Motivic design and tonal structure in the mazurkas of Frederic Chopin, as illustrated in graphic analyses based on the theoretical concepts of Heinrich Schenker

[摘要] This dissertation presents a study of motivic design and tonalstructure in selected mazurkas by Frederic Chopin. The principalobjective is to demonstrate the coordinated interaction ofharmony, counterpoint and motivic design in the mazurkas. Theanalytic method used is that of the Austrian pianist and musictheorist Heinrich Schenker (1868-1935), a method based on theconception of a tonal composition as an organic hierarchy ofstructural levels (Schichten). Analyses of mazurkas arepresented through sets of carefully worked out voice-leadinggraphs depicting the various levels of structure and theircontent.The merit of Schenkerian analysis for interpreting motivic andstructural elements is given in the preface, the principal pointbeing the identification and interpretation of harmonic,voice-leading and motivic events on different structural levels.A general introduction to Chopin and the mazurka follows,comprising a historical overview of the mazurka as genre, achronological listing of all the mazurkas of Chopin, and anassessment of his contribution to the mazurka.Part One presentsSchenker's method, usinganalytic illustrations.a justification and explanation ofexcerpts from various mazurkas asA set of analytic voice-leading graphsfor a complete mazurka, serving as comprehensive model analysis,and intended to demonstrate the whole apparatus of Schenkeriananalysis, is provided with commentary in a separate chapter.Various areas of investigation concerning motivic design andtonal structure in the mazurkas are followed through in Part Two.These include motivic design as a unifying factor, its influenceon tonal structure, the influences of motivic design and tonalstructure on form, and of chromaticism and specific folkloricdevices on motivic and tonal structure.The seventeen mazurkas analysed in Part Two revealconcentrated interactions of harmonic, voice-leading and motivicelements, many instances of hidden motivic repetitions orparallelisme, and motivic networks. Motives also play a decisiverole in tonal and formal unification. Chromaticism and folkloricelements are no longer pure stylistic or idiomatic features, butpart of the motivic and tonal-structural content.Through the application of Schenkerian analysis, new insightsare gained into the nature of motivic and tonal-structuralelements in the mazurkas which cannot be arrived at throughconventional methods of analysis.

[发布机构] University of the Free State