Interruption is as useful in developing structures emanating from Kopfton as from Kopfton . The examples explored in this section demonstrate some strategies for supporting the descent from that did not emerge among the non-interrupted lines explored above.
Opus 7/2
The tonic pillar’s 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 ♭II–V♯ 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: B♭➔E♭ occurs rarely in A Minor, whereas the antipodal B♭-to-E 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 melody’s 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.
Example 1.19 Analysis of Mazurka in A Minor (op. 7/2), mm. 0|1–16.
Opus 17/2
During the Mazurka in E Minor’s 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 pillar’s 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 (E–A–D–G) during which Kopfton B is embellished by its upper neighbor, C. A reminiscence of that embellishment occurs in the context of the upper B’s arrival in measure 6, where C again serves as a neighbor.
Example 1.20 Analysis of Mazurka in E Minor (op. 17/2), mm. 0|1–24.
Once the upper-register B is secure, the descent towards E commences. The B>A>G segment of that fifth occurs over a tonic pedal from 63 through 83, embellished by A♯.
(Compare with F♯ in 1.10, measure 6.) Chopin provocatively transfers G to an even higher register in measure 10. That act turns out to be of only local significance. Though residual high notes persist through measure 12, the structural should be imagined in the conventional soprano register beginning at 111, as shown by the parenthetical F♯ in 1.20.29 (The E and D♯ that follow in that register depend upon the imagined precedent of F♯. Note that the F♯ sounds belatedly during 113 and 121. No parentheses are required during the consequent phrase, since F♯ sounds during 231.)
The consequent phrase, displayed in somewhat abbreviated form in 1.20, presents the six-measure opening tonic expansion once again, followed by a full fifth-progression to
the PAC. The II➔ that supported before the dominant’s arrival during the antecedent phrase is suppressed: the earlier II➔V♯ HC gives way to a V➔I PAC. Though most of the phrase’s 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 A’s 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 Chopin’s 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 – – occur within a broad I IV V I progression.
For the Mazurka in A Minor I depart from standard analytical notation to show the essence of Chopin’s 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 7–6 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. 1–20.
The measure numbers annotating 1.21b assert that this model serves as the foundation for Chopin’s tonic pillar. Notably the Kopfton is omitted at the outset. The mazurka’s 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. (Chopin’s abbreviation of the dominant makes room for the consequent phrase’s cadential tonic.)
Opus 63/2
The two halves of the tonic pillar in Chopin’s 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 . (Because
the surging tonic targets IV, measure 13 is aptly interpreted as rather than as an inverted II7.) Each pitch in the consequent phrase’s fifth-progression is treated to embellishment by an upper fourth or third, extending the practice we first encountered in 1.3.32
Example 1.22 Analysis of Mazurka in F Minor (op. 63/2), mm. 1–16.