonal space subdivides into four equal
segments. Using the numbers from 0 through 11 (with C = 0), the progression proceeds as
m.
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
170
165
166
167
168
169
melody:
10
bass:
11
11
The conversion of this lucid and elegant circular progression into modulo 7 music notation
inevitably results in some enharmonic inelegance, requiring a mix of minor third and
augmented second intervals. (Though Chopin chose to notate the bass as B<D<F<G<B,
the augmented second could be moved to any other juncture without injury to the
progression, because what the pianist sees in the score and the rationale for what is
actually occurring are unrelated.) Dominant root G arrives in measure 173, coordinating
with a embellishment. The decisive V7I cadence occurs in measures 180 and 181.
again in measure 21. What will happen this time: a tonic-closing consequent phrase (the
most normative realization of the a1 and a2 form markings in 3.10), resulting in a regular
tonic pillar; an exact repetition, resulting in a IV irregular tonic pillar; or something else?
In a sense, listeners never learn the answer, because that phrases conclusion is
preempted by the B sections unexpected onset in measure 39. Measure 38 (which
corresponds to measure 18) is the tenth of what we should expect will be a twelvemeasure phrase that could conclude over the next two measures either with a PAC (D F |
B) or with another HC (D | F). Chopin diverts the D chord from its apparent role as
divider between tonic B and dominant F, which would transpire if the initial a1 regions
BDF arpeggiation were again deployed, now in a minor-mode context. (Note
especially how a circle of fifths again links the tonic and the mediant.) Surprisingly, the D
chord serves instead within a broad sequential descent in thirds:
(marked in 3.10). One may confirm the extraordinary nature of what ensues in measure 39
by counting four-measure units through the end of the B section: 3942, 4346, 4750,
and 5154. From what precedes it, measure 39 should function as an internal element of a
four-bar hypermeasure; yet based upon what follows (and fostered by Chopins forte and
accent markings), the listener must undertake a metrical recalibration so that measure 39 is
interpreted as a hypermetric downbeat.
The sequential descents goal E chord (at 493) serves as IV within a broad harmonic
progression in B Minor. The dominant and then the tonic bring that progression and the B
section to a close in a PAC, with soprano B belatedly making good on the intention to
complete the descending third-progression that was interrupted at measure 20.
Because the B section does not close on the dominant, the background structure is no
further along at the onset of A2 than it was during A1. We should expect that a regular
tonic pillar incorporating background
of A2. Chopin achieves this through truncation, not proceeding to (or, at this point,
beyond) the mediant that was the final structural event within A1. Consequently there is no
opportunity for a post-interruption descent to complete the background third-progression,
following the of measure 66. In this context the D in measure 69 does not correspond
to a reinstatement of . Instead, as 3.10 shows, the B of measure 67 which was not so
emphasized during A1 serves as the arrival of background , directly after . The Ds
that follow may be interpreted as upper-third extensions, echoes of the Kopfton that persist
in multiple registers through the final chord. Brief glimmers of a minor-mode resurgence
(G in measures 72 and 74) do not ignite. The mazurka concludes as it began, with
repeated iterations of an embellished major tonic chord.
. The
restoration of along with tonic root A. Yet sooner or later Chopin must confront the
fact that the tonic pillar he deployed during A1 is irregular. He cannot simply reprise A1,
since the descent would not reach , nor would the tonic harmony end the work. The
and III that conclude A1 effectively precede the emergence of
section. Yet that state of affairs may not likewise conclude A2. What to do?15
Example 3.11 Mazurka in A Major (op. 41/3) (a) Analysis of the work; (b)
Hypothetical measures 83 and 84.
What Chopin does is both elegant and mysterious. Taking advantage of the fact that
both halves of the tonic pillar are repeated during A1, he plays with fire by again moving
from the A tonic to the mediant during the first statement of the pillars second half
during A2 (measures 74 through 76, corresponding to measures 22 through 24). The final
phrase begins in measure 77. Chopin needs to replace the circular progressions G C
of measures 31 and 32 (likewise measures 75 and 76), supporting soprano D to C, with a
harmonically asserted E A, supporting soprano B to A (= ). He proceeds just to
the point where that shift would come into play. Then he simply stops, mid-phrase!
Though two measures that might suitably complete the final eight-measure phrase are
offered in 3.11b, they do not sound within the composition. Chopins fermata gives time
for the imaginative generation of such an ending, leading to the Urlinies concluding pitch,
. It is as if the diminuendo that has been in progress since measure 78 succeeds to the
extent that the concluding measures of the composition become inaudible. Consequently
Chopin did not write them down.16
Opus 59/2
The Mazurka in A Majors background events are all normatively positioned within the
form: A1 begins with , B ends with , and A2 ends with [3.12a]. Chopin complicates
matters by proceeding to the mediant at the end of A1, resulting in an irregular pillar that
will require modification for presentation during A2. In this case that necessity leads to an
astonishingly inventive alternative ending involving the juxtaposition of two contrasting
means of achieving the supertonic, and with II replacing II.
Example 3.12 Mazurka in A Major (op. 59/2) (a) Analysis of mm. 189; (b) Analysis
of mm. 89101.
The A1 sections first phrase is a model of elegant harmonic writing. The opening
tonic is prolonged via an unfurled embellishing chord in measure 3. Its 6-phase F
emerges in measure 6, perfectly setting up measure 7s II, which leads to a half cadence
on V in measure 8. Were a regular tonic pillar in the making, the next phrase would
conclude with V7 I. Instead Chopin allows the 6-phase chord of measure 14 (related to
that of measure 6) to be subjected to its own 6-phase extension, thereby lowering the
continuation by a third: instead of the antecedents B E, Chopin leads via G to a
cadence on mediant C. Rather than moving directly to the written-out repeat of what has
occurred thus far, Chopin allows time for the listener to savor the mediant attainment
(measures 17 through 22). One might imagine a local
represented by F) as a means of directing the progression back to the opening tonic. The
progression from the tonic to the mediant is then repeated.
As is also the case after several of Chopins irregular IV tonic pillars (explored
earlier in this chapter), a tonic restoration follows after this irregular IIII tonic pillar (via
II7 V7 I in measures 45 through 52) to initiate the B section. Yet that is only the first of
two alternative continuations ensuing from the D-F-A-B chord of measure 45. Since
that chord is reinstated in measure 53, and since the latter scenario turns out to lead into
the further stages of the composition, the tonic-restoring material is displayed as a
parenthetical passage in 3.12a. Beginning in measure 53, D-F-A-B serves as an
embellishing chord of the mediant, evolving into D-F-G-B before resolution, at which
point the mediants third wobbles to E. Though the C mediant chord might have taken on
further surge characteristics, targeting I6 (= F minor), the E dominant emerges instead in
measure 68, bringing the B section to a close. The mediants wobbly third (E) and the
dominants minor ninth (F) are juxtaposed during 6812.
The A2 sections first phrase reiterates the I56 II V progression of its A1
counterpart. Thus far I6 has not been asserted as VI. Since some revision of content
during A2s second phrase is required in any event (so that a regular pillar cadencing on I
rather than on III is achieved), Chopin elects to go all out, expanding the phrase to
thirteen measures. The first sign of this is his connection of the tonics 5- and 6-phase
chords via an ascending 56 sequence, proceeding as follows in measures 81 through 84:
A5(6
B56
C5)6
D56
E56
(As often is the case in this context, Chopin here abbreviates the ascent by omitting the
chords within parentheses, made possible by the fact that A5 and C6 both are composed
using the pitch classes A, C, and E. Note also that the 6-phase chords all evolve into
surging entities.) Some rambunctiousness at 841 displaces Fs 5-phase C with the
premature arrival of 6-phase D. Yet it turns out that at that moment the sequence is
auditioned. The descent continues downwards to for a PAC only on the third try, during
which the minor-key (C, spelled as B) is supported by the dominants third G and the
chromatic passing note E (spelled as D) connects the dominants root E (imagined) and
seventh D.18 The remaining measures of the coda provide echoes of Kopfton (at 1041,
1081, and 110111) and restore the embellishing role of A-D-F (at 10731081).19
Opus 59/3
Pillar closure is of special interest in the Mazurka in F Minor. Because the irregular pillar
of the a1 region concludes on the mediant (measure 16), Chopin restructures the a2
regions second phrase, with the apparent intent to achieve a PAC [3.13a]. However,
measure 44 does not offer the expected tonic resolution. Instead, the dominant is extended,
embellished by pitches from F Major. The a2 regions tonic goal (with melodic F
concluding a middleground fifth-progression descending from Kopfton C) merges with
the B sections initiating F Major tonic (with melodic C reinstating the mazurkas
Kopfton) in measures 45 and 46. Since neither of the preceding pillars offers a normative
PAC, Chopin has no precedent for building the mazurkas final tonic pillar (A2), where he
electively inserts an extended cadenza-like passage between the second phrases seventh
and eighth measures (115 and 134). As we shall see, the initiation of the pillar during A2
likewise departs from a conventional formulation.
Example 3.13 Mazurka in F Minor (op. 59/3) (a) Analysis of the work; (b) Analysis of
mm. 6470; (c) Analysis of mm. 80134; (d) Analysis of mm. 115134.
The a1 tonic pillar opens with a robust projection of Kopfton C in two registers:
C<C is traversed quickly from 03 through 22, followed by a leisurely stepwise descent
to the lower C (site of the first phrases HC in measure 8), which serves as the starting
point for a second C<C traversal to inaugurate the second phrase. During measure 6 the
tonic 6-phase pitch D (chromatically altered to match the impending supertonics raised
fifth) serves in its traditional capacity linking I and II, part of a normative approach to
the HC V. In contrast, the equivalent D-(F)-A-C at 123 represents a B chord within
the segment of the circle of fifths that Chopin here traverses to connect the tonic and the
mediant. As 3.13a displays, the middleground fifth-progression that guides the melody
through measure 46 descends through B to A in conjunction with this mediant arrival.
Most of the A1 sections b region is devoted to reiterations of the C>B>A third (with
unfolded upper thirds), presented in the context of a mediant prolongation. The regions
one new and vital structural element occurs during the final beat of measure 24: the
middleground progressions and its dominant support. This event occurs at the precise
moment when one would have expected instead to hear the initial C of a2 (as in 03). In
this case the C<C octave announcing the post-interruption C is truncated.
Because the final measures of a1 lead to the mediant, new content is required to
conclude a2, in order to arrive at the expected PAC. Chopin concurrently extends the
regions second phrase: its fifth and sixth measures (37 and 38) are repeated and then
rewritten (with IV
seventh measure. The dominant of that measure should resolve to an F-A-C-F tonic
in measure 44. As mentioned above, Chopin instead extends the dominant, postponing the
tonic attainment until the onset of the B section.
Coinciding with a shift to F Major, the B sections opening phrase shares several
features with the tonic pillars first phrase. In both contexts the phrases third measure
presents a embellishment of the tonic. (That is unfurled during the a1 regions second
phrase and during the B section, and both of those realizations are preceded by a surging
F-A-C-E.) Both phrases likewise achieve their dominant goals via a tonic 6-phase
chord (in measures 6 and 50) leading to II.
The return to tonic F Major that we expect after the B sections first phrase and its
repetition is magnificently expanded in measures 64 through 70 [3.13b]. Whereas
melodically the Kopfton C might have proceeded directly to the dominants seventh B
before resolution to A, here an upward melodic excursion through E (at 523, repeated at
643) to G (at 651, repeated at 751) occurs.20 As with the upward C<C motion at the
onset of A1, here also the downward complement, which fills in the dominants G>B
sixth between measures 65 and 70, is stepwise in this case chromatic. Supporting that
descent is a chord progression that begins as a tonicization of the C dominant (I56 II
V7 I) but that then continues unabated as a circle of fifths (continuing the tonicizing
progressions chain of fifths: A D G C leading to F and beyond). As
always in such a circle, if the initiating chord is to return as the eighth chord, one of the
fifths must be imperfect. Observe that the A chord at 683 lacks a minor seventh and thus
does not strongly project the sense of A, targeting D. That is where Chopin inserts the
corrective diminished fifth, A>D.
The juncture of the B and A2 sections (measures 96|97) is the site for a creative
structural variant. In most cases the return of the so-called tonic pillar will project the
tonic harmony at or near its outset. In this case, however, the B sections closing measures
proceed to a dominant harmony at that location. (See 3.13c, to be discussed below.)
Things are out of kilter here: though one background dominant has occurred during the B
section, guiding the Urlinies to , another dominant generally would occur to support
, which, interrupted, would resolve to after the A2 sections post-interruption
downward fifth-progression from a restored
3.13a, though with one curious shift: the background dominant is delayed until the first
phrase of A2. What had been a local dominant in measures 8 and 32 now functions at the
background level. To accomplish this, Chopin places the dominant root C at the bottom
of the phrases initial chord (which earlier had served as the tonic), thereby converting it
into a embellishment of the dominant. In this context the G chord of measure 103
(matching that of measure 7) serves as an embellishing chord inserted before the s
resolution to
Given the highly idiosyncratic start of A2, the preceding B section must conclude
atypically with a chord that will lead effectively to V. There is no better choice than II.
Yet Chopin first auditions another trajectory following the internal tonic of measure 70: he
leads to the mediant via a circle of fifths (F B E A in measures 7374), reminiscent of
measures 9 through 16 (here converted to a major-mode context). As the earlier b region
reminds us, III (here represented by the parallel major keys major mediant, A-C -E)
may lead directly to V. Yet Chopin instead backtracks, repeating the background
(measure 80) and then restoring F Minor (measure 87), followed by an
alternative circle of fifths (displayed in 3.13c) that leads not to the mediant, but instead to
the supertonic (II). This is accomplished in an ingenious way. From tonic F, B E
A D transpires without a hitch. At that point, Chopin takes advantage of a wondrous
enharmonic equivalence: D-F-A-C, which we might expect will lead to a chord rooted
on G, instead takes on an alternative meaning as B-D-F-A, a chord rooted on G. Since
at one point a half-step shift is required to keep the circle of fifths on track (as we noted
above in the context of the D chord in measure 69), Chopin astonishingly brings about
that shift by doing nothing! Upon arrival D-F-A-C is As rightful successor, D;
upon departure B-D-F-A serves as G, Cs rightful predecessor.21 (In 3.13c the
chord is written twice juxtaposing its alternative spellings and analyzed first as a chord
rooted on D and then as a chord rooted on G.) From IIs resolution to V (with
extended embellishment), the progression continues as described above.
In that measure 115 corresponds to measure 43, listeners should sense that the
moment of closure is close at hand potentially as early as measure 116. Chopin delays
that resolution until measure 134 by proceeding through a cadenza-like passage (indicated
by open brackets in 3.13a and presented in detail in 3.13d). Initially the C dominant is
tonicized, with an idiosyncratic ascending 56 sequence leading from C to its dominant
G (measure 119) and back.22 The melodic connection of G>B in measures 119 through
121 is reminiscent of the same interval in a similar context in measures 65 through 70. At
measure 122 an internal IAC occurs, consequently postponing the deeper closure (with
background ). The harmonic progression that begins thereafter has the promise of
bringing about a PAC due to the melodic G that arrives in measure 127, but yet another
G>B sixth transpires, so that the tonic of measure 131 likewise is not the closing tonic.
The lowered supertonic chord that follows finally breaks the spell: as 3.13d shows, the
dominant of measure 133 does succeed in bringing about a PAC.23 A coda follows. (Its
essential features are graphed in 3.13a.) Given that a Picardy third occurs at the preceding
PAC, the coda traverses the major-key fifth-progression C>B>A>G>F.
Opus 33/4
The opening tonic pillar in Chopins Mazurka in B Minor (measures 0|1 through 24,
followed by a written-out repeat) is classified as irregular because it cadences on the
dominant. This is a conventional sort of irregularity, like several we encountered earlier in
this chapter. Chopin makes a predictable adjustment during the pillars final presentation,
where the second phrase concludes with a PAC (measure 200).24 Such a construction
justifies the mazurkas placement within this chapter, though not within this section, which
is devoted to idiosyncratic pillars. That categorization results from Chopins extraordinary
continuation after the HC of measure 24: the a1 pillar is repeated, but with a remarkable,
strange, and unexpected turn of events at its cadence.
The lowered supertonic (Neapolitan) chord arises naturally in a minor key: a
diatonic presentation of I56 (here B-D-F to B-D-G) produces a chord that (especially
when enhanced by the addition of the pitch F to B-(D)-G, as at 171) inherently leads
towards II. In accordance with an unwritten covenant among composers pertaining to the
use of the lowered supertonic, the keys foundational B<F tonic-to-dominant relationship
will prevail despite the awkwardness of the internal CF root succession. The dominant
root F supports a restored diatonic C (perhaps imagined) after wobbly note C. Chopin
conforms to that covenant in measure 24, where the doubled F root represents the F-AC dominant harmony [3.14].
Through 482 it will seem to listeners that a routine repeat of the entire opening tonic
pillar is being presented. Yet the performer will note, perhaps with some alarm, that the
expected goal root F (as in measure 24) is notated as G in measure 48. Chopin indeed
fulfills the implications of that spelling: the line ultimately proceeds as G>G>F, with G
serving as a chromatic passing note. Whereas II generally proceeds to V (as in measures
5 and 6), the lowered supertonics inherent dominant-emulating tendency generally will
not be tapped by composers, since II leads into the abyss: it points towards the tonics
antipode, in this case F. Consequently the meek F at the end of measure 48, which in
fact introduces that antipode, is an astonishing event. It causes the b region, which
commences in measure 49, to open in the highly unusual key of I.
Ultimately the mazurkas tonal course will be corrected: by the end of the b region
the conventional F dominant is attained. Yet a half-step depression within tonal space
prevails from 483 through measure 63. How is this accomplished? Whereas F is expected
in measure 48, F occurs instead (as explained above); and whereas F is expected after
what should initially be interpreted as a C chord in measure 63, that chord is
enharmonically transformed into an F chord. Observe in 3.14 how II in B Minor is
reinterpreted as II in B Major, leading to V in that key. Given that build-up, it is not
surprising that the b region robustly asserts a B Major tonic. In fact, a standard
progression prevails in that key through measure 63: I is followed by IV, and IV undergoes
a 56 shift in which the 6-phase E-G-C sounds in its evolved state E-G-B-D (= II).
Without the visual clues that Chopin provides in the score, listeners should reasonably
expect this chord to resolve to V in B Major. Yet Chopin (as also most readers of this
book) certainly had learned that this particular variant of II (often referred to as the
German augmented sixth) may be enharmonically transformed into a dominant seventh.
It so happens that this C chords enharmonic equivalent is the very F chord that
would lead the progression back to B Minor.
Under normal circumstances the mazurka might continue with a2 (concluding the A1
section) followed by B, after which a concluding A2 would offer the final PAC. Yet in this
case there are two contrasting a1 models from which the content of a2 might be derived:
either the conventional irregular version of measure 0|1 through 24, which ends on V, or
instead the key-shifting irregular version of measures 25 through 48, with its half-step
depression. By choosing the latter for a2, Chopin arrives at a tonal juncture (at the end of
measure 88) not well suited to precede a normative B section (which in this case will
begin in the initial tonics parallel key, B Major). Rather than grapple with that
juxtaposition, Chopin takes the unusual step of inserting a full statement of the b region,
thereby putting his tonal house in order before the onset of the B section. Though b
content is employed, Chopin achieves the same tonal goal as if a2 had instead proceeded
as in the initial a1 model. This is the only instance of a direct succession from a b region to
a B section within Chopins published mazurkas: the b designation in 3.14 truly deserves
the exclamation point that annotates it.
The B section opens in measure 105 with two eight-measure phrases, each
proceeding from the tonic to the dominant in the key of B Major. Both phrases are shaped
by the traversal of a descending fourth from Kopfton F, thereby matching the contour of
the original a1, though with alternative harmonic routes between the initial I and goal V.
The next sixteen measures repeat these phrases with modest adjustments and one
significant change: the second phrase concludes without achieving its dominant goal. The
dominant instead serves as the initial chord of the following phrase, where it supports
background , which is followed by at the tonic resolution. After several repetitions,
the passage breaks off at background , supported by V, in measure 151. A written-out
cadenza that expands the dominant (and recalls content from the preceding measures)
transpires during the next seventeen measures.
As mentioned above, the original tonic pillar is constructed in such a way that a PAC
may be attained with minimal modification. Yet Chopins tonal plot thickened during the
initial a1s repetition: due to the extraordinary C<F succession in measures 4648,
listeners no longer can have a clear sense of what the II chord introduced in measure 185
will do: will it proceed to the F dominant, as in the first a1 pillar; or will it instead
proceed to F, as in the modified a1 and the a2 pillars? The chord becomes a show-stopper:
whereas each of the earlier II chords was prolonged for seven measures, the final one
persists for fifteen measures, the latter half of which comprises no more than a solo line
alternating between the chords fifth and root in the midst of a diminuendo. Will
G>G>F again lead away from the B Minor dominant? No! Aroused afresh, Chopin
instead uses C, the other of the two pitches he has been dangling before the listener, as
the initiation point for a similar descent in half steps: C>B>A introduces the B Minor
dominants leading tone. The
measure (200).
Opus 56/3
Chopins Mazurka in C Minor contains one of the most astonishing constructions in his
entire oeuvre. To understand it, imagine a keyboard mechanism placed on rollers, so that it
may move freely to the left or right, consequently hitting different piano strings and
thereby facilitating transpositions. Whereas normally such a mechanism would be in the
locked position, imagine a pianist performing a mazurka with it accidentally unlocked
while several earthquake tremors occur, moving the keyboard a total of seven times to the
right, each resulting in either a half-step or a whole-step shift. Despite these seismic shifts,
the performer maintains the integrity of the tonal plan according to what the fingers are
doing instead of according to the sounds that the strings are emitting.25 It so happens that
these seven seismic shifts add up to twelve half steps, so that, despite the extraordinary
sonic output, the mazurka ends in the key in which it began.
The mazurkas basic tonal plan incorporates an irregular tonic pillar I II V during
its A1 section and prolongational I II V I progressions in the dominant key during both the
A1 and B sections. The chordal roots are displayed in the context of C Minor at the top of
3.15a, with much of the content in that line shaded to indicate where seismic shifts ensue,
resulting in alternative sonic output, as displayed below the shaded regions. The A1
section opens with a progression that broadly extends from I to V, incorporating an
evolved tonic 6-phase chord and a minor supertonic [3.15b]. Chopin proceeds with a
written-out repeat, during which a seismic shift raises supertonic D to E in measure 49.
Whereas the minor D chord might have undergone chordal evolution so as to result in a
D surge directed towards dominant G, now instead E targets dominant A, which
arrives in measure 52. Another seismic shift affects a repetition of that passage: F B
occurs in measures 53 through 56. This B chord represents C Minors dominant even if
by now the seismic activity has moved it three half steps higher. The tonic pillar concludes
with a prolongation of this dominant, engaging a fifth-progression in the melody during
measures 56 through 72 (with the normative D>G dominant span raised to F>B). Though
at first the chord introduced in measure 57 may seem to be yet another II (a third
seismic shift: E, F, F), the progression ultimately incorporates that chord within
the B dominant prolongation. Consequently the chord spelled by Chopin as if its root
were F functions as a C-rooted chord (initially II in tonicized B Major, shifting to II
during measure 68), as clarified by the modified spelling in 3.15b.
Example 3.15 Mazurka in C Minor (op. 56/3) (a) Tonal content of mm. 2136; (b)
Analysis of mm. 0|1136; (c) Analysis of mm. 137220.
Onset
measure
C
Minor:
Foundational progression
(= G
Major:
G )
49
+1
53
+2
134
+2
135
+2
135
+2
136
+2
136
+1
____
+12 =
octave!
The key of B Major prevails during most of the B section (from measure 73 until the
renewed seismic activity beginning in measure 134). That choice conveniently allows the
composition to retain the pitch D as : though normally D would be the fifth of dominant
G Minor, here it instead serves as the third of the seismically achieved dominant B
Major. The ternary B section opens with an x1 region (measures 73 through 88) that
pursues the tonicizing I II V I harmonic progression that will be subjected to numerous
seismic shifts during the x2 region. (Note how the B tonic extends through the end of
measure 77, where elements of its embellishing chord F and C and its surging third
and minor seventh D and A collide.)
The B section continues with a y region that, after adopting the hue of B Minor,
leads conventionally via II to the dominant in measure 105 (extended through measure
120). Though a middleground interruption of the melody on
typically would be
resolved by during the x2 region, the intended D<E>C>B melody that is initiated in
measure 121 is jolted by repeated seismic shifts that move the goal B up a major sixth to
G (in the bass at 1363). Examining the phrase that begins with melodic pitch D at 1291,
note how upper-neighbor E is supported by II at 1341. This C-G-E chord might evolve
to surging B-E-D (= II) before dominant A-F-C (whose C would be
within the
local melodic descent) arrives. Yet at that very moment a new wave of seismic shifts
begins, so that B-E-D is jolted upwards to C-F-E (thereby being distinguished from
the preceding diatonic II only by the half-step descent of G to F). The dominants thus
is represented by D rather than by C at the end of measure 134. Each of three
repetitions of II V coordinates with another whole-step seismic shift, so that V within
in measures 171
through 176. Yet the chord with bass B in measure 176 eventually evolves into the chord
with bass C in measure 180. From that point, the bass moves chromatically downwards
to F (at 1871). As 3.15c shows, an idiosyncratic descending circle of fifths that connects
IVs 5-phase F-A-C and chromatic 6-phase F-A-D chords propels this line.26 This
extended IV yields to
The coda, which commences in measure 189, contains a double C<G>C bass
arpeggiation, supporting
and
resolution. Yet during the repetition of that segment the wobbly note does not yield to the
diatonic pitch: D holds out at 2043. However, during the span from
wobble yields to D in both traversals, at 2083 and at 2123.
to the D
Opus 59/1
The Mazurka in A Minor is constructed in the most extended of Chopins mazurka forms,
with four tonic pillars in all: A1 and A2 sections (both with a ternary division into a1, b,
and a2 regions) surrounding an internal B section (where the parallel key A Major
prevails). Chopin defies his own conventions by presenting the third of the tonic pillars (at
the onset of A2) not in A Minor, but instead in G Minor. As we shall see, he begins
preparations for this unusual event as early as A1s b region.
The mazurkas inaugurating tonic pillar opens with a three-measure prolongation of
the tonics E-G-B-D embellishing chord. (A local embellishment in measure 1, before
E sounds at the bottom of the texture, should not be confused with the arrival of tonic A.)
This chord will be asserted as a relatively deep structural V at the onset of a2 (measures
2527), following a b region that proceeds only as far as an evolved IV6. (See 3.16a.) The
juxtaposition of surging B, E, and A chords during measures 9 and 10 and the weak
metrical placement of the A chord might call into question the deep structural role
assigned to that A chord in 3.16a. Yet an elision occurs: instead of a conventional
expansion of the broader I-space (via a local supertonic and dominant) followed by a
transformation of the goal I to surge towards IV, the tonic reinstatement at 103 is already
surging. Perhaps compensating for this fleeting A-chord restoration, an expanded version
of the progression during the b region extends the equivalent tonic harmony for five
measures (17 through 21) before proceeding to IV.
Example 3.16 Mazurka in A Minor (op. 59/1) (a) Analysis of mm. 136; (b) Analysis
of mm. 37130.
The Kopfton E is the first pitch heard in the mazurka. Extended via upper-third G (in
conjunction with the local shift to tonic A Minors upper-third chord C-E-G in
measures 5 through 8), a middleground descent E>D>C over the course of the pillar
likewise incorporates an upper-third embellishment of D (F>D in measure 11) before goal
C, presented as an anticipation at the end of measure 11, sounds. The descent only as far
as during the initial tonic pillars (a1 and a2) will affect how Chopin proceeds during the
B section (measures 37 through 50) and will be rectified during A2s a2 region, to be
explored below.
The b region draws upon a1s establishment of the A Minor tonic and of Kopfton to
launch its tonal trajectory, which is similar to that which inaugurates a1: the II of
measure 13 replicates much of what occurred in measure 9, leading to V in measure 14
(as in measure 10). What follows is unusual, an instance of a seismic shift. Instead of
proceeding directly to I, Chopin repeats the II V succession in a transposition down
a half step (measures 15 and 16), consequently achieving tonic A not via its normative E
dominant predecessor, but instead via E its antipode! This half-step depression is
displayed within a box in 3.16a. While the ear may succeed in making the broad
connection between roots E (measure 14) and A (measure 17), the passage sets the stage
for a more remarkable deviation that will occur later, at the onset of A2.
Though a b region often will conclude on V, here the dominant function is already
built into the initial measures of the tonic pillar, as mentioned above. Consequently the
prolonged I of measures 17 through 21 proceeds only to IV and its evolved 6-phase
chord (D-F-A-C) before the pillar theme enters in the left hand at 251. The a2 tonic
pillars progression is similar to that of a1, with the structural melody again descending
E>D>C. The goal C is transferred down an octave and wobbles to C for the onset of the
B section (in A Major) in measure 37.
Indeed the fact that the linear progressions descend only a third from during the
initial two tonic pillars results in some unfinished business that Chopin addresses at the
onset of the B section, where the major-hued C yields to B and then A in measures 37
through 42 [3.16b]. Only upon that lines completion is Kopfton E freshly stated, with a
full descent of the E>A fifth transpiring during measures 42 through 50. The E>D>C
component of that fifth is complemented by ascending motion in the bass, in an A56 B56
C5 sequential trajectory. A C chord is, of course, a common predecessor of the tonics
6-phase chord.
The next round of tonic prolongation (measures 49 through 82) is extraordinary. Note
the extended prolongation of the E minor chord first sounded in measure 56. Chopin
explores several possible continuations before proceeding through F to B in
measures 71 and 72 (the version displayed in 3.16b). That B chord should lead to
dominant E. (Compare with the B chord of measure 13.) Yet at that point an extended
half-step depression (another seismic shift) begins. Now with augmented fifth, B-D-F
leads not as expected to E-G-B (to inaugurate the third statement of the tonic pillar, as in
measures 25 and 26), but instead to D-F -A, which shares two common tones with the
preceding II. This D dominant sets A2 in motion, resolving to tonic G in measure
82. The entire a1 region maintains this half-step depression. Fortunately Chopin has
already devised a means of re-establishing the rightful tonal center. The depressed chords
of measures 15 and 16 (displayed within a box in 3.16a) are the same as the last two
depressed chords displayed within a box in 3.16b. Chopin simply persists along the course
of a1 and b until those chords emerge (stating them twice so as to maintain the dimensions
of the b region from A1), and then does exactly what he did during the earlier b region to
emerge out of the depression. (Compare measures 1617 and 9495.) The remainder of b
and the onset of a1 correspond to their counterparts within A1.
Whereas both the a1 and a2 tonic pillars within A1 traverse the linear progression of a
third descending from Kopfton , during the final pillar (the a2 of A2), a revision of the
harmonization in measure 114 prevents the occurrence of an unsuitable IAC. (See 3.16b.)
The pitch C (background ) is supported by an embellishing chord (D-F-A-C, which
later evolves into D-F-A-C) that comes between presentations of the dominant
supporting (at 1133) and (at measures 123 through 129). The PAC in the works final
measure coordinates with the descent from B to A (= ) in conjunction with the tonics
arrival. Despite the irregularities of cadence and tonal center that have characterized the
earlier statements, a regular tonic pillar in A Minor throughout and with a full descent
from to finally prevails.
Part II
Masterpieces
advocates of Kopfton may also find supportive evidence in Chopins introduction.) This
third (ascending from C to E and filled in by passing note D) likewise is incorporated
within the A1 theme.
on
(=
23
24
25
C5
(D5)
26
E5
E6
C )
This sequence is somewhat rambunctious, in that the D5 component is elided. The addition
of the pitch F to C6 fosters the direct link to D6, as FB.6 Drawing upon the momentum
generated thus far, Chopin extends further during measure 26, from C to E in the top
voice and from E to G in the bass. Root C finally yields to root F at 271.
Chopin begins a shift from notation in flats to notation in sharps during measure 28.
The curiously juxtaposed G and B during 284 should be regarded as components of a
B7 chord, targeting the circles next component, E [D].7 Chopin complicates matters by
employing an unfurled embellishment to precede that E arrival (measures 29 and 30),
as displayed in 4.2.8 Consequently the B chords dissonant A [G] at 284 is suspended
for a full measure before resolution to G [F] at 301. Though the similarity in how the F
chord in measure 27 and the E chord in measures 29 and 30 are embellished might have
created a parallelism within the circle, the E chords minor quality prevents it from
imparting a dominant function. (Thus a potential tonicization of A Major following that
of B Major is declined.) Yet the minor quality of the E [D] chord followed (after some
linear connection) by an A [G] chord of dominant character (measure 33) constitutes the
onset of an alternative and quite striking tonicization: that of the lowered supertonic
(Neapolitan) key, D Major. The continuation marked as Alternative 1 in 4.2 realizes
that potentiality and proceeds onward to the G goal. However, Chopin abruptly changes
course after the A [G] chord.
If left unattended, a descending circle of (perfect) fifths does not chart a course from
the tonic to the dominant. Instead, C would lead through F, B, E, A, and D to G, the
tonics antipode. Composers are left with two options (unless they are willing to take the
long route reaching G [A ] at the circles twelfth chord): either they can modify one of
the perfect fifths by a half step (generally at FB, at AD, or at DG); or they can
abandon the circular progression before the dominant arrives. The two alternatives
displayed in 4.2 reveal how these options might be realized. In the first, the melodic
descent overshoots the mark, requiring a corrective shift from D to diatonic D in
coordination with a DG diminished fifth in the bass. This is a common occurrence in
music, one that Chopin in fact will call upon later in the tude (as the measure numbers 72
and 75 in 4.2 indicate). Yet he here elects instead to pursue the second of the two options,
deploying two seismic shifts to hoist the A [G] chord targeting D upwards first to
B (measure 34) and then to C (measure 35).9 Perhaps a factor in Chopins choice
was the desire to realign this part of A1 harmonically with the I IV V trajectory of the
sections first part, despite the altered relationship with the melodys descent from Kopfton
, and though I
has fallen into place) a subtonic-to-dominant shift. (Compare with the third model in FC,
fig. 111a.) The remainder of the progression proceeds from this dominant in a
conventional trajectory, one that includes (finally!) an uncontested II.16 The cadential
tonic at 771 is of major quality. It is followed by a coda that twice traverses the melodic
third C<D<E, displacing the potent C<D<E motive first stated in measure 10.
Please return to the piano to explore some diminished-seventh resolutions. Since
we know that Chopin liked to compose at the piano, it is not unreasonable to
imagine that the chords you play will echo some that Chopin struck while
auditioning ideas for this work.
First play the tonic triad, C-E-G, followed by C-E-F-A. The tension
thereby created could resolve in a number of ways. This time proceed to B-D-G.
Chopin develops that conception in measures 13 through 15 (repeated in measures
53 through 55).
Then play the first two chords again, proceeding now to D-F-B. In this
context the F would be spelled appropriately as G. Then play these three chords
again, replacing G in the second chord with F, thereby lessening the chords
dissonant intensity. Chopin develops that conception in measures 23 through 25.
Now play the first two chords followed by D-F-A. In this context the
second chord would be spelled appropriately as C-E-G-B . Though B is a
downward-tending note, a embellishment of the resolution chord might result in
an upward detour to B before the A resolution pitch sounds. (For this reason the
chord often will be spelled using A, as Chopin does in measure 64. Note that he
postpones the G spelling until measure 65.) Play the chords of this progression:
C-E-G, C-E-G-B , D-G-B, D-F-A. Chopins presentation of this model
in measures 63 through 66 fails to achieve the D-F-A goal. Yet at the end of
measure 66 the listener might still have hope of success. Play the progression
again, inserting D-E-G-B between the given third and fourth chords. This
usage is referred to nowadays as a common-tone diminished seventh chord, a
type of embellishing chord that was already acknowledged in print early in the
nineteenth century.17 Consequently, among the possible continuations that the
listener might expect will occur after measure 66, a D major chord should hold a
For me the A1 sections mesmerizing effect stems in large part from the persistent
traversal of descending third-progressions from Kopfton E. Comparison with
Chopins Mazurka in A Minor (op. 7/2), measures 33 through 40, is instructive.
Observe how an upward detour from the tonicized A Major tonics third C to
incomplete neighbor D precedes a descending motion through B to A four times
within eight measures (graphed once in 2.15).5 The arpeggiation B>G>E
transpires during the succession from
to
to
.6
Consequently, in my view Salzer has lost sight of one of the A1 sections principal
unifying threads.
Salzers reading of the harmony likewise differs in significant ways from
mine. Three layers of harmonic analysis annotate 5.1. The highest level shows the
basic progression within A1 and its incomplete repetition, interpreting chords that
contain the uncommon pitch D as dominants. The middle layer focuses on the
midpoint interruption within the initial A1s a2 component, where again a
dominant (now normatively spelled) is a critical structural element. The bottom
layer shows several foreground progressions, again incorporating dominant chords
containing the pitch D. In all, I read dominant functions (at one structural level or
41). Yet whereas the A1 sections motion to IV resides within a harmonic trajectory, the
subdominant target of the B sections initial surge instead resides within a descending
circle of fifths connecting the C Minor tonic and its upper-third chord (measures 30
through 48). Though the spelling of the chord at 483 might suggest a continuation of the
circular progression, with E targeting A, Chopins continuation does not support that
reading. At that point Chopin shifts to a key signature in flats, in a mildly deficient means
of conveying the key of D Major (anticipating C Minors parallel major, C Major,
which prevails beginning in measure 65).7 Alas, the chord of 483 falls in the cracks, with a
spelling that mingles elements from C Minor (E-G-B-C ) and its enharmonic equivalent
D Minor, preceding the transformation to D Major (F-A-C-D). Retaining the C
Minor signature, 5.2 reveals that Chopin here redeploys another feature from the A1
section, though in a contrasting context: whereas D-F-A in measure 5 absorbs B to
become V (leading to I), E-G-B in measure 48 absorbs C to become VI (leading to
II).8 In fact, a broad chromaticized voice exchange
transpires between
measures 30 and 48, dynamically targeting the supertonic, which in turn targets (as II)
the dominant. (Consequently the E major chord of measure 48 the goal of the circle of
fifths serves as an interior element within a broad I876 initiative, wherein the
concluding I6 is presented in an evolved state: C -E-G-B, derived from absent root A,
instead of diatonic C-E-G-A.) Though a high G [A], reminiscent of that in measure 6,
emerges during this progression (as shown in 5.2), it returns to the textures interior at
measure 52. The plainness of the dominant arrival contrasts its A1 predecessor (measures
2526). In both contexts a dominant extension precedes the next compositional initiative.
That of measures 52 through 64 features ascending motions connecting the dominants
root and third (G<A<B) and its fifth and seventh (D<D <E<F), as shown in 5.2.
There are three main reasons why I regard the E of measure 30 as a reinstatement
of the Kopfton (covered by G), rather than following Salzers lead by delaying
that reinstatement until measure 48. First,
measure 29 (carried over from measure 26). Second, E is reinforced through the
voice exchange in measures 30 through 32. Third, the E<E<F
inaugural melodic gesture of A1 recurs here. (Due to the voice exchange, it
transpires in the bass during measures 32 through 34.) Whereas my reading of a
descending circle of fifths corresponds to Salzers annotation asc[ending] 4ths
(desc[ending] 5ths) in his fig. 5 (p. 293), I find his coordinating beamed lines
(E<F<F <G in measures 38 through 46 and G>F>E in measures 46 through
48) curious. I instead regard the G as a neighbor to F (thus F<F <G>F) prior
to a G arrival at measure 48, since F not G is a stable member of the circle
of fifths F and B chords. (The excursion to G is not displayed in 5.2.)
Salzer offers no interpretation of the chord at 483, which I regard as a potent
chromatic variant of the tonics 6-phase chord, surging toward the supertonic. We
likewise have divergent views of the mediant that precedes it: for Salzer it is the
principal connector between the tonic and the dominant, whereas for me it is an
upper-third extension of the tonic, an intermediary between the tonics 5- and 6phase chords. I regard II, rather than III, as the principal harmonic event
between the perimeter tonic and dominant chords. That chord is not labeled in
Salzers Roman numeral analysis.
Though I commend Salzers display of the dominant prolongation in
measures 52 through 63, I suggest that the slur labeled 6th (5+1) in his fig. 5b
(p. 293) should be omitted. The penultimate note of this sixth, D [E], reinstates
the interrupted D of measures 49 through 52. (See my D-to-D slur in 5.2.) By
definition an interruption involves a descending motion whose completion is
delayed. Whereas a foreground D [E] leads from this D to the reinstated and
now wobbly Kopfton E [F] of measure 65 (to be explored below), the D of
measure 63, reinstated at 792, ultimately finds its successor in C at 941.
Chopin builds some redundancy into his structure, electively reiterating the B sections
principal events in the context of the parallel major key, C Major. Consequently all three
viable threetwo descents are utilized within this nocturne:
and
unifying feature despite contextual differences. Whereas the F-A-C chord first stated in
measure 4 and repeated several times during A1 fulfills a normative harmonic function (as
IV) between the tonic and dominant, and the F-A-C chord of measures 3436 and 42
44 is an internal element within a descending circle of fifths that connects the tonic and
the mediant, the F-A-C [G-B-D] chord in measures 66 and 70 serves as an unfurled
embellishment of the major tonic.
A portion of the circle of fifths recurs as well. Whereas in measures 30 through 48 the
minor modes diatonic C F B E trajectory is pursued (with each chord eventually
surging toward the next), in the context of C Major (measures 71 and 72) a less common
path transpires: C F B [D G C], as shown in 5.3. Though B Major, whose
tonicization is accomplished through repetition of the same foreground progression that
earlier established the C Major tonic, generally would be regarded as a remote key, it
nevertheless holds a special place within C, as a chromaticized variant of the dominants
upper-third chord (major B-D -F as variant of diminished B-D-F).9 When the pitch
A [B ], which I regard as a substitute for the dominant root G, arrives at 791, D and F
reveal themselves to be wobbly notes, for tonal order is restored through their lowering to
D and F, respectively. (See 5.3.) The A serves as the G dominants minor ninth (as in
measures 25 and 26).10 Its resolution (as an incidental dissonance) to G first in the upper
register (at 833) and then in the lower register (during the cadenza that follows) provides a
normative dominant context for the B sections close.
I expressed concerns above regarding how Salzer treats the soprano D [E] of
measures 63 and 64. That concern likewise pertains to the similar construction in
measure 68. Despite Chopins slurring, the tonic pedal point, and the nonalignment of chord members, I propose that measure 68 should be read as
representing A-C-E-G.
My application of the V numeral (at various structural levels) has been much
freer than Salzers (beginning, as noted, with the chord of 534). Likewise here we
are at odds: my structural dominant, emanating from its upper-third chord, takes
hold in measure 79, four measures before Salzer applies the Roman numeral V in
his Example 5.
to some
manifestation of . The model in 5.4 shows how they interact and how the Urlinie then
continues to its inevitable close on at 941. The coda that follows develops the distinctive
E>C>G [F>D>A] arpeggiation of measure 65, now presented (twice) more slowly
and filled in during measures 94 through 98. The subdominant of measure 66 finds its
counterpart in measure 99.
Whereas both Salzer and I place the principal interruption after the dominant
arrival in measure 52, he proposes that the major tonics in measure 65
inaugurates the post-interruption descent to . I instead regard that as the onset
of a parenthetical insertion that reiterates the descent to
rebuttal. In that I am uneasy about how Lerdahl has organized these scores pitches into
various hierarchical levels (a task that must precede the application of his innovative
techniques for generating keys and Roman numerals), I reveal for the reader as much of
how my analytical thought process regarding hierarchy operates and why I consequently
am led to reject many of Lerdahls interpretations as I can convey in words.
These works have been much studied and commented on already, of course. Lerdahl
draws inspiration especially from Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachters analysis of the E
Major Preludes second and third phrases.2 With regard to the E Minor Prelude, two
essays by Schachter3 and an article co-authored by Justin London and Ronald Rodman
were consulted.4 The authors of the latter provide, as their fig. 6, a transcription of
Schenkers unpublished analytical jottings on the E Minor Prelude.5 Unfortunately their
transcription is rife with errors and omissions.6
background structure
presented already in measures 1 through 4. On the one hand the analysis conveys details
concerning a concrete harmonic progression (dependent upon a potent dose of hierarchical
thinking, to be explored presently), almost all of whose bass pitches can be located in the
score, though sometimes in enharmonically equivalent spellings. On the other hand much
of the open-notehead structural melody is imaginatively constructed in this analysis:
though each pitch relates to an actual note in the score, only the G of measure 8 and the
concluding E actually sound in the upper register during the composition. One of the
melodys main characteristics throughout is an upward striving from the interior to the top,
a process that succeeds during A1 only on the second try, with the attainment of Kopfton
G [A] at 81. Yet that accomplishment is short-lived: in both A1 phrases, whatever
progress in rising above the initial B has been achieved is wiped out before the cadence.
seventeen beats, respectively. I reject that interpretation, proposing in its stead that
the second phrase functions as a variant of the first (maintaining the tonic opening
and HC close), within the most conventional of all musical forms: the binary
antecedent/consequent pair. Here Chopin twice attains V (at 434 and at 84) but
goes no further (the antecedent phrase and its repetition). Then, shifting that V to
an earlier point within the allotted four measures (at 114), he succeeds in achieving
the goal tonic at the final downbeat (the consequent phrase). Either placing such a
crucial dominant as that of 84 within the third phrase or eliminating it altogether
see fig. 3.2, TSR d, c, and b and PR (prolongational reduction) ab is, in my
view, a misrepresentation of what Chopin is doing here.18
Positing a cadence on the mediant (at 83) is essential to Lerdahls
interpretation of the broad structure: the equal subdivision of an octave into three
descending major thirds (E in measure 5, C in measure 6, G in measure 8, and E
in measure 9). This reading is fleshed out with arrows wending through grids of
regional space and Roman numerals in his figs. 3.4 and 3.7a. Thus we disagree not
only regarding which chord corresponds to the cadence, but also regarding the A
major chord at 71, which I interpret as the goal of a descent in thirds (E>C>A
over three measures) within the broader circle of fifths. Lerdahl instead hears a
prolongation of C from 61 through 74, thus harboring hopes of a resolution on an
F major chord longer than I do. (Though in note 16 I acknowledged a potential for
such a continuation after C, the emergence of the A chord at 71 decisively shifts
the odds in favor of a circle-of-fifths continuation, which is confirmed by the
succession from D to G.)
Lerdahls proposal of a prolonged C chord was strongly influenced by an
analysis published by Edward Aldwell and Carl Schachter.19 They interpret the A
major triad at 71 as an emphasized passing chord. (They also propose a cadence
in A [G] in measure 8.) Lerdahl has, with proper acknowledgement,
incorporated their reading into his conception.
Lerdahls path through regional space (as displayed in his fig. 3.4) depends
upon enharmonic equivalence (with the shift displayed between A and G). In
his view the journey in the unfolded toroidal structure begins and arrives on
different Es (p. 94). My alternative reading instead maps back onto the original
E. Viewing a fresh grid (Lerdahls fig. 2.22a, regarding E as tonic), one might
proceed from E through G to C (as does Lerdahl), but then move leftwards to A,
followed by a bold upward shift to D (a boldness that is mitigated by the collision
of those two entities within the same diminished seventh chord), thereby putting
the phrases concluding G and B close at hand.
Given that early on in my study I developed multiple concerns regarding
Lerdahls hierarchical assessments and reading of the phrase goal, my perusal of
his various charts was pursued dutifully, rather than with enthusiasm. In some
cases I was unable to comprehend the logic behind the display of certain paths: for
example, why does an arrow connect V and A in fig. 3.7a but instead vii and A
in fig. 3.7b? (I am not expert enough in his methodology to distinguish between a
minute typographical error and a conceptually meaningful distinction.) And I was
surprised that a circled
comment about how the diatonic substratum shines through (p. 101) might
offer a clue regarding why he included it.20
sequence reaches V (a PACs conventional penultimate chord) at the end of the phrases
third measure, the prime position for a tonic close on the final measures downbeat is
available. Consequently Chopin avoids the down-to-the-wire cadence attainments of both
A1 phrases by presenting a robust four-beat tonic in measure 12.
Example 6.4 Sequences related to Prelude in E Major (op. 28/9), mm. 13 and 911.
Again in the third phrase, Lerdahls and my hierarchical perspectives conflict. For
me, the ascending sequences alternation of local 5- and 6-phase chords places
emphasis on the former, even if the latter are unfurled into position and occur on
downbeats. Consequently the initiating tonic (which via the shortcut described in
note 7 incorporates both the 5-phase bass E and 6-phase bass G) inaugurates a
stepwise upward motion E(G)<A<B<C during the diatonic sequence, E(G)
<A<B[A]<B during the obstinate sequence, and ultimately the latter again
during the idiosyncratic sequence. In Lerdahls fig. 3.2 (PR cd), the stems on E,
F, G, and then B obscure the linear approach to the dominant root. As was the
case also in the second phrase, Lerdahls reading relates to one published by
Aldwell and Schachter.21 Whereas they propose an ascending motion through a
parenthetical passing (II) to III on the way to V, my interpretation of the passage
using their style of Roman numeral usage would appear as follows, with the boxed
area corresponding to the omission that results from the shortcut, wherein the
initial I (E-G-B) maps onto the VL (voice leading) chord after III (G-B-E):
In my view, the sequences final VL chord (B-D-G) should lead to VI5 (CE-G). The substitution of V results in a retroactive enharmonic transformation of
B: roots A<B<C into A<A<B.
The reading in Lerdahls fig. 3.2 (TSR c) juxtaposes 6-phase F-(A)-C and 5phase B-D-(F) the third and final chords of 6.4s idiosyncratic sequence model
fostering the misleading impression that a harmonic succession from II5 (the
Neapolitan) to V underlies the sequential progression. Given my view that Chopin
has diverted the sequences expected course via a non sequitur to achieve the
dominant, Lerdahls arrow connecting G and V/E in his fig. 3.8b seems to me too
blithe, giving the impression of normalcy to a succession that is astonishing in its
audacity.22
ensue during A2. Though that in fact does occur, Chopin has reconstructed the phrases
interior to a greater extent than would have been necessary to fulfill his formal obligations.
As will be explained in greater detail below, a slithering downwards through tonal space,
mostly in half steps, occupies the preludes first eight measures. Tonal coherence is
maintained because both the beginning and ending points of the passage project the tonic
(a diatonic minor I followed by I). In the process a number of vibrant chords are passed
through, any of which potentially could be asserted to take on a harmonic role. During A2
Chopin undertakes such a conversion of function for one of these chords: instead of
slithering as far as I, which targets IV, he converts what in measure 6 was no more than
a diminished seventh passing chord into an asserted V harmony, which resolves to a
minor I. (The exact G-B-E-B sonority that began the phrase is restored at the end of
measure 17.) The progression continues without surge from that I to IV (which now
undergoes a conventional 56 shift), then onwards (incorporating some extraordinary local
embellishment) through V to I to complete the phrase.
dominant root B against G (hypothetically inserted by revising the melody in the second
half of measure 9 to D>C>A>G) to F would result in parallel fifths. Chopin averts that
unpleasantness twice by leaping from A to F. In the final iteration of the cadential
succession he slips a G in (justifying the absence of parentheses around the open G
notehead in 6.5), deftly delayed until the phrases final downbeat (121) to become an
accented passing note, thereby staggering the arrival points of B and F.28 Had IV not
been inverted, the conventional model
IV
(as in FC, fig. 16, ex. 5, model 2) could have been pursued without impediment.
m. 2
E[D]
G[A]
C[B]
m. 3
m. 4
mm. 56
mm. 78
slurs in my 6.5) all functioning at the same hierarchical level, from which no
individual one should be singled out for inclusion at a deeper level; and (3) the
connectivity that Chopin pursues between measures 1 and 8 is that between two
forms of I, which Lerdahl commutes into a connectivity between I and V.
Paralleling his dependency upon Aldwell and Schachter in the E Major
Prelude analysis, Lerdahl acknowledges a dependency upon an analysis of the E
Minor Prelude published by Justin London and Ronald Rodman.29 The emphasis
upon the chord that I have found problematic is in fact a prominent feature of
their presentation. It would be illuminating for readers to detect and come to terms
with the many ways in which my 6.5 contrasts both the left half of Lerdahls fig.
3.19 and the first page of London and Rodmans ex. 1. Observe especially how my
slur connecting Kopfton B in measure 1 and the G of measure 8 cannot be made
to jive with their prolongation of A from measure 5 through measure 9.30
Both Lerdahl and the London/Rodman team consider two essays by
Schachter that shed light on the E Minor Prelude.31 Whereas I propose that Chopin
has entered into a fully chromatic tonal space during measures 1 through 8, with a
uniform bass descent in half steps G>F>F>E>D>D Schachter instead
proposes some internal hierarchical differentiation, resulting in a foundational line
that descends as G>F>E>D. (Note the stems marking those four noteheads in the
graph published with the 1994 essay.)
Given the extraordinary lack of agreement between Lerdahls and my
readings regarding which simultaneities between measures 1 and 8 constitute the
essential chord progression, I cannot endorse his display of the phrases pitchspace journey in fig. 3.20 or the tree diagram conveying a regional prolongational
analysis in fig. 3.21. As Lerdahl himself states (and as I have already quoted in
note 8), It is sometimes troublesome to determine the grouping structure of a
piece, but once that is in place the rest mostly follows like clockwork (p. 7).
Indeed, the clockwork part of his effort processes the TSR and PR structures of
fig. 3.19 in an exemplary fashion. (His discussion relates Chopins harmonic
practice within this prelude to Wagners penchant for being in a key without
touching upon its tonic chord.) Even from a statistical perspective, the
Even without the fanfare of a surge comparable to that which transpired during 82, IV
emerges as the principal connector between I and V during A2. (Note how closely the
melody that IV supports during 181 relates to that of 92.) The IV chords 6-phase F (at the
fourth eighth note of measure 18) serves as the starting point for a descending third to the
leading tone (F>E>D) whose E gets stuck for two measures, making the arrival of D
at 202 all the more gratifying. (Compare with the repeated sounding of resolution pitch D
in the corresponding passage of A1 measures 10 through 12.) Coordinating with that
interior strand, the structural A (= ) thrice descends to F (= ), again as in the earlier
passage. In this case the truant never sounds (in contrast to A1, where a belated G is
heard at 121), and thus the structural G (= ) is displayed within parentheses in 6.6.
In both phrases the extension of the initial I-space coordinates with the filling-in of
the tonic triads upper third (B>G during measures 1 through 8 and B>G during measures
13 through 17). Consequently the filling-in of the dominant triads upper third (F>D
during measures 1820 through 24) is especially appealing.32 Yet Chopin goes further.
The initial phase of the dominant prolongation in measures 18 through 20 (like that in
measures 10 through 12) engages, in the bass, the same B<C>B neighboring motion that
embellishes the melody in the phrases opening measures. Thus Cs recurrence in the bass
at 211, supporting the passing note E within the dominants F>D third, invokes several
layers of association. One of tonal musics more poignant embellishing chords, built from
four pitches each a half step distant from one of the major dominant triads members,
emerges over the course of measure 21: C-E-G-A[B]. Though the
augmented sixth
typically would resolve outwards to a octave, Chopin luxuriates in the chord, pursuing
in two voices the same sort of descending chromatic motion as was utilized in three or
four voices during both phrases opening measures: C>B>A coordinating with
A>A>G>G. (Brackets in 6.6 mark the locations of the two intervals that are filled in.)
Consequently the augmented-sixth interval sounds as a diminished third (
Chopin as
, spelled by
with the dominant roots restoration at 241. Es descent to D completes the dominants
prolongation, which is followed by the cadential tonic at the final downbeat.
At the outset I suggested that Chopin has reconstructed the [second] phrases
interior to a greater extent than would have been necessary. In assessing how
Lerdahl interprets the second phrase in his fig. 3.19, it appears to me that he has
reconstructed the second phrases interior to an even greater extent than has
Chopin. Comparing my 6.5 and 6.6, note that the two phrases are of approximately
the same length twelve and thirteen measures. The dominant arrives in the tenth
measure of the first phrase, whereas in the second it arrives somewhat abruptly in
the sixth measure, after a curtailed subdominant. Chopin has emphasized the
revving up the presentation of the initial I-space in the first phrase, while
focusing more on the leave-taking the expansion of the cadential dominant in
the second. Yet in both cases the harmonic progression proceeds from I through IV
to V. Even with Chopins alterations in pacing, one can perceive a strong
correlation between IV in measure 9 and in the first half of measure 18, and
between V in measures 10 through 12 and in the second half of measure 18
through measure 20. Granted, the bass B at 171 is a conspicuous note: low, loud,
and metrically strong. Yet I propose that Chopin has applied those markers to
convert a chord that earlier (measure 6) played no harmonic role into a functional
dominant within a middleground progression that expands the phrases initial Ispace, before the continuation to IV and then V. Lerdahl instead hears the onset
of the dominant function at 171 as extending for eight full measures, though indeed
he proposes that not all of the dominants pitches are in place until the second half
of measure 20. (Note the BF diagonal line spanning those measures in his PR c
d.) Consequently the seeming correlation between his regional prolongational
analysis in fig. 3.21b, which displays the noteheads E, A, B, and E, and my I IV
V I harmonic analysis in 6.6 is incidental: his A and B correspond to measures 14
and 16, respectively, whereas my IV and V both reside in measure 18. In
addition, though I concur with his placement of the first phrases soprano pitch G
at the downbeat of measure 12 in PR cd, placing the second phrases G in
measure 17, thereby neglecting the A of the thrice-stated A>F third
(corresponding to an A that was significant to the analysis in the first phrase),
211, Schachter instead proceeds in his structural descent from A to G at that point,
in the tenor register. (To his credit, that reading is consistent with his interpretation
of the first phrase, which has proceeded only so far as a middleground
by the
final . Consequently 7.1 displays four open noteheads with upward stems connected to a
beam. (Note the upward transfer of Kopfton D just after it is established. The lower
register will be reinstated later.)
there is no visual indication of how these measures connect to what precedes and
follows them. Both quandaries are clarified by looking elsewhere at graph 1E or
1F for a sense of the local harmonic progression, and at graph 1D for Hoods
interpretation of A as neighbor to the tonic third.
Hood and I are at opposite poles regarding both the extent and structural
depth of the phrases goal dominant chord. For me, it arrives at 81 and functions as
the preludes background V, supporting the Urlinies pre-interruption
(as
shown in 7.1); for her, its emergence occurs instead at 52, and its foreground role
apparently allows a Roman numeral (V in her style of analysis) to be omitted, even
in a graph (1G or 2H) in which dozens of other numerals are included.
To clarify my reading of Chopins harmonic conception, for a moment
assume that measure 5 does not exist. The preceding chord (B-D-G) and the
following chord (B-D-F-A) are, in my view, the same harmony, first in its
diatonic state and then in a highly evolved state. Such an evolution of the tonic
generally comes about as the succession to IV (here represented by IV during 62)
draws near. Though in this case that evolution is extreme I rather than I the
transfer of root from G to C at 62 nevertheless shines through. Now reinstating
measure 5, we come to understand that the tonic is prolonged via a conventional
local progression (not fully displayed in 7.1) whose concluding tonic happens to
be highly evolved: I II V I. The fifth-relationship between II and V
transpires with exactly the same evolution as that between the terminal I and the
IV that follows.5 Taking into account this more developed harmonic conception,
the fact that the phrase fills eight measures within an opus that includes several
preludes of around sixteen measures in length, and a realization that the next
phrase (to be discussed in detail below) begins exactly as would a consequent
phrase within a parallel period, I propose that the dominant arrival in measure 8
and the to which the melody descends conform to the normative closure of A1
within an A1 A2 binary form.
If the music that one is analyzing seems ambiguous, it is important to
compare the passage in question with other passage(s) within the same movement
that the composer may have fleshed out more fully.6 In this case the logical
Example 7.2 Alternative version of Prelude in G Minor (op. 28/22), measures 15 and
16.
Example 7.3 Analysis of Prelude in G Minor (op. 28/22), mm. 8|916 (incorporating
7.2).
The chief difference between the two phrases (prior to the cadence) concerns how the
tonic, once attained, is prolonged. (Compare measures 46 and 1214.) Both versions are
highly chromatic, yet they pursue different strategies, resulting in contrasting evolutions of
the tonic (both of which target IV): first I (B-D-F-A at 61), then I (B-D-F-G at
142). The cadence supplied in 7.2 borrows material from Chopins cadence in measures 40
and 41, while completing the descending background line left dangling after
in
E > D
D > C
D > C
C > B
Two intervals of the tonic triad (whose third shifts from B to B over the course
of the passage) are traversed: B to G, and D to B. An interpretation of the
chordal progression would need to accommodate the following:
One might regard these chords as the first two cycles of an obstinate sequence
whose next chord, e, fails to emerge owing to the interaction between the g and
G chords, resulting in a succession instead to c, as follows:
G Minor:
I (
IV
II
IV
V7
minor tonic). Finally, whereas my perception of how what has occurred thus far
conforms to the conventions of a parallel period guides my ears to expect that after
the IV of 151, V will follow (in accord with the prior succession from IV to V
during measures 7 and 8), Hoods analysis is silent concerning measure 15s
F[G]-A-C-E chord (exactly the same evolved state as in measure 8, though in a
different inversion). That brings us to the fateful moment of bass As arrival
(triggering Fs enharmonic shift to a G role, in accord with Chopins spelling),
which both prevents closure in measure 16 and directs the progression on a more
expansive course, to be explored below.
own tonicization, which Chopin does confirm by resolving ninth B [A] to A at the end
of measure 15 and by undertaking a chromatically filled-in voice exchange
over the bar line between measures 15 and 16). As 7.2 and 7.3
demonstrate, the first interpretation would lead to a PAC in G Minor at the normative
point, the phrases eighth measure. In contrast, 7.4, which corresponds to what Chopin
actually composed, shows how the II alternative results in a longer route to the PAC.
Once a cadence during the phrases eighth measure is decisively rejected, Chopin seems in
no hurry to reach his goal: the phrase expands from the normative eight to an astonishing
thirty-three measures by means of the already mentioned tonicization as well as several
internal repetitions and expansions, acknowledged by 7.4s grid of measure numbers and
by a hairpin symbol. The more developed harmonization stems in part from Chopins
decision to replace the single-arpeggiation bass (GD) of A1 with a double-arpeggiation
bass (GDGDG) during A2.
Whereas the Neapolitan version of IV6 proceeds to V7 and then I to support the
span from through
transpired during A1, but instead (in the middle of measure 34) to the
register of the initial sounding of Kopfton D a seventh below Middle C (in measure 4).
From that low A, prolonged through measure 40 via embellishing chords (including the
potent C-E-G-B of measure 39, mentioned above), the background lines concluding G
emerges by stepwise descent, supported by the PAC tonic. Doublings of G an octave and
two octaves higher bring closure concurrently in all of the registers in which portions of
the fundamental line have sounded during the prelude.
Hoods graph 1F contains a remarkable analysis that highlights our widely
divergent views of the works harmonic dimension. She deploys only three
analytical symbols to provide the basic harmonic sense of measures 9 through 22: i
N i. (In her work, N stands for Neapolitan; the latter i is followed by an Arabic 6 to
convey that the tonic chord appears in its first inversion.) Though my 7.4
incorporates equivalent symbols I II I my contextualization of the Neapolitan
chord contrasts Hoods in important ways. Note first that our difference of opinion
regarding the arrival point of the phrases initial tonic chord emerges once more:
Hood places the tonic in measure 9, whereas I place it in measure 12. Yet we agree
that, one way or another, the phrase establishes the G Minor tonic before the
Neapolitan arrives. Though I acknowledge that II is tonicized, I nevertheless
regard it as the asserted 6 phase of a hierarchically deeper chord namely, IV,
whose attainment is emphasized through the transformation of the minor tonic into
a surging I. In Hoods Graph 1F this IV chord lacks a label (as is also the case in
the more detailed Graph 1G, though in Graph 2H a iv appears among the twenty
symbols numerals, N, and +6 that annotate this fourteen-measure passage).
Likewise, in my view a harmony that is hierarchically deeper than II precedes the
tonic resolution namely,
connected to a beam in 7.4 are G, D, and G.) Hood displays evidence of some
sympathy for that view in her graph 1B (though, again, no V label appears). I am
not in a position to decide whether the competing hierarchies displayed in 1B and
1F amount to an assertion that the Neapolitan imposes a shift in the relationship
among these various chords (in accord with the ambiguity theme of Hoods
article); or whether, instead, the annotation of the latter graph with harmonic
symbols is in need of repair.
I also note a significant discrepancy between the presence of Roman numeral
i at measures 3435 in graphs 1A through G and its absence in graph 2H.9 Again,
is this an inadvertent omission; or is Hood intending to juxtapose two quite
different readings of the closing measures, fostering the notion of ambiguity?
(Though neither version matches what I display in 7.4, graph 2H is far closer to
my view. However, I suspect that Hood would quickly add V and i numerals, to
conform with the other graphs, if the discrepancy were brought to her attention.)10
Though other issues could be addressed (for example, Hoods +6 label, in the
context of C Minor, for what I interpret as the initial statement of the II chord at
the end of measure 15), by now it is clear that there is little common ground
between our interpretations, despite our use of similar analytical strategies.
Readers may wish to extend the comparison of our perspectives beyond this single
brief prelude, placing Hoods recent monograph alongside mine for a double dose
of invigorating Chopin study.
Example 8.1 Prelude in C Minor (op. 45) (a) Analysis of mm. 13; (b) Analysis of
mm. 15.
In that music analysts for good reason have come to regard the II (Neapolitan)
chord as a normal occurrence within minor-key contexts, some care in assessing how it
comes about here is in order. (This assessment will prove to be crucial for our
understanding of a later passage from the prelude.) I propose that Chopin is proceeding in
this descending path not according to diatonic precepts (even if A and f coincide with
diatonic chords within C Minor), but instead in an obstinate manner. As such, he is not
bound by the dictates imposed by the C Minor key signature, which favors seven specific
pitch classes. When thinking outside the diatonic realm, the numbers from 0 to 11 (with C
= 0) offer a neutral means of displaying pitch interactions, in a modulo 12 framework free
from the hierarchical differentiations imposed by key-based (modulo 7) thinking. Chopins
descending triads thus may be represented as follows:
8
4
6
2
Note especially that each chords third and fifth hold over from the preceding chord, and
that the chordal qualities alternate between minor (m) and major (M). Once the
descending trajectory has run its course (as determined by the composer), the endpoint is
thrust back into the context of diatonic tonal space, which must somehow make sense of it
according to the conventional relationships within the key. Though in this case the chord
that is thrust back is not diatonic, it happens to coincide with the common Neapolitan
variant of the supertonic. The graph displayed in 8.1b thus interprets chromatic D as a
frequently encountered and therefore unremarkable wobbly note resulting in II, with
diatonic pitch D restored (as it almost always is) during the dominant harmony that
follows. Minor-key tonality ultimately prevails: D is subservient to D, and the major
dominant is the principal structural event between the perimeter tonic harmonies, as
indicated by the beamed bass notes, CGC (Schenkers sacred triangle). The graph
displays one unusual feature: because the soprano melodys descending seventh during the
parallel progression places the endpoint chords in contrasting registers, a foundational
linear connection emerges between the first chords lowest sounding pitch, E (which I
propose serves as the Kopfton), and the II chords highest pitch, D, which proceeds via
the D wobble correction to tonic C, completing a third-progression. After the cadence,
the Kopfton is reinforced (indeed, in this unusual context it needs some reinforcement)
through the bass melodys projection of an apex E in three successive registers at the
middle and end of measure 5 and the end of measure 6, and then repeated.
Eigeldinger interprets Chopins opening melody not as a descending seventh
followed by cadential gestures, as I do, but instead extends a bit further, to a
place (or will be imagined to fall into place if not literally stated). Nothing through
measure 82 hints at any progress in achieving that result. Instead, the dominants
third (B), imagined fifth (D), and seventh (F) emerge concurrently at 831.
Between measures 80 and 83 Chopin presents a descending arpeggiation touching
upon all of the cadential chords members: G>E>C>G. During this
arpeggiation he incorporates at each nodal point exactly the same sort of
embellishment as was deployed at the two internal nodal points during the
introduction: half-step lower neighbors. The following stages convey my
conception of how Chopin constructed this intriguing melody:
G
G>F <G
E>D<E
C>B<C
G<F <G
G>F <G
E>D<E
B<C
F <G
G C B A >F <G
E>D<E
F <G
B<
Observe how, as the melody takes on its distinctive shape, two pitches (C and
G) are elided, one pitch (B) is displaced, and one pitch (the initial G) is
embellished by an upper-fourth flourish. That flourish indeed corresponds to
Eigeldingers upper tetrachord the only meaningful fourth available within this
A>G>F
G
F>E>D
E
tonic. As stated at the outset, the opening measures of the Prelude in C Minor
only gradually come into focus as an establishment of the C tonic.
Smiths analysis takes the unusual tack of comparing Chopins composition
to the narrative trajectory of a thriller movie, proposing that just as the film
audience tries to resolve the various plot entanglements and figure out who the
culprit is, so also auditors of Chopins prelude will ponder it as a puzzle that needs
to be resolved. I dont buy it. As Smith suggests, sometimes the key to resolution
is hidden in plain sight (p. 240). In this case the introduction is that key.7 If one
does not suitably come to terms with its nuances before proceeding to the main
body of the work, the complications that arise likely will be perplexing. I do not
think that Chopin intended to obfuscate what he was doing: the introduction
pursues a straightforward course in a direct and uncluttered presentation.
Nevertheless, Smith (following Eigeldingers lead) proceeds to segment the
melody into tetrachords rather than trichords, and consequently his reading of the
passage does not sufficiently correlate with the contour of the works main section
(to be explored below) for him to recognize the latter as a gargantuan variant of
the former.
Smiths annotated score 20.1 (p. 243) contains a curious and telling use of
curved arrows. During the first four chords, the initial c is the target of an arrow
that curves leftwards from the fourth chord; whereas during the fifth through
eighth chords the initial A is the target of no arrow, while the eighth chords arrow
curves to the right, targeting the ninth chord. Compare that inconsistent reading
with 8.1a, where the fourth and eighth chords perform equivalent roles as
expanders of the nodal points that immediately precede them. Though Smith
yearns for a D chord in measure 4 (a chord that is crucial to his plot denouement
later in the work), I contend that such a D chord is a conspicuous part of the
preludes fabric at the end of measure 3.8 The plot thus may be summarized as
follows: after the initial tonic, a descent in thirds through A and f proceeds as far
as D, which (following the conventions of the Neapolitan chords usage) leads
to a V I cadence. As we shall see, the main section of the work at first pursues
the same trajectory, reiterating the introductions c, A, f, and D nodal points
(measures 6|7 through 18) and thus giving auditors a second chance at
comprehending this essential component of the plot, after which multiple wobbly
notes transform the second through fourth chords, so that ultimately D (II)
rather than D (II) precedes the main sections V I cadence in measures 66 and
67 (which, as we shall see, Smith relegates to the status of a retransition).
Smith gives considerable weight to chords that he regards as tonicized. In his
fig. 20.5 (p. 248) he shows a triangular relationship among the introductions c,
A, and tonicized f (to which D is appended off to the side). An arrow points
directly from f back to c. My 8.1b accounts for all of those chords (with a
contrasting reading of their hierarchical relationships) and notably includes one
that is absent from Smiths account: the G dominant, a member of the
introductions foundational sacred triangle, CGC.9
of measure 17
(asserted as II) had proceeded to dominant G, as was the case during the introduction.
Chopin instead backtracks to f in measure 19 creating some distance from the chord
that during the introduction resided at the juncture of the linear initiative and the
concluding harmonic initiative. The prolongation of this chord, including a modal shift to
F at measure 31 and a mutation to F at measure 55, is one of the principal features of the
main section, followed by the definitive descent to D at measure 65. (One may trace
the progress of the f chords evolution in 8.2, noting especially how f, F, or F resides
at the internal phrase boundaries, indicated by the bar lines.) One might even regard all the
10
10
6
confines of the initially established nodal points) after all. This wayward F nevertheless is
treated to the same sort of chordal expansion as was the F arrival of measure 31. We now
seem even further from tonal resolution than was the case at that point.
The sections final phrase sets things aright and achieves the long-awaited goal with
surprising alacrity. First the usurping F chord is simply hoisted up a half step to the
legitimate nodal F (measure 64), the oddity of the voice leading (three simultaneous
wobbly-note resolutions!) mitigated by the concurrent sounding of a descending passing
note (E) in the bass. Fs major quality (acquired in measure 31) is not relinquished. The
presence of pitch A as third of the F chord leads to the substitution of II for the
introductions II as the progression continues downwards its final third. Of course, either
incarnation of the supertonic may serve as the predecessor of V. That dominant (measure
66) in turn targets the tonic goal (measure 67), bringing to a close the extraordinary
twelvefold expansion of an idea that during the introduction transpired in just five
measures.
It is understandable that Chopin elected to present a large chunk of this sharp-key
composition using flats. He has thereby spared performers (including many
amateurs) from having to read numerous frightfully spelled chords, such as the
E chord (with suspended ninth) at 491, whose appropriate spelling would be
E-B-F -G -B. Granted, an enharmonic shift is required at some point in order
for the section to end where it started in C Minor, rather than D Minor. The
logical spot for that shift within ones analysis would be during the modulo 12
equal subdivision of the octave (measures 21 through 31): from f to F, rather
than f to G. In his ex. 2 (p. 247) Eigeldinger instead copies Chopins flat
notation at that point. Sharps are restored at measure 51s E-A-C chord.
Undertaking a cosmetic (and therefore distracting and potentially misleading)
enharmonic shift while concurrently charting chordal associations in an analysis is
exceedingly dangerous. Consequently my analytical diagrams generally do not
follow composers when they employ spellings of convenience. (Theory-savvy
readers of technical analyses should be able to handle a few double-sharps!) Given
that chords related by a third have been a pervasive feature of the entire
composition, it is reasonable that Chopin pursues an ascending-third trajectory
from the stable F chord of measure 37. Yet what should that initiatives goal be?
Earlier the relationship between A and f was established. Does the conversion of
f into F warrant targeting upper-third a (or A) instead? Or should A be
maintained nevertheless? The ascending 56 sequence that Chopin employs could
lead to either goal, depending upon how the 6-phase chords are constructed. F
D G (an elaboration of F56 G5) is a good start in either case. But should
Gs 6-phase chord be E (G-B-E, surging towards A) or instead E (G -BE, surging towards either a or A)? The score bears witness that Chopin wove
indecisiveness on this point into the fabric of the work: he initially selects the
latter trajectory (measure 49) but soon shifts to the former (measure 54). Thus two
potential fifth-relationships are juxtaposed: E A and E A. When goal A is
displaced by F, a descending third-relationship is implied: A (imagined) to F.
Eigeldingers spelling of E as F (his annotation for measures 47 through 63
during which the cosmetic enharmonic shift from sharps to flats occurs reads
F A F) equates the initiating and closing elements of this complex and
fascinating passage, a reading that not only betrays an insensitivity to the
difference between descending fifth (ascending fourth: E<A) and descending
third (A>F) relationships but that then proceeds by claiming that the home key of
C Minor is symmetrically divided into three enharmonic thirds: c, F, and A (p.
246). Whereas I accept A as one of the works main players (what I have referred
to as a nodal point along the c>D trajectory, whose D will be replaced by D in
measure 65), I reject Eigeldingers F: as E it is an internal element of a sequential
progression, and as F at the cadence it is a temporary usurper of F, whose
restoration in measure 64 is accomplished before further progress in the tonal
trajectory occurs.
Indeed, the equal subdivision of an octave is featured occasionally in music
of this era: Chopin in fact pursues it in the 6(2)106 passage of measures 21
through 31, as I have noted above. But to pick a C here, an A there, and an F
somewhere else and claim that these are the poles around which the pieces
harmony is constructed (p. 246) distorts their compositional roles within Chopins
prelude. As the juxtaposition of 8.1b and 8.2 makes clear, the bass CGC
sacred triangle plays a foundational harmonic role both in the introduction and in
the main section, and in both contexts some sort of supertonic (II or II),
achieved via a descent in thirds, serves as the principal connector between the
tonic and the dominant. As is typical of tonal music in general, the bulk of
Chopins creative energy here is devoted to what comes between the initial I and
the cadential V. In claiming that the D chord of measures 15 through 18 is
established without any functional raison dtre (p. 246), Eigeldinger neglects its
potential to continue immediately to V, a scenario that Chopin passes over in
favor of a longer and far more captivating build-up to the supertonic (II) in
measure 65.
If the preludes main section is in fact a gargantuan variant of the
introduction, as I have proposed above, then there is a significant structural
connection between the cadences on tonic c in measures 45 and 6667. (Play
them one after the other to hear how they rhyme.) My reading of the form gives
them comparable status: as close of the introduction and of the main section. The
latter is divided into four parts (indicated by bar lines in 8.2), set off by a rather
amorphous halt on F in measure 19 and dynamic (and equivalently formulated)
cadences on F in measure 35 and on its usurper, F, in measure 59. (Eigeldingers
ex. 2 likewise presents the expanse from c in measure 5 to c in measure 67 as a
single multi-sectional entity, though his internal bar lines do not in all cases
coincide with mine. He annotates the goal c chord with the word Reprise,
which I take to imply a dovetailing of the end of the main section with the onset of
its modified repetition.) Smith proposes a contrasting view of the form, which he
classifies as rounded binary (p. 242).10 Though he divides what I call the main
section into the same four parts as I do, my first two parts correspond to his first
section, my third part to his middle section, and my fourth part to his retransition
(p. 241).11 Consequently what follows the cadence of measure 67 is for him a
more vital part of the formal design than it is for me. (In my view a one-part form
has fully run its course by the cadence of measure 67 and will be reprised in an
abbreviated version that retains all essential deep structural features; whereas
Smiths middle section, which cadences in F Major, requires the material after
measure 67 to re-assert the tonic and to balance the open-ended first section.) As
the remainder of this essay will help clarify, I propose that the prelude is organized
as a set of four distinct passes through the same structural theme: the
introduction, the main section, its modified repetition, and the coda. That view is
minor seventh, E, sounds in a consonant context during an excursion to the tonics upperthird chord (A-C-E in measures 12 through 15). Es ultimately dissonant character is
unleashed through the restoration of tonic root F and the shift from A to A during 161.
(An E-G()-B-(D) embellishing chord separates the A chord from the F tonic both
upon arrival and upon departure.) The upward melodic unfolding from F reaches Kopfton
A during the prolongation of the upper-third chord.
within B Minor.
Though prolonged for several measures, the F dominant does eventually resolve to B, at
which point Bs role as IV within the broader F Minor progression is fulfilled by the
continuation to dominant C. The sketch proposes that what conventionally might occur as
a stepwise connection between Kopfton A (during 131 and 141) and its incomplete upper
neighbor B (at 162 and 221) here coordinates with a registral shift, so that the seventh
A>B (broken up into three thirds) is traversed instead of the second A<B. From that
B a downward leap to the HC goal, G (= ), is easily accomplished during measure 22.
The structural division over the bar line between measures 22 and 23 (where V7 and I
harmonies are juxtaposed) is reinforced by the slurring, by the rests in the melody, by the
fact that the melody does not descend from G to F, and by the correspondence with the
initial A1 onset of measure 8.5
Whereas the introductions C major chord is inaugurated with a melodic G, its
interior third, C<E, is thrice stated in the melody during measures 3 through 6. At
the outset of A1 Chopin responds to that major third in two significant ways: first,
in the context of the F minor tonic harmony, C<E yields to C<F (measure 8); and
second, that fourth remains an interior interval, preceding the arrival of the summit
pitch A (measure 13). The graph presented in Laufers ex. 7.3a does not make
these correlations. The tall stem marking the C of measure 8 as the Kopfton
imposes a visual barrier between related pitches.
At the phrase ending, what I interpret as a structural divide between measures
22 and 23 does not register as such in Laufers graph. Our differing views stem in
part from our contrasting determinations of the Kopfton: from Laufers (= C),
the B>G third of measure 22 is interpreted as an unfolding from an outer to an
inner strand, encouraging a continuation from dissonant B to an A resolution (as
is conveyed by his soprano beam); whereas from my , a succession to
(the
would have been useful. (Note that a I numeral appears neither at measure 8 nor at
measure 23 in Laufers graph. Nor is the hierarchical relationship between the
mediant and what I call a surging tonic clarified in measures 12 through 16. I
suspect that Laufer intends III56 IV, which I regard as viable.)
after which it eventually descends three octaves to Middle C, above which the initiating
D of the post-interruption phase of this subdominant prolongation will be introduced in
measure 80.
Though the progression of measures 80 through 99 resides squarely in B Major, and
though the thematic content comes across as fresh, nevertheless there are associations with
the pre-interruption phase of the subdominant prolongation. (Both phases of the
prolongation are displayed in 9.4.) Note especially how the melodys upper thirds in
measures 6667 (D<F E>C) find their way into a major-key context in measures 84
through 90. The descent from C to B is suppressed at the cadence of measures 91 and 92,
though it may be imagined. An expanded repetition of the passage (acknowledged by the
two tiers of measure numbers in 9.4) leads definitively to the PAC (supporting C to B) in
measure 99, in coordination with a ritardando. Chopins local harmonic progressions
juxtapose the two principal means by which the tonic is departed: via a 56 shift that leads
to II, and via a surge (I) that targets IV. The tonics 5- and 6-phase chords are connected
via a segment of the descending circle of fifths (B E A D G) in measures 80 through
83. The simple addition of the tonics minor seventh, generating a surge effect in measures
86 and 87, serves as the foundation for an impressive expansion during the repetition in
measures 92 through 95, where the endpoints of a long crescendo symbol coordinate with
the tonics 8 and 7. (The bass ascends by step from root B to seventh A.)
Though the B goal of 992 resembles its predecessors in 221 and 571, both its major
quality and its sounding during the measures second beat contrast those earlier contexts.
These flaws are sufficient reason for Chopin to forgo an immediate succession to F
Minors C dominant to conclude this A1 presentation. The ensuing further expansion of
the subdominant (which eventually reverts to its initial minor quality) offers some of the
ballades most inventive writing.
Third-relationships come to the fore during the phase of the subdominant
prolongation that extends from 992 through 1452. At the outset a major-mode variant of
the passage from measures 36ff. is pursued. (Compare these passages in 9.3 and 9.5.)
Whereas the B minor chord is followed by G major, now B major is followed by G
minor (preceded by its D embellishing chord); and just as A in measure 45 connects
G and the restoration of B, so also E A in measures 104 through 107 might have
slow down and diminuendo during measure 107.) A second D G ensues, this time
inaugurating a progression that quickly proceeds via II to V, whose minor quality begins
the process of restoring the minor modal character of the tonicized B, in accordance with
its diatonic role as IV in F Minor. Of course, this F minor dominant in the tonicized
subdominant key is the same chord that elsewhere functions as the ballades tonic. Chopin
goes so far as to prolong it employing the same strategy as in the tonic prolongation
namely, through an excursion to its upper-third chord and back. (Compare the A major
chords of 121 and the end of 1132.) Whereas during measures 8 through 16 only the A-CE upper-third chord sounds between the initial F minor tonic and its surging F major
evolution, the projection of the shift from B Minors diatonic dominant (F-A-C) to its
leading-tone enhanced version (F-A-C) during measures 111 through 138 is mirrored by
the juxtaposition of two variants of the upper-third chord: A-C-E and A-C-E. (The
problematic to me. First, consider the dominant that I propose extends from 681
through 801. Laufers graphs make it appear that the melodic trajectory from D
through C completes its path with an imagined B during measure 80. (Note that
this B is placed within parentheses in his ex. 7.5c, though not in ex. 7.5a.) I
propose instead that an interruption delays that melodic goal: in my 9.4, C in
measure 68 connects to a B imagined in measure 92 and stated in measure 99.
Laufers reading in his ex. 7.5 seems to contradict his own graphs in ex. 7.6,
where, instead of descending to B, the beamed C of measure 68 either connects
with upper-third E or is juxtaposed with the D of measure 81.
Second, whereas I propose that the dominant harmony in measure 91 resolves
to the tonic of measure 92 (more definitively stated at the end of the varied phrase
repetition, in measures 98 and 99), Laufer here does not imagine a B resolution
pitch for the melodic line. (Though his reading of F in measure 87 as the starting
point for a linear descent subtly contrasts my reading of that F as Ds upper third,
we both acknowledge the arrival of C in measure 90.) Consequently what here
appears from Laufers notation to be an interruption actually is not one, whereas
what in the vicinity of measure 77 appears not to be an interruption actually is one.
My assertion of an interruption before the onset of the B Major material that
emerges in measure 80 is of special importance given Laufers proposal that a
sonata-form second subject begins at that point. (On p. 162 he acknowledges
that the key scheme differs from what one would find in a classical sonata.) That
notion would be hard to reconcile with my interpretation of the B tonicization as
residing within an F<C tonic-to-dominant trajectory, with this subdominant
prolongation of over eighty measures corresponding to the six-measure version of
the initial A1. If one interprets all of measures 66 through 99 as integral to a single
third-progression within B Minor/Major (as is proposed in 9.4), the potential
formal division that Laufer proposes will seem less apt.
Laufer and I offer contrasting interpretations of yet another dominant
harmony in what follows. The subdominant prolongation that I sketch in 9.5
ultimately yields, after further expansion, to the dominant at 1512. That dominant
exactly matches what we have heard at corresponding locations within the A1
structure earlier, in measures 22 and 57. In all three cases, a fresh tonic emerges on
the following downbeat. Laufer graphs a structurally deep tonic restoration in the
first two (see his exx. 7.3a and 7.4a), but one does not find in ex. 7.7 any trace of
the corresponding dominant harmony in the third. (In his commentary on p. 166,
he describes the chord of 1512 as a rather insignificant V.) His point is that the
subdominant, already extensively prolonged, continues through this region to
measure 160. Not only is the dominant so insignificant that it is not included in
Laufers richly detailed graph, but the tonic chord of measure 152 (for me the
starting point for the fourth statement of A1) is annotated as not real I (ex. 7.7a):
This return must be read as parenthetical (p. 166).
Concerning measures 99 through 145, the details of Laufers ex. 7.7 and my
9.5 diverge on two points. First, I regard the ritenuto marking of measure 107 as
indicative that the harmonic trajectory being pursued will not be continued. For
me, the surging D chord of measure 108 is a restoration of that introduced in
measure 100, offering an opportunity to pursue an alternative course. Laufer
instead integrates the latter D chord within the context of what directly precedes
and follows it. Second, I regard the F chord that emerges in measure 111 as an
important harmonic arrival point, prolonged until its resolution at 1452. Laufer
both refrains from projecting such a prolongation and visually emphasizes bass A
at 1132, further diluting Fs impact.
Though in its local context the F major chord of measures 162 through 168 will come
across as V in the tonicized key of IV (B Minor), it nevertheless is reminiscent of the
initial F Minor tonic, with a modal shift from minor to major. As such, Chopin uses it as a
springboard in shifting to the F Minor tonics 6-phase chord, D major, which emerges in
measure 169 and extends through measure 191. Because Kopfton A is supported by 6phase D as well as by the initial F Minor tonic, it may serve as the starting point for
descending linear progressions in tonicized D Major. The first transpires between
measures 169 and 177 (as shown in 9.6). The passage is a model of elegant writing,
incorporating both a surge from I to IV and the traversal of the IVV succession via a 5
6 shift. Yet the linear progressions goal D does not sound (and thus it is imaginatively
inserted within parentheses in the graph), thereby providing the impetus for a
repetition, one that further develops both the tonic surge and the 56 shift (as is
documented in 9.6). During this repetition the prolongation of the A dominant culminates
in the arrival of its seventh G, which triggers the resolution to D major. This time, the
melodys linear progression traverses a third (A to F). As the broad progression in F
Minor draws to a close, that third is followed by second (supported by II) in measure
194 and then third
prolongations of IV, here the F Minor tonics 6-phase chord (tonicized as D Major)
dwarfs both the evolved supertonic and the dominant that follow to form the cadence.
Chopin provides more heft for the phrases ending by inserting parenthetical passages
offering somewhat frantic chordal progressions, the first of which re-targets the cadential
(measures 195196) and the second of which comes between that and the onset of its
resolution (measures 198200).
(See 9.6.) That tonic then surges, leading to the arrival of IV at 1822 (not 1812, as
Laufer proposes). A similar surge of IVs 6-phase chord (as II) heralds the
arrival of V at 1842. (Observe how in both cases the surge coordinates with a long
crescendo marking, so that the resolutions occur at moments of peak intensity, just
as a decrescendo begins.) Laufer instead extends the IV56 trajectory through
measure 189. A key factor in my reading is the assumption that the embellishing
chord B-D-F-G at 1871 should resolve to C-E-A (an inverted dominant).
That chords E is elided during 1872. Instead, F is retained as an anticipation of
the following downbeat chords F.9
Whereas I regard measure 211 as a new beginning (finally, the onset of A2!),
Laufer places that measure at the end of his fig. 7.8 graphs. He proposes both that
the Urlinie reaches goal there and that a coda commences there. (Note that in his
fig. 7.9a but not 7.9b through 7.9d the goal F appears within parentheses. In his
fig. 7.10 the parentheses recur, and the chord is annotated as follows: evades
strong close on .) Given my reading of the ballades deep structure thus far as
consisting of four distinct melodic descents from to
(at
The chordal progression in measures 215 and 216 may seem baffling. The
middleground C major dominant harmony attained at the end of measure 214 is here
embellished by a chord spelled as F-B-D-A. To get back to C, Chopin traverses a
segment of the modulo 12 division of the octave into six equal parts, each spanning two
half steps. The forzando markings highlight two successive -2 shifts, shown in 9.7. By this
means we arrive at the diminished seventh chord corresponding to dominant C, which is
fully restored with the resolution of D to C in the bass (a conversion to a less evolved
state of V) during 2161.10 In this construction, the E-D-G-B chord at the end of 2151
serves as a local connective chord (filling in the first whole step) rather than as a
resolution.
The prominence of II during the harmonic progressions (at various levels) that are
integrated to form A2s structure contrasts the tonicized IV within the various
manifestations of A1. As soon as the PAC is achieved (at 2231) Chopin boldly substitutes
IV for II during two quick reiterations of a tonic-affirming progression. Whereas the minor
tonic of 82 eventually surges (as F-A-C-E during 161), the surge in measure 223 (spelled
as A-C-E-G) gets under way breathtakingly soon after the moment of cadence. Chopin
has spelled that juxtaposition not with A to A (as was the case during the A1 surge), but
instead as G to A. Whereas some analysts (including Laufer) would argue that Chopin
here elides the minor tonic entirely (until 2271), intending G as an accented passing note
between the dominants G and a major tonics A, I support the alternative view that, since
Chopin frequently employs quirky spellings, one should not give too much weight to the
curious G here. As a listener (not watching the score), I acknowledge the expected
cadence on the minor tonic and then am jolted by the surprising and vigorous surge
towards IV. In either reading, the IV (with soprano B) that emerges in measure 224
corresponds to that of measure 22. As such, the melodic third from B down to G should
be expected in coordination with the dominants arrival. (Contrasting the earlier
presentations, here IVs 6-phase chord emerges between IV and V.) Yet in this case E<F
occurs instead of G>F at the cadence. (Thus the structural G is placed within parentheses
in 9.7.) Chopin responds to that lacuna by emphasizing a G>F second following the
cadence (measure 227). After several reiterations, a long tonic-affirming cascade descends
to the downbeat of measure 237, followed by a final cadential gesture that reinstates the
I56 II approach to the dominant, Chopins final word on the matter.
10
registral shift) into a thirteenth over the course of measures 4 through 6, followed by a
descending sixth that brings the Kopfton to the register of the introductions lower G.
Immediately thereafter a chromatic filling-in of the A<C third occurs. In fact, between
73 and 93 three tonic-prolonging lines coordinate: A<B<B<C, F<G<G <A, and
F>E>D>C.3 Despite continuing activity above these strands, Kopfton A is not
attained in the upper register during A1, and so a line from the middle-register A of 94
and of 1123 (the latter supported by the tonics 6-phase chord) leads downwards by step to
G (emphasized by a trill) when I6 proceeds as it often does to II. Though IIs evolved
state (II) targets V, the confluence of the pitches C, E, and G at 121 does not
represent an asserted dominant, but instead serves as an unfurled passing chord within a
prolongation of II. (The essence of this prolongation is displayed in 10.1.) Note how
yearnings for the upper register continue to affect the musical fabric, here splitting the
descending fifth-progression extending from G into G>F>E (presented in the
chordal interior, with F colliding with, rather than following, the G above) followed by
D>C in the upper register. Even the G from which this fifth-progression descends has a
moment in the upper-register limelight, at 141. Chopin extends beyond that G, with a
high C (two octaves above the middle-register C where the pitch was introduced at 121)
sounding at 142. Its successor (B, which also sounds briefly in that high register) is
restored to the middle register in 10.1, preceding the cadence on V. Because the tonic is
not attained at its close, the Barcarolles initial tonic pillar may be described (using
terminology introduced in our study of the mazurkas, above) as irregular.
Though Rinks and my conceptions of the introduction are similar, my ear does not
isolate the initial right-hand B-D-G as a sonority independent of root C and
consequently worthy of a
wondrously extended for nearly two beats. Yet its role is identical to that of the
eighth-note C of 14 and all the upward-resolving appoggiaturas that follow during
the downward cascade.
The contrast in our assessments of measures 4 through 6 is of far greater
consequence. For me the low register projected during measures 4 and 5 serves as
a sort of subterranean germination area from which the principal melodic notes of
the upper registers sprout. (This area is entered again in measures 35 and 113,
corresponding to the onsets of the C section and of the concluding region of the
coda.) The voice leading from the introduction is precisely etched: the C
chords dissonant seventh, B, resolves by descending step (as sevenths generally
do) to the tonics A, while the soprano G is transferred downwards before
descending by step (as a suspension) to F. The slurs in Rinks ex. 9 propose
exactly the opposite voice leading: that Bs resolution upwards by step to C
(which Rink regards as the Kopfton) occurs an octave higher, while G ascends
by step to A. Indeed C is the first pitch within A1 to sound in the principal
melodic register (at 62), and it recurs at the cadence (at 151). Yet an insistent
focus is not sufficient grounds for the granting of Kopfton status (p. 197, n. 6,
where Rink awards A an honorable mention for its important role as well). I
instead regard the initial C as residing within an ascending arpeggiation
(A<C<F), one of numerous ascending initiatives that ultimately will succeed in
attaining the capstone A of 304; while C at the cadence is the concluding pitch
of a G>C fifth-progression, atypically sounding above the initiating G as a
consequence of further efforts to attain the high register. Though some of the
factors that have affected my determination that serves as the Kopfton come
later (to be explored below), even the limited content of measures 1 through 15
seems to me far more supportive of than of .
Rinks ex. 4 presents his reading of the regions harmonic progression. It may
appear that we concur, given that his
vi
V/V
I56
II
Yet our conceptions turn out to be quite different. For Rink, this V resides within a
broad linear descent.4 Note the stemmed bass notes D, C, B, and A in measures
10 through 20 of Rinks graph. They coordinate with the Roman numerals
vi
IV
III3
F>E
C>
G56
A56
B56
C56
D5
is abbreviated to become
B56
(= F
C56
D5
A )
(Compare this abbreviated sequence with the idiosyncratic sequence displayed in 6.4.)
Whereas an A chord (during 94) connects the tonic 5- and 6-phase chords during A1,
here the sequence culminates in a chord that mutates to A. The supertonic that follows
D5 (= I6) is presented initially in its diatonic form, only gradually developing its
characteristic surge towards the dominant, which here is gloriously stated with suspended
ninth and eleventh. The excursion into the upper reaches of the pianos range extends even
beyond that of measure 14, reaching a D near the end of measure 32. The D>E
descending seventh that follows will seem mildly disappointing, in that Ds upward
yearning is not fulfilled yet. (See measures 92 and 93.) That E completes, in register,
the descending third left off after the trilled F of 314: the ascending F<G<A so
modestly presented in the low register during measure 4 (and replicated boldly in the
upper register during measures 25 through 30) is complemented by a G>F>E third,
sounding in the upper register during measures 31 and 32 (as shown in 10.2).7
The contrast between Rinks and my interpretations of the B section hinges upon
what we make of the F-A-(C)-E chord at 174.8 For me that chord represents a
restoration of the F tonic (now surging), as indicated by the F-to-F bass and
A-to-A soprano slurs in 10.2. Though the chord is of only one beats duration, it
represents the culmination of a tonic expansion that has persisted for fourteen
measures. Rink instead regards the latter F as a local event: just as G targeted
the C of measure 15, now F targets the next step in a broad descending scale,
B.
To help us come to terms with this thorny issue, please turn to measures 103
and 104, which inaugurate the Barcarolles coda. Those measures contain four
two-beat chords, as follows:
I propose that the first three chords constitute a tonic expansion, whose surging
conclusion targets B.9 Despite the proximity of their roots, there is no direct
relationship between the C and B chords. The question is, how much more
emphasis can the C chord be given before the relationship between C and B
begins to overpower that between F and F? Looking at the first four chords of
10.2, I maintain that root Fs impact extends through three chords, whereas Rink
maintains that the stepwise relationship between C and B overpowers the
potentiality for an F restoration at measure 17.
Upon the arrival of B in measure 18 listeners might reasonably speculate
regarding which of several viable tonal trajectories is being pursued. Chopin
allows a measure for the chords impact to sink in before proceeding to what might
just before the middleground descent through G to F that closes A2. Rinks ex. 4
displays that A as internal to a slurred B>A>G third. Though I cannot make
out exactly what hierarchical relationship Rink intends by placing Roman
numerals in two rows (I think his perspective would be more consistent if he
accepted the first of the two V chords as the arrival of the dominant, with the stem
from bass C attached to the beam at that point), certainly the absence of a label
for the D chord is indicative of the contrast that our two readings offer. My
version highlights I56 II V as a shared component of A1 and A2 (and, as we
shall see presently, of A3 as well).
to
. The resumption of the initial tonic puts a crimp on the upward motion in the
bass, but not in the soprano: from C the line first undergoes a wobble correction (to C)
and then continues upwards through F to a high A, completing an octave arpeggiation.
During the C section a similar upward trajectory is inaugurated by the initial rising thirds:
from
to
through
to
. Though an upward continuation would have been viable, Chopin chose to assert the
E chord as V in A Major, thereby tonicizing the A-C-E chord. In so doing, the high G
serves as a leading tone that resolves by step to A, and thus an A<A arpeggiated octave
is traversed in the soprano of measures 3539 through 68, corresponding to the A<A
octave of measures 47 through 30. The Barcarolles fundamental line thus descends from
connecting sixth D and fourth B).15 The F>C span transpires between 364 and 381,
embellished by upper neighbor G and passing notes E and D, followed by the C>A
span between 381 and 391, embellished by upper neighbor D and passing note B. The
registral shift in this case is postponed until the end at 391, where goal A below Middle
C is surmounted by an A an octave higher.
The C in measure 41 begins the C sections upward melodic trajectory. In that the
third is a member of both the F minor tonic triad and its major upper-third triad,
there is some wavering between the two chords. Recall that the descending circle of fifths
(traversed as F B E A) was called into service during measures 17 through 20 to
negotiate the span between the F Major tonic and its upper-third chord. Chopin uses the
same means to instead descend in seconds from upper-third A back to tonic F in
measures 41 through 46 (A D G C F). That tonic (at first in its initial major
formulation, but soon with the shift of its third to A) is confirmed by means of a I II V
progression, stated twice in measures 46 through 50. Consequently it may appear that, just
as the A upper-third chord of measures 20 through 23 soon dissipates, likewise the A
upper-third chord of measures 39 through 41 is not sustained. Yet this time Chopin offers
A a second chance. Just as in measures 72 through 76 E and C will be juxtaposed
to lead from A back to F, here Fs C bows to As E (measure 50), leading to a
repeat of the A Major material beginning in measure 51, now transferred up an octave.
Alas, the same circle-of-fifths descent that earlier plagued the maintenance of A occurs
again, and by measure 57 the F tonic has reasserted itself. The I II V progression is
reprised as well. Chopin then offers A a third chance, with the C/E juxtaposition of
measure 61 leading to A-C-E yet again. This time, however, As fifth (E) plays a
prominent role in the melodic line, both definitively contrasting the pitch collection of the
F-A-C tonic triad and anticipating the E of the
progression. The ascending circle of fifths (now in a chain of four chords and thereby, like
measures 17 through 20, ascending a third) is called into service again to complete the
attainment of that ascending third: A D G C in measures 65 and 66. (The circles
internal D chord is represented by F -C-E.) A continuation to E (via C F B E)
follows in measures 66 and 67. As mentioned earlier, this E chords resolution back to A
(thereby terminating the ascending-thirds trajectory) confirms the tonicization of A Major
that we now may retrospectively trace back to the C sections earlier A major chord
(measure 39). The dominants G>E>D augmented fourth, which unfolds from 673 to 682,
is complemented by the tonics C<E<A during 6834.
greater detail) 10.4a. The tonicizing harmonic progression engages two interlocking C
GC sacred triangles in support of the descending fifth-progression. The minor quality
of the subdominant at 774 (whose A reflects the A goal of both bass and soprano from
measure 68) indicates that F Major has not yet gained full tonal control; though certainly
by the time of the C7 chord at 8334 it has.
Example 10.4 Barcarolle in F Major (op. 60) (a) Analysis of mm. 7682; (b)
Hypothetical measures 77 and 78.
Occasionally one encounters in Chopins music a progression of chords that resists
explication by ordinary means.16 The passage omitted at the spot marked by a hairpin
symbol in 10.4a indeed may well cause perplexity among analysts. My hypothesis
regarding how Chopin conceived this passage involves a sudden shift from one viable
tonal trajectory to another: a potential I56 II V7 I unexpectedly replaced by I IV V7 I.
The first four chords in 10.4b, which presents the alternative progression that I propose
Chopin might have pursued, actually sound in the composition, though there their roles are
camouflaged by easier-to-read spellings. Note that the examples second chord is an
upper-fifth embellishing chord of the third, replicating the relationship between the last
chord of measure 76 and the first chord of measure 77, now hoisted up a half step. Those
precedents suggest that the fourth chord in 10.4b ought to resolve to an A major chord,
as is shown within square brackets. That chord would be ideal in such a context, because it
serves as I6 (evolved into surging VI). As the example confirms, the harmonic
progression to V7 may proceed via VI II just as easily as through I IV (as displayed
in 10.4a). In this context the C major chord serves as a chromatic variant of A majors
upper-third chord. (Consequently the Roman numeral VI is introduced below bass C ,
with the bullet symbol indicating that root A is absent.) Just when the fully constituted 6phase chord is about to be introduced, Chopin diverts the progression to a surging I (EG-B-D), resulting in IV rather than II serving as the principal intermediary between I
and V7. Why did Chopin undertake this unusual tactic? Though we will never know for
sure, I find it intriguing that over the broad span of the C section an upper-third A major
chord plays an important role, though it is rescinded (via the F restoration in measure 76)
before the broad progression continues through supertonic G to dominant C. During
the dominant prolongation that follows, tonicized Cs lower-third chord is rescinded
(again replaced by a restored, and in this case highly evolved, tonic) even before it has the
opportunity to sound!
The A3 tonic pillar, which commences in measure 84, follows the general contour of
the A2 pillar, and thus it achieves a PAC whose soprano , magnificently doubled at the
upper octave at 931 (compare with the restrained cadence at 331), serves as the close of the
broad A>G>F fundamental line that spans the composition to this point. (See 10.3.)
Whereas the A1 and A2 pillars were presented only once each, A3 is repeated in a
varied form, as shown in 10.5. Note especially how 1014 through 1023 correspond to 914,
how 1024 (with the distinctive ninth and eleventh above the dominant root) corresponds to
9214, and how 1031 corresponds to 931. In that the attainment of the upper-register A
has already been accomplished, the variant traverses the span between that upper A and
an even higher F (previously sounded at the cadence of 931) during measures 96 through
99, as a substitute for the A<A arpeggiation. (This material is derived from the A Major
region of the C section, measures 62ff.) The II of measure 101 initially takes on a
coloration, though eventually it bows to the of A1, A2, and the earlier A3. A coda (to be
explored below) follows the cadence of 1031.
tenth
, whose interruption
descent in my
reading, is even present in Rinks detailed ex. 6 (though the lower G does appear
in his ex. 2 and the higher one in his fig. 12). As one might expect if G indeed is
That cadence is followed by a varied repetition of A3, which solidifies that closure
through a second cadence at 1031. Rink instead postpones that closure until the
second cadence in my view not a point about which all analysts will or need to
agree. In that Rink and I work from contrasting Kopftons, our structures are not
identical. Yet he and I both project a sense of closure during this region (or at the
downbeat of measure 93, which is curiously snipped off from this region in Rinks
formal synopsis).
Measures 93 through 103. Because this region borrows thematic material
from the C sections A Major region, Rink labels it as Theme B(2) in his formal
synopsis (his fig. 1), where he again snips off the cadential tonic chord, placing it
within the domain of the coda. Fortunately his ex. 7 persists through the downbeat
of measure 103, and his commentary addresses bars 93103 (p. 203). Though
that example does not provide a detailed harmonic analysis, the bass slur from
imagined F (at 1003) to C (at 1013) projects the sense of tonic prolongation. (A
more detailed graph in his fig. 15 displays that C with a stem and omits the B
that follows.19) I instead regard the chord supported by D (at the end of 1012) as
the onset of the supertonic: here II (D-F-A-B) followed by an incomplete
B-F-A chord into which one might imaginatively insert either D or D, and
then by II (G-B-D-F) during 10213. Consequently bass C at 1013 serves
as a passing note (connecting D and B) within the domain of the supertonic,
rather than as a waning moment of I-space.
Notes
5. Compare also with the opening of the Grande Valse brillante, op. 18, discussed in my
forthcoming Tonal Analysis: A Schenkerian Perspective, chapter 7.
6. The embellishment of C-E-G in measures 1 through 4 and of D-F-A in measures 13
and 14 are symmetrically related: in one case lower seconds of the root and third occur,
while in the other upper seconds of the third and fifth occur. In both contexts the
embellishing chord is unfurled for presentation in position. Similar embellishment
will occur during the mazurkas coda.
7. Schenker offers a graph of this mazurkas tonic pillar in FC, fig. 40, ex. 7. Whereas
his reading suggests that Chopins motivation for the phrase expansion has to do with
the slow pace of the ascending arpeggiation to the high C of 102 (which he presents as
the arrival of the Kopfton), I propose instead that the unsatisfactory cadence of measure
8 results in a backtracking to permit a second cadential attempt. In the context of a IV
V succession, the C of measures 6 and 10 serves as a passing note between the
structurally deeper pitches D and B (connected by a slur in 1.5). Consequently I do
not accept this C (highlighted through presentation in the upper register) as a statement
of the Kopfton. (That reading is reiterated in various graphs from the Oster Collection:
Papers of Heinrich Schenker, housed at the New York Public Library for the Performing
Arts at Lincoln Center. See especially file 32, item 22, listed as in the hand of
Schenkers student Angi Elias with emendations by Schenker.) On the other hand,
during the A2 sections traversal of the tonic pillar the high C at 36b2, which
superficially matches that of 102, occurs in a tonic context and thus aptly serves as an
upper third to the background . (The swift C>A of the first ending is expressed in a
more leisurely fashion and an octave higher as C>B>A during the second ending.) In
his Idiosyncrasies of Phrase Rhythm in Chopins Mazurkas, in The Age of Chopin:
Interdisciplinary Inquiries, ed. H. Goldberg (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
2004), pp. 95105 , Carl Schachter explores this tonic pillar in detail, essentially
agreeing with Schenkers reading of the high C of measure 10 while questioning (p. 98)
his relative neglect of the C at 21, which conforms in register to the mazurkas other
structurally deep pitches.
8. It is so labeled in standard editions of the mazurkas, including the National Edition
used in creating this chapter.
9. This mazurkas juxtaposition of keys is not unique in Chopins oeuvre. Other
examples that have been widely discussed include the Scherzo (op. 31), addressed by
William Kinderman in his Directional Tonality in Chopin, in Chopin Studies, ed. J.
Samson (Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 5975 and by Harald Krebs in his
Tonal and Formal Dualism in Chopins Scherzo, Op. 31, Music Theory Spectrum 13
(1991), pp. 4860 , and the Ballade (op. 38), addressed by Jonathan Bellman in his
Chopins Polish Ballade: Op. 38 as Narrative of National Martyrdom (Oxford
University Press, 2010) and by Kevin Korsyn in his Directional Tonality and
Intertextuality: Brahmss Quintet Op. 88 and Chopins Ballade Op. 38, in The Second
Practice of Nineteenth-Century Tonality, ed. W. Kinderman and H. Krebs (Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1996), pp. 4583 .
10. The notion of reaching-over is a common voice-leading principle, an essential
component of the Schenkerian perspective. (See my Tonal Analysis: A Schenkerian
Perspective, chapter 7.)
11. For a contrasting interpretation, see David Kopps analysis in his Chromatic
Transformations in Nineteenth-Century Music (Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp.
235240 . I do not concur that the tonic pillar projects tonal ambiguity for much of its
duration (p. 236): the juxtaposition of antipodal C and G chords (a focus of my
analysis) is a strong signal of tonic B, with only its mode (major versus minor) as yet
indeterminate.
12. Compare with Haydn/Mozart, 1.5.
13. The mazurka begins in the middle of a harmonic progression. Taking into account
measure 22, which presents an E major chord to lead back to the opening material (in a
written-out repeat), it would be appropriate to regard the initial II as an asserted IV6.
Note especially the 56 connection between tenor-register B at 222 and C during 231
(= 11). For this reason, and by noting how bass B at 212 is reiterated by bass B during
31, I regard the initial E-G dyad as representing C-E-G (with the C arriving half a
beat later) rather than as representing E-G-B with C serving as a neighbor to IVs
fifth, B.
14. Once introduced to these notions, my students at the University of Minnesota began
referring to as a supersurge, while remained a surge or, more precisely, a
simple surge.
15. Note Chopins persistence in incorporating an upper third in the vicinity of the
Kopfton s arrival. D<F<G>F>D here (measures 16 and 17) corresponds to
D<F<G>F>D in measures 2 through 4 of opus 7/1.
the unaccented passing note of species counterpoint being transformed into the accented
.
25. Compare G, which here neglects to descend to F, with D (which neglects to
descend to C) in 1.6, m. 5. Carl Schachter, in The Prelude in E Minor Op. 28 No. 4:
Autograph Sources and Interpretation, in Chopin Studies 2, ed. J. Rink and J. Samson
(Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 161182 , takes a literalist approach (as does
Schenker in FC, fig. 75). Schachters ex. 9.4 (p. 168) displays the melody pitch E at 73
as an anticipation of that in measure 8. (The intervening G a crucial note for me is
omitted from his graph.) He adds a special annotation above the bass beam: No V!
Whereas my graph projects an imagined diatonic within the descending fifthprogression from , Schachters descent (like Schenkers) incorporates the earlier .
An intriguing analysis by Franz Eibner in part concurs with my reading. See his
ber die Akkorde im Satz Chopins, in Chopin-Jahrbuch 1970, ed. F. Zagiba (Vienna:
Notring der wissenschaftlichen Verbnde sterreichs, 1970), pp. 324 . The initial
chord is analyzed as E Minors tonic and is provided only with the Roman numeral I
(once with to the right, in his fig. 7 on p. 23). He comments as follows: Durch den
Dominantklang am Beginn ist nur die IV. Stufe (von T. 2) tonikalisiert worden und
also mu dieser Dominantklang in der ganzen Kadenz die I. Stufe der Haupttonart
reprsentieren (p. 6). His fig. 4 (p. 20) displays both a parenthetical D below G at the
end of measure 7 and a parenthetical bass B for the final beat of that measure, under
which he places the Roman numeral V within square brackets. (His fig. 5 on p. 21
provides additional perspective, including an indication that the melodys G at the end
of measure 7 serves as an Antizipationston.) He reads the Kopfton as , supplied
within square brackets and annotated with the word Ellipse in his fig. 6 (p. 22). (The
G is connected to the F of the mazurkas B section, graphed in his fig. 7 on p. 23.)
Though in disagreement with Schenkers reading of the Kopfton as , which Eibner
addresses in his n. 3 on pp. 1819, his choice has the advantage of not raising the
expectation of a G between A and F. I remain unpersuaded, however, due to the
prominence of the initial B, its clear voice-leading descent to A in measures 2 and 6,
and the relationship between the A sections fifth and the B sections
(inverted to
sixth
), to be explored in chapter 2.
27. Schenker alternates between two notational practices for interruption in FC. (See
editor Ernst Osters note 7 on p. 37 of the example volume.) I have adopted the one that
I prefer. For a more detailed introduction to this important topic, see my Tonal Analysis:
A Schenkerian Perspective, chapter 4.
28. I have placed the D in the bass, in conformity with 143. The parentheses around the
C above this D indicate merely that it is displayed in a higher register than where it
occurs in the score.
29. Whereas Schenker (FC, fig. 106, ex. 2c) proposes a local ascending C<D<E<F
line (split between two registers) during measure 11, I instead interpret the high D as a
passing note between the E of 102 and an imagined C at 113, which would resolve to B
at the HC. The E at 113 resides within an (F)>E>D third. It conforms to the
prescription that a seventh should resolve by descending step.
30. The parentheses between I and IV in 1.21b acknowledge the several passing chords
that come between the harmonic progressions I and IV. A contrasting interpretation is
offered by Joel Lester in his Harmonic Complexity and Form, pp. 113117, where he
proposes that the keys of C, B, and B (misprinted as E) are hinted at, though their
fundamental progressions evaporate. An important component in any analysis is to
assess the function of all dissonant sevenths, since that interval may serve as a chord
member within a 7/5/3 context, or instead as an embellishment within a 76 context.
Here Lester proposes the first interpretation, and I the second.
31. Consequently the first sounding of the Kopfton occurs at 81, precisely the same
moment within the structure as its upper-octave occurrence in 1.10. My conception is
subtly different from that proposed by David W. Beach in his Chopins Mazurka, Op.
17, No. 4, Theory and Practice 2/3 (1977), pp. 1216 . Whereas he interprets the E of
measure 8 as the Kopftons onset, I propose instead that it should take hold before the
series of suspensions begins. Thus I regard the tonics 5 phase to be elided, preceding
the mazurkas first sounding chord.
32. Performers should experiment with contrasting degrees of rubato and accentuation
in the projection of measures 13 through 15. If the third note of each measure is
36. I suspect that Chopins ear was bothered by the prospect of a soprano B>G leap
coinciding with the bass D>C step (creating hidden fifths in the exposed outer
voices). Consequently he called upon C (related to the Cs of 133 and 143) as a
substitute for G at 153. The unusual situation at the cadence also in part justifies my
rejection of what might seem to many as a clear instance of Kopfton . (This issue will
be touched upon again when the remainder of the mazurka is assessed in chapter 2.)
37. The written-out repeat of the juxtaposed I and III phrases is facilitated by some
transitional chords (during 83) that do not recur during measure 16. They are not
displayed in 1.24.
38. For the written-out repeat of a1, the mediants C from 82 corresponds to the
imagined Kopfton, with a C>B>A third-progression extending from that point through
122.
39. Though I do not regard C-E-G at 73 as a harmonically asserted chord (it is instead
an unfurled embellishment of the tonic), this situation corresponds to what some
analysts call a plagal cadence.
40. In 1.26 I propose that a sequential progression A>E<F>C<D supporting a
stepwise-descending melody is the means of locomotion. That reading requires an
imaginative interpretation of 203. The potent pitch E and already sounding inner-voice
pitch C surmount the persistence of F and A below to assert the sense of a C chord.
41. Though in some contexts the juxtaposition of roots E and C might be interpreted as
III56, in this case the melodic thirds (G>F>E followed by B>A>G followed by
G>F>E, all displayed in 1.27, measures 5 through 22) give more the sense of a tonic
reinstatement than of a mediant expansion.
7. This small point is very important: the I harmony is reinstated at 243, not 261. (Note
that now each of the tonic chords pitches is preceded by an upper second: B>A
D>C F>E.) Consequently measure 25 ought not to be interpreted as background V
within a broad I III V7 I progression.
8. In fact, Edward Laufer proposed such a reading for this mazurka in his lecture
Parenthetical Passages, delivered at the Mannes College of Music Schenker
Symposium in 1985. Ex. 19 of his handout displays bass open noteheads on G (at 121),
B (at 261), C (at 412 or 452), and D (at 433 or 473) before the close on G. (His
Roman numeral analysis is I III56 IV V I.)
9. Though certainly one could deploy the Roman numeral VI 5 at measure 20 in 2.8
(in keeping with Schenkers practice in FC), I here instead account for that sonority by
means of symbols to the right of the I numeral: the wobble from E to E and back (3
) and the chromatic neighbor A embellishing G (565). By this means I
emphasize that chords alliance with the initial tonic and acknowledge that it does not
lead anywhere harmonically.
10. A descending circle of fifths supports this fifth-progression. Observe how the
already surging tonic E that opens the A1 tonic pillar (measure 1) is echoed by the
already surging G that initiates the circle of fifths (measure 33). These chords also
share an upper-neighbor embellishment (B<C>B and D<E>D). (The relationship
between these neighboring motions was more emphatically projected in the original
version of measure 33, where the E occurs on beat 3 in a rhythmic context exactly
matching that of measure 1. The original and revised versions are juxtaposed in Jeffrey
Kallbergs The Problem of Repetition and Return in Chopins Mazurkas, in Chopin
Studies, ed. J. Samson (Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 14, ex. 6 .) Though the
dominant is tonicized during the B section, the cover tone Ds upward tendency as
leading tone eventually is fulfilled: the opening of the A2 tonic pillars theme coincides
with Ds resolution pitch E in measures 5758.
11. Reinforcing the tonics dominant-emulating impact, the preceding dominant is
supertonic-emulating in its minor quality. Compare with Haydn/Mozart, 6.4c.
19. The relationship between local tonic A Major and a potential D Major tonicization
within this mazurkas B section is assayed in TAH, pp. 157160.
20. My focus away from Kopfton E during the B section is one of several potential
readings, each quirky in its own way. (Chopin in fact keeps the E fire alive above C
during measures 35 and 39 and 51 and 55 and above B during measures 47 and 48.)
For example, one might instead propose a fifth-progression descending from A1s wellestablished Kopfton E through D at 332 to C at 351 (extended by the C of measures
41 through 47), leading to B (presented an octave lower) during measure 47 and finally
A at 502 (repeated at 522, 542, and 562).
21. The b regions D>C>B third is a counterpart to the a1 regions C<E and a
varied replication of the D>C>B in measure 15. In FC, fig. 30a, Schenker proposes
that the D neighbor is prolonged: D>C>B instead of D>C>B.
22. Though the accented C at 40b3 might be understood merely as an anticipation of
the following downbeat, it instead might be regarded as a last-moment shift of the A
sections key to A Minor, with which the upcoming F Major relates as diatonic I6. F
has been a prominent feature of the local harmonic fabric even in A Major, from the
downbeat of measure 1 onwards. See Patrick McCrelesss The Pitch-Class Motive in
Tonal Analysis: Some Historical and Critical Observations, Res musica 3 (2011), pp.
5963 , for thoughtful commentary on Chopins deployment of F in this mazurka from
both Schoenbergian and Schenkerian perspectives.
23. During his analysis of this mazurka and commentary on Schenkers reading in
Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music (New York: Schirmer, 1989; reprint edn., Ann Arbor:
Musicalia, 2007), p. 220 , William Rothstein proposes: Chopins slurs are an
analytical minefield. No composer so frequently slurred against the phrase structure of
his music rather than in support of that structure. Here the slur ends not in measure 48,
coinciding with the close of the antecedent phrase, but instead during the following
measure, after the first three notes of the consequent phrase.
basic harmonic progression for the mazurkas A1 section (measures 1 through 24) as I
iii I, as is proposed by John Rink in his Tonal Architecture in the Early Music,
in The Cambridge Companion to Chopin, ed. J. Samson (Cambridge University Press,
1992), pp. 7897, ex. 8 (p. 90) .
27. Felix Salzer offers a reading that calls upon neither of these assertions in his
Structural Hearing: Tonal Coherence in Music, 2 vols. (New York: Boni, 1952; reprint
edn., New York: Dover, 1962), ex. 361 .
28. Compare with a similar parallel progression in TAH, 7.14c.
29. Note that the codas E>D>D>C third was stated several times during the b section
(measures 3742).
30. Chopin misspells the chord at 283. E stands for F, minor ninth of an E chord
that is derived from that which occurred at 203.
31. This notion is explored in my Tonal Analysis: A Schenkerian Perspective, section
1.3.
32. Though the chord of 523 is spelled as B-D-F, the melodic A>G>F third of
measures 4852 serves to extend A, so that B-D-F(-A) is understood as B7. The
imagined seventh, A, resolves to VIs third, G, at 531.
33. Though the pitches at these two locations correspond, the C chord during the A1
section proceeds to the dominant, whereas that during the B section is part of a backand-forth motion that embellishes the tonic, as is conveyed by the Arabic numerals just
below the bass beam in 2.26.
consequently constitutes a parenthetical passage. I instead espouse the view that each of
the three regions within the mazurkas A1 and A2 sections offers four measures of
content, followed by a four-measure varied repetition. Measure 24 exceptionally departs
from that design, to conclude the tonic pillar with a PAC. Compare this structure
(including how repeat signs are deployed) with that which prevails during the two-pillar
Mazurka in E Minor (opus 6/4), analyzed in 1.15 and 2.1.
(reinforced by a
4. Compare with Chopins construction in 1.9. Note how the G-B-D chord of measure
6 there eventually takes on an E, thereby projecting root C.
5. Though initially the pitch F serves as a wobble within the D chord, in the broader
context it is transformed into the major dominants third, E. The diatonic context
would be whole step F>E. Here the F is lowered and the E is raised, resulting in the
juxtaposition of the enharmonically equivalent pitches F and E.
6. Chopins particular approach to the tonic 6-phase chord in this mazurka resembles
that employed by Mozart in the Trio of his Symphony in G Minor (K. 550), analyzed in
Haydn/Mozart, 9.2.
7. I offer a detailed exploration of the subtonicdominant connection in my Schenker,
Schubert, and the Subtonic Chord, in A Music-Theoretical Matrix: Essays in Honor of
Allen Forte (Part II), ed. D. C. Berry, Gamut: Online Journal of the Music Theory
Society of the Mid-Atlantic 3 (2010), pp. 127166 .
8. See also my discussion of this passage in TAH, pp. 7075, which includes
commentary on Schenkers reading of the passage (FC, fig. 54, ex. 6).
9. Indeed this turn of events is unusual and thus susceptible to a range of analytical
responses. Michael Klein calls it a dark subdominant (with an added sixth) and
interprets this passage as residing within a coda in his Chopins Dreams: The Mazurka
in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 4, 19th-Century Music 35 (20112012), p. 255 . This article
(pp. 238260) offers a range of intriguing ideas that readers are encouraged to explore
as a complement to the harmonic focus of my work.
10. Given the pillars broad harmonic trajectory from I to V (supporting to ), the
melodic attempt to reignite the tonic (potently colliding with the dominant during
measure 33) is, in my view, doomed to failure. (The restoration of the tonic
transformed into I is deferred until the fourth measure of the B section.)
Consequently I regard the melodys A at 333 as ultimately bending to the dominants
will: instead of igniting a reinstatement of I by means of an A<B<C third, the A will in
this context come across as a passing note within the third from an imagined G up to
B.
11. Observe how in the connection between the tonics 5- and 6-phase chords in
measures 1 through 6, an F embellishing chord of the 5-phase B intervenes, whereas in
measure 73 that chord metamorphoses into an embellishing chord of the 6-phase G. In
fact, a modest collision occurs: before the soprano E that belongs with the F bass
arrives, that bass has ascended to F (third of an imagined D). The passage is
displayed with those events placed in their more normative order in 3.6a.
12. Though some analysts might contend that Chopins E7 spelling offers the prospect
of an excursion to A Major, I think instead that he is being genteel. The augmented
sixth is so potent an interval that Chopin at first masks it by means of a misspelling. In
my view there can be little doubt that, as the B section winds down and the D-F-A-C
chord that initiates A2 looms on the horizon, Chopin intends II as the link between I6
and
. In his Mazurka in G Minor, op. 56/2, his innate gentility bows to the brutal
reality of the tonal situation: G-B-D absorbs E (not F) in measure 12. (He also shifts
notation from D to C .)
13. Readers are encouraged to compare my reading of the mazurka with an equally
detailed one by Carl Schachter, in his Counterpoint and Chromaticism in Chopins
Mazurka in C Minor, Opus 50, Number 3, Ostinato rigore: Revue internationale
dtudes musicales 15 (2000), pp. 121134 . Though Schachter acknowledges an earlier
1st extended cadence targeting the tonic of measure 157, his structural cadence
(which I read instead as an event of the coda) extends to measure 181. (See especially
his ex. 1 on p. 122.)
14. The restoration of diatonic D as imagined root during the domain of II warrants
placing the natural sign corresponding to D to the right of the Roman numeral, so that
the shift from D to D may be noted. Because D does not sound, it is marked by a
bullet symbol. Compare with Haydn/Mozart, 4.15, as well as n. 24 on p. 264 of that
volume.
15. The situation is similar to that at the end of the a2 tonic pillar in 3.1a, where an IAC
on is forestalled by the swift insertion of and during measure 24.
16. The magic of Chopins composition would be lost if such measures were actually
performed. Thus the recommendation that the more extended ending published by
editor Jan Ekier along with the score of the Cracow National Edition (2004) be used
only if the Mazurka is performed separately (and not as part of the cycle)
(Performance Commentary, p. 6) goes too far, in my view. My hypothetical ending
(3.11b) is supplied for its analytical implications only.
17. The A chords fifth, E, is elided at 871.
18. Though Chopins D-G-B spelling during measure 99 facilitates reading ease,
analytically inclined pianists might prefer the structurally appropriate spelling, E -GC. The point of Chopins dallying is to allow time to ponder whether to proceed using
C or C as during the descending fifth-progression. Displaying the C victor as B
at 992 obfuscates the intimate bond with the C at 952.
19. Charles Burkhart discusses this mazurka in two essays: Chopins Concluding
Expansions, in Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: Essays in Performance and
Analysis, ed. D. Witten (New York: Garland, 1997), pp. 95116 , and The Phrase
Rhythm of Chopins A-flat Major Mazurka, Op. 59, No. 2, in Engaging Music: Essays
in Music Analysis, ed. D. Stein (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 312 . Despite the
fact that we work from similar premises, our readings are surprisingly different. Note
especially that I place more hierarchical weight on the tonic of measure 52 and the
dominant of measure 68 and less weight on the subdominant of measure 82. Given that
the A1 section presents an irregular pillar, the second phrase of A2 (beginning in
measure 77) is duty-bound to project regularity, despite its considerable expansion.
Thus from my perspective it is important that the I56 II V of the pillars antecedent
phrase (measures 6976) be followed by a similar harmonization during the consequent,
where V will resolve to I. For me, the relationship between F-A-C-E at 743 and F-AC-E[D] at 843 is crucial, and thus the supposed IV at 821 is, in my view, internal to
the sequential expansion of I56. Whereas Burkhart proposes the label IV7 for the
chord on D during 881, I suggest instead that the chords root is an unsounded B (with
ninth C spelled as B due to the imminent upward diversion to neighbor C). From that
perspective the antecedent phrases II is transformed into II during the consequent.
20. Whereas we might expect G to arrive before the harmonic progression that
expands the C dominant commences, that arrival coincides with the sounding of Cs
6-phase chord.
21. Like most other North American music analysts, I was accustomed to labeling
chords such as D-F-A-B as a German augmented sixth. Though I expressed
reservations about that nomenclature in TAH (pp. 185190), it was not until I decisively
turned my back on that practice in Schubert and started providing such chords with an
imagined root (here G) that their various roles in music were clarified. In the present
context, such an imagined root is essential to an understanding of how the circle of
fifths transpires.
22. Because the span from C to G is a half step shy of four whole steps, one of the
cycles within the sequence must ascend only a half step. Chopin handles this first:
though C -E-G-B at the end of measure 116 may seem to function as the local tonics
6-phase chord, surging (as A) towards D, Chopin instead treats the C as an
anticipation of D, so that the succeeding 5-phase chord has more the character of a
seismic shift up a half step from the starting point. From then onwards, however, the
sequence ascends in whole steps, propelled by surging 6-phase chords. The pitch B is
elided at 1171, where the chromatic passing note B (which along with C connects that
elided B and D) occurs on the downbeat. Observe that the voice-leading technique of
reaching-over is employed repeatedly in the melody.
23. Though the wobble of G to G for the II chord in most cases will revert to the
diatonic state during the dominant that follows, in this case the chordal evolution within
II-space results in the reinstatement of an unsounded G as root for the B-D-F-A
chord during 1331. See the discussion of a similar event and an assessment of its
analytical representation in note 14 on pages 101102, above.
24. In some editions of this mazurka the a2 region (which commences in measure 65)
incorporates the full statement of a1 and its written-out repetition (measures 1 through
48), whereas in the recent National Edition (ed. Ekier) from which I work only the
repetition presentation occurs there. Consequently readers may need to add 24 to the
measure numbers indicated in my commentary from measure 65 onwards.
25. I introduced the concept of a seismic shift in Schubert, p. 173. The notion was
called upon several times in Haydn/Mozart as well.
26. The careful management of chordal inversions so as to result in a circle of fifths
with a chromatic bass line was demonstrated in numerous harmony treatises from the
early nineteenth century. Samples are printed in TAH, 3.7b and 3.11. Chopins
progression employs two different sorts of enharmonic reinterpretation (displayed with
both spellings in 3.15c). What arrives as B-rooted B-D-F-A in measure 180 departs as
F-rooted A-C-E-G, and what arrives as D-rooted F-A-C-E in measure 186 departs
as A-rooted C-E-G-B .
5. I applaud Phippss use of the Roman numeral I during measure 15 of his ex. 6,
despite the fact that he has placed it within parentheses. I disagree with his use of that
numeral during measure 17.
6. Chopin here makes the most of the fact that the diminished quality of C6 (C-E-A)
results in an inherent uncertainty of intent. Will that chord proceed to D5, as the
sequential pattern dictates? Or will it heed its own internal urge to resolve the
augmented fourth? The addition of F to the chord pushes decisively toward the latter
outcome. Fortunately those two outcomes reside in adjacent positions within the
sequence, so the choice of the latter comes across as an omission of one chord within
the sequential ascent. On another level, measure 24 corresponds to measure 14, where
C-E-A was complemented by F to project D. If that F is reinterpreted
enharmonically as G, the surge would shift to F. With F rather than G (a lessening
of intensification, while retaining the function), that chord sounds in measure 24.
7. The sixteenth notes within measure 28 chromatically fill in two intervals from the
B chord: (D)>D>C>C>B and B>B [A]>A[G].
8. Compare with the embellishment of II during the Mazurka in C Major (op. 24, no. 2),
measure 13 [1.4].
9. Bass C [B] at 331 comes after two-measure units that emphasize E [D] (the
circles fourth element) and D [C] (a passing chord). Though initially the attentive
listener will regard C as the third of a chord rooted on A (the circles fifth element), the
downward trajectory from E through passing D does ultimately lead to C as root,
taking into account the transformation that transpires during measures 33 through 35.
Consequently the structural melodic line, which has descended from Kopfton G through
F to E, now detours upwards through E to incomplete neighbor F in measure 37 (in a
trajectory divided between the soprano and bass) before reaching goal D in conjunction
with the dominant. (See 4.3.)
10. Chopin rejects the D-F-A sonority twice during this passage: first, the circle of
fifths is abandoned just as the A chord is targeting a D arrival; and second, the
minor IVs chromatic 6-phase chord, F-A-D, is auditioned during measure 38 but
15. Diminished seventh chords in measures 66 and 68 soften the stark voice leading
displayed in 4.3. That in measure 66 targets the chord of measure 67 as that in measure
64 targets the chord of measure 65. Because the descent of the chords is not evenly
spaced (a major second from D to C, but a minor second from C to B), the chord of
measure 68 does not function like those of measures 64 and 66. Instead it anticipates the
upcoming subtonic.
16. Though this II offers fulfillment after the frustrations noted in the vicinity of
measures 33, 38, and 65, Schenkers graph of the entire movement in FC, fig. 12, erases
it, displaying instead a diatonic II with at measure 72. Readers mystified by such
seeming errors may gain insight into Schenkers thinking by comparing the two graphs
labeled 1. Schicht and 2. Schicht in Five Graphic Music Analyses, pp. 5455.
17. See TAH, p. 313, n.14, for samples of creative diminished-seventh usage on display
in August Swobodas Harmonielehre (Vienna: Haykul, 1828) , tab. V. The date and
place of publication tantalizingly encourage the hypothesis of a direct encounter with its
contents (or even with the author himself) during Chopins two visits to Vienna
preceding his migration to Paris. For an account of Chopins documented or presumed
exposure to music theory during his Warsaw years (including notions derived from
Albrechtsberger and from Kirnberger), see the exemplary account in part I, chapter 1, of
Maciej Gobs Chromatyka i tonalnosc w muzyce Chopina (Cracow: Polskie
Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1991) ; as Chopins Harmonik: Chromatik in ihrer Beziehung
zur Tonalitt, trans. B. Hirszenberg (Cologne: Bela Verlag, 1995) .
18. Phipps cites a motion to an F minor chord in measures 3637 to support his
assertion. Note, however, that there the bass is E (sounded at 351), which targets
resolution pitch F (presented in multiple registers during measure 37). In contrast, the
bass D (measures 65 and 66) is disinclined to ascend to F, though Phipps displays
exactly that hypothetical resolution (his ex. 13).
7. Since composers were cognizant of the challenges that their works imposed upon
amateur performers, they often would substitute a five-flat for a seven-sharp signature.
Chopins four-flat signature corresponds to the initial goal, the A dominant of measure
52, rather than to the D tonic that emerges in measure 65. (Though my principal
analysis retains C as the tonic, a local tonicization of the dominant, as goal of a II V
I progression in G [A] Major from 483 through 523, is feasible.) Consequently it was
necessary for Chopin to manually insert a G accidental numerous times during
measures 63 through 80, after which a restoration of the four-sharp signature occurs.
8. Whereas C Minors diatonic I6 chord would inherently surge (as A) towards II,
here the supertonics D root is targeted through the chromatic shift of the 6-phase
chord to A.
9. I display its normative functioning as a connector between the tonic and the dominant
in Schubert, 1.8 (Model 2), while Schenker demonstrates its use in FC, fig. 111a
(second model). Regarding the latter, see my Schenker, Schubert, and the Subtonic
Chord, in A Music-Theoretical Matrix: Essays in Honor of Allen Forte (Part II), ed. D.
C. Berry, Gamut: Online Journal of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic 3
(2010), pp. 127166 .
10. Whereas it is well known that a diminished seventh chord may be used to bring
about the tonal shift of a minor third through enharmonic reinterpretation, in measures
77 through 79 a diminished seventh connects two chords a major third apart. Initially
A -C -E-G serves as an embellishment of the preceding B major chord. Yet upon
resolution it takes on the character of a common-tone diminished seventh chord.
(Compare with Haydn/Mozart, p. 213.) Chopin complicates matters by allowing the
common tone (G) to be displaced by its chromatic upper neighbor at the moment of
resolution (791, where I show a retained G within parentheses in 5.3). As a result, two
diminished seventh chords sound in succession. (In fact, diminished sevenths persist
through the melodic peak at 811.)
transcription of fis as bis (and omission of a slur connecting and fis and another slur
connecting fis and h) and the positioning of the D notehead a measure too soon in line
6.
7. The complete rendering of a 56 sequence to connect the tonics 5-phase (E-G-B)
and unfurled 6-phase (C-E-G) chords would involve a total of eleven chords (E56
F56 G56 A56 B56 C5). Chopin here makes use of a common shortcut, facilitated by
the fact that E5 and G6 employ the same pitch classes. Consequently his sequence
employs a total of six chords.
8. Lerdahls omission of commentary regarding how he went about creating his fig. 3.2
is curious, given a comment he made earlier while establishing his systems theoretical
foundations: It is sometimes troublesome to determine the grouping structure of a
piece, but once that is in place the rest mostly follows like clockwork (p. 7). One is left
with the impression that the figure depends to a large extent upon the analysis of the
preludes second and third phrases in Aldwell and Schachters Harmony and Voice
Leading.
9. Lerdahls reading is very similar to an unpublished graph by Schenker, now in the
Oster Collection: Papers of Heinrich Schenker (file 32, item 108), housed at the New
York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I suspect that that graph
was an inspiration both for Lerdahl and for Aldwell and Schachter.
10. These comments echo my similar concerns about the analysis of TR sections in twopart, major-key sonata expositions. In my view, II often will serve as the goal of TR
(at the medial caesura), followed by V at or soon after the onset of S. An analysis that
places the arrival of the structurally deep V before the caesura II puts the cart before
the horse, in my view. (See Haydn/Mozart, pp. 5867.)
11. Schenker commented on Chopins slurring in the Mazurka in G Minor (op. 33, no.
1) as follows: Chopin, with his penchant for the melodic, employs the slur in his own
special way. Thus the song of this upper voice, as if absorbed in itself, seeks to remain
an indestructible unity and therefore basically resists articulation (FC, p. 110).
12. The score that Lerdahl published as fig. 3.1 deploys slurring that starkly contrasts
that shared by two recent Urtext editions: the National (Cracow, 2000) edited by Jan
Ekier and the Peters (London, 2003) edited by Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger. Neither
editors critical commentary mentions alternative slurring from any Chopin source.
Lerdahls slurring exactly matches that in the Students Edition of the Preludes by
Alfred Cortot (Paris: ditions Salabert, n.d.), though its origin may be earlier.
13. Though I interpret their formal relationship in a different way due to the contrasting
context, the first two phrases of the Mazurka in B Major (op. 41, no. 2, analyzed in
3.10) behave harmonically approximately as do the first two phrases of the E Major
Prelude.
14. Whereas this B (spelled by Chopin as C) raises diatonic B (spelled as C when
restored by Chopin at the end of 83), its enharmonic equivalent C in measure 6 lowers
diatonic C (restored at 71). Both are wobbles.
15. Continuing the comparison with the Mazurka in B Major from note 13, Chopin in
that case highlights the peculiarity of the BEAD circle of fifths by instead
traversing the parallel minor keys BEAD during the varied repetition of the
mazurkas A1 section.
16. The E>A fifth is filled in by step in the bass: E>D>C>B>A. The passing note B
seems at first to attach itself structurally to the C chord (at 63), forming a C surge
towards F. Chopin indeed may be playing with listeners expectations by projecting the
first two chords of a I
I56 II V. Yet by the downbeat of measure 7 that potentiality loses its viability, and the
deeper connection between E and A becomes paramount.
17. Concerning this thorny issue, see TAH, 7.6 (including the commentary regarding
Progression 3 on p. 175).
18. Continuing the discussion of slurring begun in note 12, the score that Lerdahl
provides as fig. 3.1 contains a bass slur beginning at the B of 84 and extending through
the E of 93. Again, that does not correspond to the recent Urtext editions, where a single
long slur extends from 51 through the final chord. Though I disagree in some details
with Schenkers unpublished analysis of the prelude (see note 5 above), his jottings for
measures 5 through 8 twice show a progression from I through III (sic) to V, supporting
a structural descent from to .
19. Aldwell and Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading, pp. 628629.
20. Dmitri Tymoczko offers an alternative analysis of this phrase in his A Geometry of
Music: Harmony and Counterpoint in the Extended Common Practice (Oxford
University Press, 2011), pp. 218219 . Our widely divergent views on harmonic
analysis are apparent even in some basic statistics: my example (6.3) employs three
Roman numerals (one chromatically modified) and four letters indicating roots (two of
which coincide with Roman numerals), all in E Major; his example (6.6.2) employs
sixteen Roman numerals in the keys of E, C, F, d, A, and then E again. (My strongest
objections relate to both passing chords, labeled as ii , and to the chord with
suspensions labeled as iii within parentheses.) We both read the phrase as continuing to
E Majors dominant at the end of measure 8, contrasting Lerdahls close on the
preceding G [A] chord.
21. Aldwell and Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading, pp. 590591.
22. Though Lerdahls commentary acknowledges the exceptional nature of this passage
modulates to a distant place, returning home at the last moment and remarkable for
its pitch-space journey (pp. 8991) his fig. 3.8b conveys neither a veering away from
an intended course (in the way that my crossing out a chord, highlighted within a box,
does in 6.4) nor even that there is an intended course targeting C. In addition, the
juxtaposition of G and V/E appears to grant the G a higher hierarchical status than the
structural dominant. Note that the B dominant chord of 114, because it resides within
the tonal sphere of goal E, is absent from the representations in his figs. 3.5 and 3.6; and
though a V appears and is circled in his fig. 3.8b, it there pales in comparison with the
bold presentation of circled E, a, F, g, and G. My discomfort with this visual
presentation corresponds exactly to a similar sentiment expressed in my assessment of
the early nineteenth-century author Gottfried Webers analytical procedure in TAH (p.
147 and 6.7).
23. A whole step in one voice occurs at the preludes outset: B>A in measures 1 and 2.
Consequently a parallel progression of diminished rather than minor chords ensues.
Given their role in filling in a broader tonic expanse, there is no one correct way to
spell the progressions internal chords. In fact, Chopin shows no predilection even to
spell them using a sixth and a third above the bass, as I have done in 6.5.
24. Parallel progressions of diminished seventh chords descending in half steps were
sufficiently commonplace by the beginning of the nineteenth century to be featured in
the harmony textbook used at the Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris: CharlesSimon Catels Trait dharmonie [1802]. See TAH, 3.11b.
25. One might propose an alternative hypothesis in which the surging I is asserted
earlier at the end of measure 3 (G-B-D-F, with B locally embellished by neighbor
C) and then prolonged through the end of measure 8. (This hypothesis is closely allied
with Schenkers reading, published in London and Rodman, Musical Genre, p. 119.)
One could accommodate that view by spelling the third tenor note in 6.5 as G and
adjusting the slurring. However, I do not hear measure 3 as anything other than an
interior element of an expansive downward glide. Thus I stand by my reading as
presented in 6.5.
26. Though a minority opinion during the nineteenth century, this perspective is not
without historical precedent: see TAH, 3.4b and 7.14c. Dmitri Tymoczkos A Geometry
of Music, fig. 8.5.5 (p. 287), offers the antithesis of my perspective: seventeen analytical
symbols in a total of five keys over the course of the phrase.
27. Two distinct levels of hierarchy are at play here. Several bona fide passing chords
(such as E-G-C-A[B] in measure 4) connect the perimeter tonic chords of measures
1 and 8; while at the surface level the gradual falling-into-place of those various passing
chords results in a range of incidental simultaneities that perform a connective role
between the individual passing chords. For example, E-G-D-B at the beginning of
measure 4 should not be interpreted as I even though the ultimate goal of the
descending parallel progression is, in fact, a form of I. (On this point, I disagree with
Schenkers analysis in the Oster Collection, cited above.)
28. Note the lovely motivic association between G>F and C>B in measure 12. The
latter occurs twice (corresponding to the B<B octave that began the first phrase during
the upbeat to measure 1), with C embellished by appoggiatura D the second time. (That
is, the D>C>B triplet should be interpreted as a layering of neighboring
embellishments: C embellishes B, whereas D embellishes C. It makes no sense from a
Schenkerian perspective to process the triplet as London and Rodman do as a filledin unfolding of the third
prolonged since measure 10.) The C>B neighbor reiterates the bass motion of measures
9 through 12 and is then taken up by the melody during measure 13, as in measure 1.
29. London and Rodman, Musical Genre.
30. Regarding the critical G-B-D-F chord at the end of measure 8, Lerdahls vii/a
reading (in his fig. 3.20b) is similar to my surging tonic (I) reading. We agree that it is
a chord that potently targets the A minor chord of measure 9. In my view London and
Rodmans Schenkerian reading misses the point: the vii7 label in their ex. 1
(presented instead as vii7 within quotation marks in their commentary on p. 102)
pertains to the D-F-A-C chord of 81, from which they proceed directly to measure 9s
iv6, omitting consideration of the G-B-D-F chord altogether at this level. (They
propose a subdominant prolongation from 51 through 92.) In the succeeding paragraph
of their commentary they do mention the I chord, labeling it vii7/iv. It appears in the
foreground layer of their ex. 1 as a connective chord between vii7 and iv6. Since they
were attempting to construct a Schenkerian analysis of the work, it is curious that they
did not take into account that Schenker employed only one Roman numeral for all of
measures 7 and 8: I below a D-F-G-B chord. (Though Schenkers analysis in the
Oster Collection is sketchy, on this point the perspective is clear: the measure numbers
78 sit squarely underneath a I3 numeral not off to the side, as in the botched
London and Rodman transcription.)
31. Schachter, The Prelude in E Minor, and Schachter, The Triad as Place and
Action.
32. That third is traversed both in an interior strand during measures 18 through 20, as
indicated by the slurred noteheads in 6.6, and in the upper register (where a beam is
employed) during measures 18 through 24.
33. London and Rodman, Musical Genre, p. 104.
34. Schachter, The Prelude in E Minor.
35. Though his Roman numeral analysis does not acknowledge Fs presence in the
chord, I think Schachter would agree with me that by this point the IV Stufe has shifted
to what I refer to as its 6 phase, with F serving as the sixth above root A. (The Arabic
6 at measure 16 of Schachters 1994 graph instead indicates that the iv chord initially
sounds in an inverted state.)
unambiguous context of measures 8 and 9 to come to terms with measures 0 and 1, she
is imposing her interpretation of measures 0 and 1 upon measures 8 and 9 even though,
as she acknowledges, the chordal accompaniment does not support it. A review of the
graphs from chapters 1 and 3, above, reveals that thirteen of the forty-three mazurkas
explored there do not begin on a tonic chord. Whereas I suggest that this prelude
conforms to that 30 percent option, Hood is endeavoring to hear the work in terms of
the alternative 70 percent option, despite Chopins instructive presentation within
measures 8 and 9.
8. Mehrdeutigkeit (multiple meaning) is explored in TAH, pp. 155161.
9. Compounding my confusion, the score labeled A2 in Hoods ex. 2 places a I numeral
(why capital?) at the end of measure 33 (note that the bar line between measures 32 and
33 was inadvertently omitted) rather than where I think it was intended below the G at
the end of measure 34.
10. Certainly the author of an article whose title begins with the word Ambiguity
should be extra careful in proofreading, lest unintended additional instances of
ambiguity divert the readers attention, as it has mine. The remarks in this chapter
correspond to the articles state on October 12, 2012, not to the version later published
in Interpreting Chopin (after Harmony in Chopin went into production).
8. Smith acknowledges this D chord without assigning it a significant role (p. 251). In
his score 20.1 he places the following symbol underneath measure 4 (not measure 3):
[D?].
9. In that editor Deborah Stein introduces Smiths essay by informing readers that he
has long been interested in the theories of Heinrich Schenker (p. 236),
impressionable young readers (the books intended audience) might assume that there is
something Schenkerian about Smiths analysis. That assumption would be incorrect.
Any Schenker-influenced reading would acknowledge the foundational role of I V I
within the introduction, as conveyed in 8.1b.
10. Though the bold type in which the words rounded binary form are printed prods
readers to look up the term in the glossary provided at the end of the volume in which
Smiths essay appears, the definition found there (p. 331) and the formal description of
the prelude in his essay do not correspond.
11. Smiths word retransition corresponds to the German word Rckleitung in
Hugo Leichtentritts analysis of the prelude. See his Analyse der Chopinschen
Klavierwerke, 2 vols. (Berlin: M. Hesse, 19211922), vol. 1, pp. 177179 .
12. As I did also in my critique of Lerdahl (note 22 on pp. 274275), I trace my
discomfort with this visualization back to a similar sentiment expressed in my
assessment of the early nineteenth-century author Gottfried Webers analytical
procedure in TAH (p. 147 and 6.7).
13. It is important to keep in mind that the F chord of measures 55 through 63 is a
wobble-infiltrated mutation of F, and not a misspelled E chord. Consequently Smiths
application of the word mediant in his n. 16 (p. 241) is entering dangerous territory, in
my view. Likewise, Gunner Rischels Roman numeral III (within the progression III IV
II V I) is off the mark. (See his Tonal analyse, Musik & Forskning 14 (19881989), p.
127 .)
14. The cadenzas emphasis upon the D nodal point in part compensates for the brevity
of that chord (measure 65) during the initial presentation of the main section.
15. In the glossary of Engaging Music, the volume in which Smiths essay appears,
editor Deborah Stein distinguishes two different meanings for the word Reprise: a
repeated section or the repetition of opening material later in the piece (p. 331). In
the context of my one-part form, I use the word in the former sense; in the context of his
idiosyncratic rounded binary form, Smith uses it in the latter sense. I suspect that
Eigeldinger intends the repeated section meaning as well, though the terseness of his
commentary leaves that open to question.
pitches often are incorporated so as to enhance the forward momentum generated when
a chord surges, without concurrently signaling diatonic pitch content within any key.
Consequently when listening I embrace the energetic initiative of a I or II or VI
without concurrently expecting that the chords they target will function as a tonic at any
level. Clearly this is a matter that defies resolution. Though Cones strongly worded
conviction that a convincing analysis must reveal such an intention is
reasonable, certainly others may pursue alternative perspectives with equal justification.
5. Since the cadence will be a major point of contention between Laufer and me, I
mention here that Lauri Suurps analysis in The Path from Tonic to Dominant in the
Second Movement of Schuberts String Quintet and in Chopins Fourth Ballade,
Journal of Music Theory 44 (2000), pp. 468469 , similarly proposes an interruption at
performance attracts inordinate attention, since many members of the audience have
heard numerous live or recorded performances of the work already. Clearly that state of
affairs was not in play during Chopins lifetime. A modern performer might at least
privately (and perhaps even publicly) seek to regain that spontaneity through tasteful
additions to the printed score in contexts such as measure 7.
8. Laufers correlation of the D tonicization to the already established B subdominant
echoes a reading presented by Carl Schachter in his review of Jim Samsons The Music
of Chopin, Music Analysis 8 (1989), p. 190 . On the other hand, Laufer and I disagree
with Schachter regarding how Chopin leads onwards from D: we interpret the
prominent chromatic line A<A<B<B in measures 191 through 194 as a connection
between A and B (note the stems in Laufers ex. 7.8a and 7.8d), in contrast to
Schachters restoration of IV (through a 56 motion) with the arrival of B in
measure 193.
9. The F at the downbeat of measure 187 functions as an incidental dissonance a
dissonance that may resolve without a change of chord. (See TAH, p. 19.) A descent to
E is avoided both at that point and during the chord with bass C that follows.
10. As often is the case when a modulo 12 procedure is presented in music notation
designed for modulo 7 conceptions, some enharmonic correction is required. Whereas
three of the strands represented in 9.7 display two major seconds (F>E>D, B>A>G,
and D>C>B), the upper strand appears awkwardly as A>G>E. Using modulo 12
numbers that line would be represented without enharmonic seam as 8>6>4. One attains
the downbeat embellishing chord within the prevailing F Minor key (modulo 7), enters
the domain of modulo 12 for the -2-2 parallel progression, and then thrusts the goal
chord back into the modulo 7 environment.
shaped slur (F via G to C), which would decisively clarify the hierarchical
relationship between D and G.
6. During the introduction each of the parallel progressions three principal strands
traverses an octave (fifth>fifth, third>third, and seventh>seventh), and so a uniform
descent ensues. During the prolongation of the tonics upper-third chord during the B
section, the three principal strands connect different elements of the prolonged chord
(fifth>root, third>fifth, and root>third). Consequently the line emanating from E gets
off to a slow start, since it has a shorter distance to cover. The interior strand does not
pursue a maximally linear course, which would be C >(B)>A>(G)>F>E. (Chopin
omitted the notes enclosed within parentheses.)
7. The proposed broad F<G<A third (upward-stemmed noteheads in 10.2) develops
out of a reading of measures 28 and 29 that incorporates unfolded local thirds: F>D
(fourth and sixth soprano noteheads of measure 28) and G>E (fourth and sixth
soprano noteheads of measure 29). The situation is complicated by the linear activity of
the interior strands. Whereas internal A>G>F in measure 28 reinforces the
F>E>D above (both connecting members of the F and the following B chords),
the D of an E>D>C third (seventh to fifth within the F chord) collides with the
sounding of F during 283, and that thirds C (the note to which D passes) sounds
only an octave lower.
8. Rink lists what I refer to as the B section as a Development single quotes included
in his formal synopsis of the Barcarolle (his fig. 1).
9. I explore this issue in detail in TAH, pp. 162165, incorporating analyses of a passage
from Chopins Prelude in D Major by Schenker and by Schoenberg [6.21ab]. The C
in the Preludes measure 9 is the equivalent of the E in the Barcarolles measure 17.
10. As suggested above, a comparison with 3.6a, an analysis of the Mazurka in B Major
(op. 63, no. 1) just three opus numbers after the Barcarolle! is encouraged.
11. Rinks presentation of the A chord of 94 in his foreground graph (example 9) is
botched: whereas the chords A, C , and E are all accounted for, the magic is missing
because Fs ascent to G is neglected. All the pitches of A in 302 are accounted for
in his fig. 11.
12. The chromatic variants of an upper-third chord were introduced in Schubert, pp. 59
60. For F Majors upper-third A-C-E, the first chromatic variant is A-C -E, the
second is A-C-E, and the third is A-C-E.
13. Likely some Schenkerian analysts would instead interpret this passage as III56
(with the 6-phase chord unfurled into position) proceeding to II. The correlation
with Chopins treatment of the B sections upper-third chord has influenced my
willingness to posit a full-fledged return of I in measure 76. As with the tonic chord of
174, its duration is breathtakingly brief. Nevertheless, it represents the completion of
broad tonic prolongation, in this case embellished by an uncommonly potent and
extended upper-third chord.
14. As commonly occurs in the shift of a minor third, the diminished-seventh sonority is
called into service. From E-G-B-D in measure 72 Chopin proceeds to G-B-D-F at
the end of measure 75. Resolution to A-C-E seems imminent. Yet in terms of what
follows, this chord behaves as if its spelling had been E-G-B-D, representing C.
That alternative interpretation is confirmed by the arrival of root C at 761.
15. This
at 64.
1.25 37, 84
1.26 41, 86
1.27 63
2.1 50
2.3 50, 53, 95
2.4 53
2.6 53, 83
2.15 160
2.16 114
2.18 73, 74
2.19 74
3.2 96, 98, 99, 101, 236
3.3 99, 101, 236
3.4 11, 236
3.5 111, 236
3.6 236, 283
3.7 236
3.8 236
3.10 273
6.4 236, 283
Select bibliography
Agawu, V. K., Concepts of Closure and Chopins Opus 28, Music Theory Spectrum 9
(1987), pp. 117
Anson-Cartwright, M., Concepts of Closure in Tonal Music: A Critical Study, Theory
and Practice 32 (2007), pp. 117
BaileyShea, M., Teaching Agency and Narrative Analysis: The Chopin Preludes in E
Minor and E Major, Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 25 (2011), pp. 936
Barbag-Drexler, I., Zur Harmonik Chopins, Musikerziehung 27 (19731974), pp.
202207
Bass, R., Enharmonic Position Finding and the Resolution of Seventh Chords in
Chromatic Music, Music Theory Spectrum 29 (2007), pp. 73100
Beach, D. W., Chopins Mazurka, Op. 17, No. 4, Theory and Practice 2/3 (1977), pp.
1216
Bellman, J., Chopins Polish Ballade: Op. 38 as Narrative of National Martyrdom, Oxford
University Press, 2010
Berger, K., The Form of Chopins Ballade, Op. 23, 19th-Century Music 20 (1996
1997), pp. 4671
Biamonte, N., Variations on a Scheme: Bachs Crucifixus and Chopins and Scriabins
E-Minor Preludes, Intgral 26 (2012), pp. 4789
Bronarski, L., Harmonika Chopina, Warsaw: Towarzystwo Wydawnicze Muzyki Polskiej,
1935
Bronarski, L., Le plus chopinesque des accords de Chopin, Schweizerische
Musikzeitung 85 (1945), pp. 382385
Brown, M., The Diatonic and Chromatic in Schenkers Theory of Harmonic Relations,
Journal of Music Theory 30 (1986), pp. 133
Brown, M., Dempster, D., and Headlam, D., The IV(V) Hypothesis: Testing the Limits
of Schenkers Theory of Tonality, Music Theory Spectrum 19 (1997), pp. 155183
Burkhart, C., The Polyphonic Melodic Line of Chopins B-Minor Prelude, in Chopin,
Preludes, Op. 28, ed. T. Higgins, New York: Norton, 1973, pp. 8088
and Rhythmic Structures in Chopins Prelude in B Minor, Op. 28, No. 6, Intgral 6
(1992), pp. 66106
Cinnamon, H., E Major Harmony as Dominant or Mediant in Chopins Op. 10/1:
Schenkers Graphs from Free Composition Reconsidered, Indiana Theory Review 15
(1994), pp. 120
Cone, E. T., Ambiguity and Reinterpretation in Chopin, in Chopin Studies 2, ed. J. Rink
and J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 140160
Damschroder, D., Schubert, Chromaticism, and the Ascending 56 Sequence, Journal
of Music Theory 50 (2006), pp. 253275
Damschroder, D., Thinking About Harmony: Historical Perspectives on Analysis,
Cambridge University Press, 2008
Damschroder, D., Harmony in Schubert, Cambridge University Press, 2010
Damschroder, D., Review of Beethovens Tempest Sonata: Perspectives of Analysis and
Performance (ed. P. Berg), Music Theory Online 16/2 (June 2010)
Damschroder, D., Schenker, Schubert, and the Subtonic Chord, in A Music-Theoretical
Matrix: Essays in Honor of Allen Forte (Part II), ed. D. C. Berry, Gamut: Online Journal
of the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic 3 (2010), pp. 127166
Damschroder, D., Harmony in Haydn and Mozart, Cambridge University Press, 2012
Damschroder, D., Conspicuous 6-Phase Chords in the Closing Movement of Schuberts
Piano Sonata in B-Flat Major (D. 960), in Rethinking Schubert, ed. L. Byrne Bodley and
J. Horton, Oxford University Press, in press
Damschroder, D., Tonal Analysis: A Schenkerian Perspective, New York: W. W. Norton,
forthcoming
Davis, A., Chopin and the Romantic Sonata: The First Movement of Op. 58, Music
Theory Spectrum 36 (2014), pp. 270294
Delige, C., Pertinence du mtre musical, Cahiers du CREM 1 (1986), pp. 720
DeLong, K., Roads Taken and Retaken: Foreground Ambiguity in Chopins Prelude in
A-flat, Op. 28, No. 17, Canadian University Music Review 11 (1991), pp. 3449
Derfler, B., Single-Voice Transformations: A Model for Parsimonious Voice Leading,
Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010
Jackson, R., Concerning Chopins Enigmatical Finale in the Sonata in B Minor, Op.
35, Journal of Musicological Research 31 (2012), pp. 2748
Kallberg, J., Compatibility in Chopins Multi-Partite Publications, Journal of
Musicology 2 (1983), pp. 391417
Kallberg, J., Chopins Last Style, Journal of the American Musicological Society 38
(1985), pp. 264315; reprinted in Kallberg (1996), pp. 89134
Kallberg, J., The Rhetoric of Genre: Chopins Nocturne in G Minor, 19th-Century
Music 11 (19871988), pp. 238261; reprinted in Kallberg (1996), pp. 329
Kallberg, J., The Problem of Repetition and Return in Chopins Mazurkas, in Chopin
Studies, ed. J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 123
Kallberg, J., Chopin at the Boundaries: Sex, History, and Musical Genre, Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1996
Kielian-Gilbert, M., Motivic Transfer in Chopins A Minor Prelude, In Theory Only 9/1
(1986), pp. 2132
Kielian-Gilbert, M., Chopiniana and Musics Contextual Allusions, in The Age of
Chopin: Interdisciplinary Inquiries, ed. H. Goldberg, Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 2004, pp. 162200
Kinderman, W., Directional Tonality in Chopin, in Chopin Studies, ed. J. Samson,
Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 5975
Kirsch, W., Chopins Prludes e-Moll und h-Moll (op. 28): Ein Analyse- und
Interpretationsversuch, in Studien zur Musikgeschichte: Eine Festschrift fr Ludwig
Finscher, ed. A. Laubenthal, Kassel: Brenreiter, 1995, pp. 572581
Klein, M. Chopins Fourth Ballade as Musical Narrative, Music Theory Spectrum 26
(2004), pp. 2355
Klein, M. Intertextuality in Western Art Music, Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
2005
Klein, M. Ironic Narrative, Ironic Reading, Journal of Music Theory 53 (2009), pp.
95136
Klein, M. Chopins Dreams: The Mazurka in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 4, 19th-Century
Music 35 (20112012), pp. 238260
Leikin, A., Chopins A-minor Prelude and Its Symbolic Language, International
Journal of Musicology 6 (1997), pp. 149162
Leikin, A., Genre Connotations, Thematic Allusions, and Formal Implications in
Chopins Nocturne Op. 27 No. 1, in Chopin and His Work in the Context of Culture:
Studies, 2 vols., ed. I. Poniotowska, Cracow: Polska Akademia Chopinowska, Narodowy
Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, Musica Iagellonica, 2003, vol. 1, pp. 232242
Lerdahl, F., Tonal Pitch Space, Oxford University Press, 2001
Lester, J., Harmonic Complexity and Form in Chopins Mazurkas, Ostinato rigore:
Revue internationale dtudes musicales 15 (2000), pp. 101120
London, J., and Rodman, R., Musical Genre and Schenkerian Analysis, Journal of
Music Theory 42 (1998), pp. 101124
McCreless, P., The Pitch-Class Motive in Tonal Analysis: Some Historical and Critical
Observations, Res musica 3 (2011), pp. 5267
McKee, E., Decorum of the Minuet, Delirium of the Waltz: A Study of DanceMusic
Relations in 3/4 Time, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012
Mees, N. Techniques modales dans lharmonie des Mazurkas de Chopin, Analyse
musicale 21 (1990), pp. 102112
Mees, N. Questions de mthode: La Mazurka op. 7 no. 5 de Chopin, Analyse musicale
32 (1993), pp. 5863
Metzner, E., Chopins Mazurken, Musiktheorie 19 (2004), pp. 377384
Meyer, L. B., Emotion and Meaning in Music, University of Chicago Press, 1957
Miketta, J., Mazurki Chopina, Cracow: Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1949
Morgan, R. P., Chopins Modular Forms, in Variations on the Canon: Essays on Music
from Bach to Boulez in Honor of Charles Rosen on His Eightieth Birthday, ed. R. Curry,
D. Gable, and R. L. Marshall, University of Rochester Press, 2008, pp. 185204
Narmour, E., Melodic Structuring of Harmonic Dissonance: A Method for Analysing
Chopins Contribution to the Development of Harmony, in Chopin Studies, ed. J.
Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 77114
Neumeyer, D., Themes and Lines: On the Question of Hierarchy in the Practice of Linear
Analysis, Res musica 3 (2011), pp. 927
Rink, J., Chopin and Schenker: Improvisation and Musical Structure, Chopin Studies 3
(1990), pp. 219231
Rink, J., Tonal Architecture in the Early Music, in The Cambridge Companion to
Chopin, ed. J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 7897
Rink, J., Schenker and Improvisation, Journal of Music Theory 37 (1993), pp. 154
Rink, J., Authentic Chopin: History, Analysis and Intuition in Performance, Chopin
Studies 2, ed. J. Rink and J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 214244
Rink, J., Chopins Ballades and the Dialectic: Analysis in Historical Perspective, Music
Analysis 13 (1994), pp. 99115
Rink, J., Structural Momentum and Closure in Chopins Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2,
Chopin Studies 5 (1995), pp. 82104;reprinted in Schenker Studies 2, ed. C. Schachter and
H. Siegel, Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 109126
Rink, J., Chopins Improvisatory Music: Style, Structure, Aesthetics, Ostinato rigore:
Revue internationale dtudes musicales 15 (2000), pp. 717
Rogers, M. R., Chopin, Prelude in A Minor, Op. 28, No. 2, 19th-Century Music 4
(19801981), pp. 245250
Rosen, C., The First Movement of Chopins Sonata in B Minor, Op. 35, 19th-Century
Music 14/1 (19901991), pp. 6066
Rosen, C., The Romantic Generation, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995
Rothgeb, J., Chopins C-Minor Nocturne, Op. 48, No. 1, First Part: Voice Leading and
Motivic Content, Theory and Practice 5/2 (1980), pp. 2631
Rothstein, W., Phrase Rhythm in Chopins Nocturnes and Mazurkas, in Chopin Studies,
ed. J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 115141
Rothstein, W., Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music, New York: Schirmer, 1989; reprint edn.,
Ann Arbor: Musicalia, 2007
Rothstein, W., Ambiguity in the Themes of Chopins First, Second, and Fourth Ballades,
Intgral 8 (1994), pp. 150
Rothstein, W., The Form of Chopins Polonaise-Fantasy, in Music Theory in Concept
and Practice, ed. J. M. Baker, D. W. Beach, and J. W. Bernard, University of Rochester
Press, 1997, pp. 337359
Rothstein, W., Chopin and the B-Major Complex: A Study in the Psychology of
Composition, Ostinato rigore: Revue internationale dtudes musicales 15 (2000), pp.
149172
Rothstein, W., Like Falling Off a Log: Rubato in Chopins Prelude in A-flat Major (Op.
28, No. 17), Music Theory Online 11/1 (2005)
Rothstein, W., Circular Motion in Chopins Late B-Major Nocturne (Op. 62, No. 1), in
Structure and Meaning in Tonal Music: Festschrift in Honor of Carl Schachter, ed. L. P.
Burstein and D. Gagn, Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2006, pp. 1932
Salzer, F., Structural Hearing: Tonal Coherence in Music, 2 vols., New York: Boni, 1952;
reprint edn., New York: Dover, 1962
Salzer, F., Chopins Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 1, The Music Forum 2
(1970), pp. 283297
Salzer, F., Chopins tude in F Major, Opus 25, No. 3: The Scope of Tonality, The
Music Forum 3 (1973), pp. 281290
Samson, J., The Music of Chopin, Oxford University Press, 1985
Samson, J., The Composition-Draft of the Polonaise-Fantasy: The Issue of Tonality, in
Chopin Studies, ed. J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 4158
Samson, J., Chopin and Genre, Music Analysis 8 (1989), pp. 213231
Samson, J., Chopins F Sharp Impromptu: Notes on Genre, Style and Structure, Chopin
Studies 3 (1990), pp. 297304
Samson, J., Chopin: The Four Ballades, Cambridge University Press, 1992
Samson, J., Chopin Reception: Theory, History, Analysis, in Chopin Studies 2, ed. J.
Rink and J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 117
Samson, J., The Second Ballade: Historical and Analytical Perspectives, Chopin Studies
5 (1995), pp. 7381
Samson, J., Chopins Alternatives to Monotonality: A Historical Perspective, in The
Second Practice of Nineteenth-Century Tonality, ed. W. Kinderman and H. Krebs,
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996, pp. 3444
Samson, J., Chopin and the Traditions of Pedagogy, in New Paths: Aspects of Music
Theory and Aesthetics in the Age of Romanticism, Leuven University Press, 2009, pp.
115127
Schachter, C., Chopins Fantasy, Op. 49: The Two-Key Scheme, in Chopin Studies, ed.
J. Samson, Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 221253;reprinted in Unfoldings:
Essays in Schenkerian Theory and Analysis, ed. J. N. Straus, Oxford University Press,
1999, pp. 260288
Schachter, C., Review of The Music of Chopin by Jim Samson and The Music of Brahms
by Michael Musgrave, Music Analysis 8 (1989), pp. 187191
Schachter, C., Either/Or, in Schenker Studies, ed. H. Siegel, Cambridge University
Press, 1990, pp. 165179;reprinted in Unfoldings: Essays in Schenkerian Theory and
Analysis, ed. J. N. Straus, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 121133
Schachter, C., Chopins Prelude in D Major, Op. 28, No. 5: Analysis and Performance,
Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 8 (1994), pp. 2745
Schachter, C., The Prelude in E Minor Op. 28 No. 4: Autograph Sources and
Interpretation, in Chopin Studies 2, ed. J. Rink and J. Samson, Cambridge University
Press, 1994, pp. 161182
Schachter, C., Structure as Foreground: Das Drama des Ursatzes, in Schenker Studies
2, ed. C. Schachter and H. Siegel, Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 298314
Schachter, C., The Triad as Place and Action, Music Theory Spectrum 17 (1995), pp.
149169;reprinted in Unfoldings: Essays in Schenkerian Theory and Analysis, ed. J. N.
Straus, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 161183
Schachter, C., Counterpoint and Chromaticism in Chopins Mazurka in C Minor, Opus
50, Number 3, Ostinato rigore: Revue internationale dtudes musicales 15 (2000), pp.
121134
Schachter, C., Idiosyncrasies of Phrase Rhythm in Chopins Mazurkas, in The Age of
Chopin: Interdisciplinary Inquiries, ed. H. Goldberg, Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 2004, pp. 95105
Schachter, C., Che Inganno! The Analysis of Deceptive Cadences, in Essays from the
Third International Schenker Symposium, ed. A. Cadwallader, Hildesheim: Georg Olms,
2006, pp. 279298
Schenker, H., Harmonielehre: Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien I, Stuttgart:
Cotta, 1906;as Harmony (abridged), ed. O. Jonas, trans. E. M. Borgese, University of
in Two Selected Mazurkas by Chopin, Indiana Theory Review 6 (19821983), pp. 1735
Viljoen, N., The Motivic, Structural and Formal Implications of Mixture in Chopins
Mazurka Op. 30, No. 3, South African Journal of Musicology 11 (1991), pp. 143152
Witkowska-Zaremba, E., Versification, Syntax and Form in Chopins Mazurkas, trans.
M. Pilatowicz, Polish Music Journal 3 (2000)
Witten, N. D., The Chopin Ballades: An Analytical Study, D.M.A. dissertation, Boston
University, 1979
Witten, N. D., The Coda Wagging the Dog: Tails and Wedges in the Chopin Ballades, in
Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: Essays in Performance and Analysis, ed. D. Witten,
New York: Garland, 1997, pp. 117185
Ya Deau, W. R., Tonal and Formal Structure in Selected Larger Works of Chopin, Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Illinois, 1980
Yih, A., Connecting Analysis and Performance: Practical Issues for Developing an
Effective Approach; A Case Study, in Chopin in Paris: The 1830s, ed. A. Szklener,
Warsaw: Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, 2006, pp. 215236
Yip, J, Tonal and Formal Aspects of Selected Mazurkas of Chopin, Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Michigan, 2010
Preludes
op. 28, no. 4 (E Minor), 166167, 176186
op. 28, no. 9 (E Major), 166176
op. 28, no. 15 (D Major), 283
op. 28, no. 22 (G Minor), 187197
op. 45 (C Minor), 198212
Scherzo op. 31 (B Minor), 254
dominant emulation, 4
Edlund, B., 167
Eibner, F., 256257
Eigeldinger, J.-J., 198212, 273
Ekier, J., 266, 273
elision, 6, 8, 9, 18, 31, 35, 39, 48, 73, 81, 86, 94, 111, 123, 137, 150, 201, 206, 229, 231,
237, 255, 257, 261, 266, 267, 278
embellishing chord, 9, 17, 20, 30, 31, 45, 47, 54, 63, 73, 75, 79, 81, 84, 88, 95, 96, 99,
101, 104, 108, 109, 111, 116, 120, 122, 123, 124, 126, 128, 129, 134, 136, 142,
145, 150, 153, 163, 183, 186, 190191, 196, 199, 205, 211, 214, 215, 216, 218,
221, 228, 229, 231, 234, 242, 246, 253, 258, 263, 264, 265, 277
enharmonic equivalence, 14, 67, 70, 77, 7981, 88, 101, 110, 115, 116, 123, 124, 129,
131, 150, 153, 155, 161, 167, 171, 173, 176, 183, 205, 206, 207, 208, 211, 212,
220, 223, 245, 255, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 271, 273, 281, 283
equal subdivisions of the octave, 173, 208, 223, 231
essential dissonance, 233
Gob, M., 263, 270
hidden fifths, 258
Hood, A., 187197, 270
hypermeter, 116, 118
idiosyncratic progression, 79, 175, 176, 237
incidental dissonance, 153, 233, 281, 284
interruption, 2123
Jackendoff, R., 166
Kallberg, J., 260
Kinderman, W., 254
Klein, M., 265, 279
Kopp, D., 254
peculiar juxtapositions, 63
Phipps, G. H., 145156
Picardy third, 86, 129, 135
reaching-over, 11, 14, 15, 32, 41, 95, 249, 267
registral shift, 4, 29, 47, 49, 83, 116, 168, 215, 218, 233, 234, 242, 244245, 252
Rink, J., 233252, 262, 270
Rischel, G., 279
Rodman, R., 167, 180181, 185186, 276
Rothstein, W., 255, 262, 280
Salzer, F., 157165, 258, 263
Samson, J., 3
Schachter, C., 167, 173, 176, 181, 185186, 254, 256, 265, 273, 276, 281
Schenker, H., 145, 152, 167, 169, 185, 200, 253254, 255256, 257, 260, 262, 264, 265,
268, 269, 270, 271, 273, 274, 275, 276, 278, 280, 283
Schoenberg, A., 145, 147, 262, 283
Schubert, F., 261, 263, 278
Sechter, S., 145, 148
seismic shift, 133135, 141, 142, 151, 152, 153, 267, 269
sequence, 4, 11, 31, 5960, 64, 7981, 106, 114, 122123, 128, 129, 141, 150, 169, 170,
174175, 176, 193, 206, 207, 208, 237239, 259, 267, 268, 273
Smith, C. J., 198212
species counterpoint, 4, 5, 10, 12, 16, 29, 54, 256
Starobinski, G., 198
Stein, D., 278, 279
surge, 89
Suurp, L., 280
Swoboda, A., 270