Chopin's Mazurkas - Part 3 @ r4

This article is part 9 of 52 in the 2022 music project series.
This article is part 3 of 9 in the Reviewing Chopin's mazurkas series.
Contents hide
  1. Quatre Mazurkas
    1. Op. 24, No. 1 in G minor
    2. Op. 24, No. 2 in C major
    3. Op. 24, No. 3 in A♭ major
    4. Op. 24, No. 4 in B♭ minor

And we're back with another exciting installment of me listening to Chopin's Mazurkas and then talking to myself about them (previously: part 1 and part 2). We begin on Op. 24, No. 1.

Quatre Mazurkas

For a monsieur Comte de Perthuis

Op. 24, No. 1 in G minor

I'm excited to announce that Chopin has returned to form by starting with a V - i progression. A return to the classics (see part 1 for more details).

09-chopin-mazurkas-op24-no1-starting-on-v.png (image/png · 258x121 · 3,187 bytes)
Op. 24, No. 1 starting on the V: apparently a mazurka classic

The main theme features some more "gypsy" style scales, with what I think is called the altered Phyrgian Hungarian minor scale, i.e. harmonic minor with a raised 4th. In this case some rogue C♯'s.

09-chopin-mazurkas-op24-no1-csharps.png (image/png · 400x121 · 8,524 bytes)
Traces of the "gypsy minor" scale in Op. 24, No. 1

The next section features some interesting echoing by the left hand. The 9th jump followed by a descending chromatic which was repeated a phrase earlier in the right hand.

09-chopin-mazurkas-op24-no1-b-section-chromatic-rh.png (image/png · 583x154 · 14,348 bytes)
Right hand descending chromatic line
09-chopin-mazurkas-op24-no1-b-section-chromatic-lh.png (image/png · 601x150 · 13,130 bytes)
The same melody mirrored in the left hand in the next phrase

The rogue C♯ makes another appearance to help transition from E♭ back to G minor by use of what appears to be a progression of E♭7 → A7♭5 → D7 and finally ending back at Gm. That "V of the V" progression which utilizes the ♭5 is a harmony that is not uncommonly seen seen in Chopin's music, and the Romantic era in general (e.g. Chopin's 2nd Ballade)1. Ragtime music also makes very heavy use of the "V of the V" progression, although you don't see a ♭5 very frequently.

09-chopin-mazurkas-op24-no1-v-of-v-mazurka.png (image/png · 411x154 · 12,026 bytes)
"V of the V" in Op. 24, No. 1
09-chopin-mazurkas-op24-no1-v-of-v-ballade.png (image/png · 441x141 · 12,973 bytes)
The "V of the V" progression in Chopin's Ballade No. 1
09-chopin-mazurkas-op24-no1-v-of-v-entertainer.png (image/png · 408x139 · 9,295 bytes)
"V of the V" as seen in Scott Joplin's famous The Entertainer

Op. 24, No. 2 in C major

A nice happy number, to contrast the gypsy-style funeral dirge of No. 1. The brief F major arpeggio in the B section reminded me of Chopin's F major Etude Op. 10, No. 8. It even has a similar trill. Although it's like three times faster and covers three times as many octaves.

This is followed by perhaps the clunkiest modulation I've heard from Chopin. You don't frequently see a modulation beginning with a tritone. Also notice that the V → I progression is back on the menu as well!

The tritones continue as the left hand takes over the melody, this time in D♭ as opposed to A♭.

And again my score is missing a note that's present in the recording I'm listening to. A rogue A is can be heard but not seen right before the repeated quarter note chords at the end. Time to investigate once again.

Op. 24, No. 3 in A♭ major

Op. 24, No. 4 in B♭ minor

  1. Actually, this is incorrect, as I misremembered the chord voicings in Chopin's 2nd Ballade (there is a B7♭5 chord voicing at the very end, which eventually leads to E7 and then to Am, but there's like 8 measures of stuff in between the chords, so I don't think it counts). And then I couldn't actually find an example of it in less than 5 minutes so I gave up. It's possible that chord progression is not nearly as common as I thought in Romantic music.
Categories: