Monday, July 7, 2014
No. 3 G major
The following prelude, G major, is considerably simpler than the previous two in terms of what's happening in the piece. This work seems to be tailored less towards the theorist, and more towards the performer, and is intended to show of the player's virtuosic playing ability. That's not to say that this piece is any less remarkable, it's just that there is less to say about it.
The piece begins with a run of 16th notes that is consistent throughout each measure. What I found interesting was how much activity was going on in the bass compared to how little is happening in the upper voice. The counterpoint is relatively simple. There are no extraordinary dissonances. As you can see in the third measure, the melody out lines a G major chord moving to a different inversion, followed by an appoggiatura, C-E, resolving down to B-D, and another appoggiatura at the end of measure four leading into the fifth measure, this all happening over a bass line that outlines the tonic area.
There are a couple things I find interesting in the next few measures. Chopin does not opt for a traditional IV chord, or ii for the predominant, but instead does a V7/V having only played in the tonic area. Another thing is in the melody. The harmony implies an A7, but there is a stubborn F# sounding that doesn't resolve into the chord until the last 16th note of the bar before leaping up into the fifth of a D major chord. It's an interesting gesture that compliments the previous measures quite well. There is motion going back and forth between the V7/V and V, before ending the phrase on a half cadence, starting the next with a I which soon becomes the V/IV, as shown below.
Chopin continues to play around in the predominant for several measures before landing on a cadential 6/4 leading into the I, and finishing off with the left and right hands playing the same line an octave apart. Well, mostly the same line.
At the fifth measure before the end, the bass line is doubled by the melody, except for the first note in each measure, which are in thirds. Maybe he wrote that in for the sake of the performer, or maybe he wanted just that little bit of color before doubling, but it was something that did catch my attention.
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That F# that eventually resolves (briefly) to an E IS interesting, isn't it? What intervals do the F# and E form against the bass note of that measure? Now, go back to the first appoggiatura in the melody in mm. 3-4--what intervals do the E resolving to D form against the bass note there? Finally, go back to the FIRST measure of the piece and carefully examine the bass line that runs through the entire prelude. Do you now notice the little motivic seed out of which the rest of the piece grows? Sometimes the brilliance of a composition is hidden in the most subtle of details, so, without falling into the trap of overanalyzing profound significance into the truly trivial, don't overlook things that at first glance seem to be mere surface detail.
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