SOUTHERN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

FREDERIC CHOPINS CLIMACTIC USE OF SONATA ALLEGRO FORM

MUSIC HISTORY 335 TERM PAPER

PROF. LAUNA WHITEHEAD

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

J. DAVID TAYLOR

BUENA VISTA, VIRGINIA

11 APRIL 2011

Copyright 2011 by J. David Taylor

All rights reserved

I
A Broad Overview of Chopins Climactic Formal Alterations

Throughout his entire oeuvre, Chopin uses many compositional techniques that
tend to surprise the listener. As a romantic period composer, Chopin used form and
harmony in new ways that challenged common practice in that era. At the same time,
modern theorists have criticized Chopin for his weakness of form1; but these deviations
from ordinary formal practice are an essential element of Chopins originality and
expression. Chopin tends to alter classical forms in order to place dramatic emphasis at
the end of the piece. In his larger works, this usually appears in the form of a fortissimo
display of bravura.
For the aspiring virtuoso playing Chopin, nothing is more attractive in the
repertory than the bravura endings of Chopins larger works. As a listener, however, it is
very easy to overlook what makes Chopins endings so stunning. Analysis clearly reveals
Chopins formal and harmonic techniques that make an otherwise normal ending into a
climactic Chopin ending. Chopin achieves this effect by obscuring the function of
important harmonies, such as the final tonic key area and delaying the appearance of the
structural V (ie, using the V as a key area or sustaining a harmony on the V) 2 until the
final section of the piece preceding the coda. Chopins genius lies in departing just far
enough away from the destined harmonies that he can hint at them (by common tones and
fifth relationships) without abandoning them entirelythat is, modulating to the upper or
lower neighbor key, modulating by fifth, or modulating to the upper or lower neighbor to
1

David Witten, Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: Essays in Performance and Analysis (New
York, Garland Publishing, 1997), 117.
2
Ibid, 119.

the fifth. Chopin strengthens these harmonic techniques with formal alterations such as
the mirror reprise of the first, second, and third Ballades. The mirror reprise (or
recapitulation) presents the two expository themes in reverse order: 2nd theme first,
followed by the 1st theme. Departing even further from the classical recapitulation,
Chopin reveals both of the expository themes in apotheosis (a mixture of bravura with
tonal glorification) rather than a literal and monotonal synthesis3. In these compositions,
the mirror reprise uses the 1st theme as the vehicle to reveal the structural V just before
the coda. Rather than presenting the V in the expositional transition, re-transition or
reprisal transition, Chopin saves the best for last and dramatizes the final appearance of
the 1st theme and the ending that follows. Moreover, Chopin occasionally constructs his
endings including a 3rd theme presented earlier in the piece (after the exposition and
before the recapitulation). In this case, the 3rd theme serves as a means of tonal synthesis,
removing any doubt of the true tonality by reaffirming it with a theme written for that
purpose alone. These are the specific techniques that make a Chopin ending. In short,
[Chopin] carries the principle of statement-intensification-reconciliation to new heights
not forseen in the works of his predecessors4. Even if the critics do not all agree, the
author maintains that Chopins formal alterations are an essential element of his genius as
a composer.
For the purpose of clarity, the author thinks it helpful to clarify the usage of
formal terminology that Chopins theoretical critics cannot seem to agree on. In this
essay, Chopins larger works are analyzed in comparison to the sonata allegro form, with
an exposition, development, recapitulation and coda. That is not to say that they conform
3
4

Jim Samson, Chopin - The Four Ballades (New York, Cambridge University Press, 1992), 75.
Witten, 119.

exactly to the classical idea of the form or that it is the only way to analyze Chopins
larger works, but that the author believes sonata form to be the best way to describe their
form, concurring with Chopin scholars such as Jim Samson5, David Witten6, and
Jonathan Bellman7.

II
Chopins Formal Alterations in the Ballades and the F Minor Fantaisie

Chopins most climactic writing appears in his four Ballades, Op. 23 in G Minor,
Op. 38 in F Major, Op. 47 in A-flat Major, Op. 52 in F Minor. The analysis also includes
the Fantaisie F Minor, Op. 49. Each composition varies in formal design but uses two or
more of the before mentioned formal techniques (mirror reprise, obscured tonic, delayed
structural V, and 3rd theme ending for tonal synthesis). This analysis begins with the first
Ballade in G Minor.
Chopins Op. 23 employs all of his large-scale formal techniques (tonal
ambiguity, mirror reprise and delayed structural V) except for the 3rd theme tonal
synthesis. In this way, the G Minor Ballade can be viewed as a prototype for the other
three Ballades. Chopin begins the piece with harmonic ambiguity at measure 1. The
opening statement (Ex.1, measures 1-3) resembles A-flat major more than G Minor. The
harmony at measure 7 forms a secondary Neapolitan 6th chord8 (in relation to D, the V of
G Minor) that finally yields to G Minor at measure 8, the beginning of the exposition.
5

Samson, Chopin - The Four Ballades, 45.

Witten, 119.
7
Jonathan Bellman, Chopin's Polish ballade: Op. 38 as narrative of national martyrdom (New
York, Oxford University Press, 2010), 91.
8
Samson, The Music of Chopin (London, Routledge and Kegan Paul plc, 1985), 175.
6

The G Minor harmony holds until the second theme, where an E-flat Major harmony
emerges, although Chopin obscures it with sequential harmony between E-flat Major and
B-flat Major for 15 measures before a strong cadence with E-flat functioning as the clear
tonic at measure 83. The second theme closes by transitioning into a new harmony over a
pedal on E-natural, rising to the upper neighbor of the previous E-flat section, leading
into what can be interpreted as the start of the development section of the piece, based
on the 1st theme of the exposition.
Op. 23: introductory bars

Ex.1: A-flat Major writing in the opening bars of the G Minor Ballade9

Chopin reveals the new key at measure 107 in the first apotheosis of the piece, a glorious
A Major bravura treatment of the 2nd theme. Upon closing, this theme transitions back to
E-flat major with a playful waltz section, termed by some Chopin scholars as the 3rd
theme10. For formal purposes, however, this section functions as part of the development.
At 167, the development re-transitions into the functional recapitulation, which mirror
reprises the themes of the exposition, starting with theme 2. The 2nd theme appears in the
same key as before, but in glorified form. This apotheosis is eclipsed only by the absence
of the first theme in the recapitulation, which finally comes after a harmonic transition
back to a G Minor re-statement of the 1st theme over a D pedal at measure 195.

Frderic Chopin, Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 5 (New York, G. Schirmer, 1894), 7.
Samson, Chopin - The Four Ballades, 47.

10

Op. 23: measures 251 and 258

Ex.2: Chopins reference to the 1st theme in the coda11

Theme I
Theme II
Development
Theme II`
Theme I`
Coda

Bars
8-44
67-93
94-105
167-189
191-208
209-265

Tonality
G Minor
E-flat Major
A Minor, A Major
E-flat Major
G Minor
G Minor
Figure 1

At this point Chopin has indicated that the structural V is very close, but he delays it until
the last moment at measure 207, which yields to the coda Presto con fuoco still in G
Minor, the tonal finish of the piece. Although this Ballade uses the mirror reprise, it relies
more on tonal ambiguity (Figure 1, adapted from Samson12) and the delayed structural V
and a virtuosic coda to dramatize the ending rather than a final apotheosis of the 1st
theme. Although the G Minor Ballade culminates in apotheosis, Chopin does not use the
1st theme as the primary melodic or motivic basis for the coda. At the same time Chopin
quotes the opening bars of the piece in the coda, from which Chopin derives his 1st theme
(Ex.2). The result is a glorious climax that sets a standard for the other Ballades.

11
12

Chopin, 22.
Samson, Chopin - The Four Ballades, 46-47.

In the second Ballade in A Minor, Chopin achieves similar climactic results but
with a slightly different approach. Chopins Op. 38 relies heavily on tonal ambiguity and
the delayed structural V in order to emphasize the ending where the true tonality finally
becomes clear. The first and greatest problem for analysis in the A Minor Ballade Op. 38
is tonal ambiguity. Nearly all publications and recordings of the Ballade refer to it as the
F Major Ballade, which does begins in F major, but ends in A Minor. Johannes Brahms
courageously defended its true tonality13 of A Minor. For this reason the author defers to
the wisdom of Brahms to establish a tonal basis for analysis. In the A Minor Ballade, the
destined tonality is obscured for only 46 measures, although Chopin hints at it in measure
33 by introducing a iii6 harmony that cadences in A Minor at measure 38. Chopin then
promptly returns to F Major as if to say that the A Minor tonality was just a mistake. But
at measure 47, Chopin introduces the first sustained A Minor section in the piece,
portraying A Minor as a contrasting, not primary key area. Chopin does not conclusively
establish A Minor as the real tonality until the end of the piece. Chopin exploits the major
third between the two keys going back and forth between them until the end of the piece.
In this Ballade, Chopin relies on overall tonal ambiguity to intensify the effect when the
structural V arrives at measure 157. He intensifies this effect is by the false harmony
established at measure 141, where the re-statement of the 2nd theme appears to have
changed to D Minor. The 141 Presto con fuoco begins with the same notes as the A
Minor figuration at measure 47 (Ex.3(i) and (ii)), but Chopin reveals his true intentions at
measure 149 where the 2nd theme appears in A Minor, as before (like measures 47-49).
The true tonality of the piece is only really clear at measure 199, where the 1st theme
returns at the end of the piece, in its destined key of A Minor. In this Ballade, Chopin
13

Witten, 140.

spreads his bravura moments of the same themes throughout the piece; tonal ambiguity
makes those themes all the more poignant when they appear after discovering that F
Major was just a diversion.
Op. 38: measures 47-49

Ex.3.i14
Op. 38: measures 141-143

Ex.3.ii15

Using slightly different methods, Chopins A Minor Ballade Op. 38 contrasts the G
Minor Ballade in terms of form, but the delayed structural V and harmonic ambiguity tie
them together.
Chopins Op. 47 in A-flat major, uses the mirror reprise and delayed structural V,
but is less tonally ambiguous than the other Ballades, employing a sort of tonal rondo,
with the following formal schemata16 (Figure 2):

14

Chopin, 24.
Ibid, 28.
16
Samson, Chopin - The Four Ballades, 62.
15

Theme I
Theme II
Theme III
Theme II`
Theme I`

Bars
1-52
53-115
116-144
144-183
213-230

Tonality
A-flat major
F minor
A-flat major
C-sharp minor
A-flat major
Figure 2

Although there is no question about the true tonality of the third Ballade, Chopin creates
a final tonal and thematic synthesis by finishing the piece with the 3rd theme, introduced
at measure 116. In this Ballade, Chopin creates his climactic ending by synthesizing the
1st and 3rd themes in A-flat Major at the end, and preceding the bravura ending with
intense chromaticism. This begins after he presents the 3rd theme in A-flat Major. Here,
Chopin turns A-flat into G-sharp, the V of C-sharp Minor. Before concluding the piece,
Chopin modulates back to A-flat major by developing the 1st theme over a pedal point
that starts on B-natural in measure 182 and climbs the chromatic scale all the way back to
the structural V, E-flat. The pedal point arrives at the structural V in measure 204 and
takes 8 measures to chromatically prepare the final apotheosis of the 1st theme at measure
212. Measure 230, Pi mosso introduces the 3rd theme as the thematic closing of the
piece. As the only Chopin Ballade in a major key, the third is formally simpler than the
first two, but Chopin in nowise falls short of the climactic precedent established by his
first two Ballades.
In the fourth Ballade, Op. 52, Chopin creates his most complex treatment of form
in the Ballades, spanning many key areas with a new variation on his delayed structural
V. The F Minor Ballade is the only of the four that does not employ the mirror reprise
(Figure 3, adapted from Samson17).
17

Ibid, 67.

Introduction
Theme I (and variations)
Theme II
Episode based on Theme I
Introduction
Theme I (and variations)
Theme II
Coda

Bars
1-7
7-71
80-99
99-128
129-34
135-168
169-210
211-239

Tonality
C Major
F Minor
B-flat Major
A-flat Major
A Major
F Minor
D-flat Major
F Minor
Figure 3

The F Minor Ballade begins with an introductory theme (which will appear again later in
the piece). The introduction is stated, oddly enough, in the key of the structural V, Cmajor. Like in the G Minor Ballade, Chopin employs an ambiguous tonal anacrusis18. Far
from revealing the structural V too soon, he has not even harmonically identified the
tonic yet. At the conclusion of the introductory theme, Chopin reveals the real harmonic
basis for the piece, F Minor. After a series of variations on the 1st theme culminating in its
own apotheosis, Chopin transitions to the 2nd theme in B-flat Major at measure 80. At the
conclusion of the 2nd theme, Chopin begins to develop the 1st theme19. The harmony
begins in G-minor at measure 100, but developmentally shifts around until arriving at a
clear A-flat Major at measure 120. After concluding his development of the 1st theme, Aflat major unfolds into a lyrical A Major restatement of the introduction at measure 129.
Measure 134 concludes the development and at measure 135, Chopin re-transitions to a
fairly literal but truncated recapitulation of the 1st theme in F Minor at measure 145.
Following the final literal statement of the 1st theme (and abandoning the mirror reprise),
Chopin begins an embellished nocturnal development of the 1st theme at measure 152.
This development transitions into a recapitulation of the 2nd theme at measure 169 in D18
19

Ibid, 49.
Ibid, 67.

flat Major. This time the 2nd theme is stated in apotheosis at measure 195, where Chopin
reveals the structural V, not as an ambiguous tonal anacrusis like the introduction, but in
relation to the now obvious F Minor tonality of the piece. Chopin concludes with an
extremely difficult coda in F Minor that serves to affirm the Ballades real tonal
destination, thus concluding Chopins cycle of Ballades for solo piano.
The final example of Chopins climactic deviations from the sonata allegro form
is his Fantaisie in F Minor, Op. 49. While this piece sets aside the mirror reprise native to
the Ballades, it employs techniques already demonstrated in the 4 Ballades such as
obscuring the real (and final) tonality, and the use of a 3rd theme to confirm the terminal
key area as such. The F Minor Fantaisie explores several distant key areas and has a
harmonic problem similar to the A Minor Ballade. Again, the composer has clearly stated
his designated tonality for the piece in the title, but Chopin contradicts this designation by
ending the piece in a related key, A-flat Major. For the purpose of analysis, the author
will refer to the piece in terms of F Minor. But the author and other analysts agree that
the Fantaisie employs a two-key scheme20.
The Fantaisie begins with an introductory section labeled Marcia (or March)
outside of the sonata allegro form. This introduction, in an undisputable F Minor, lasts 42
measures. At measure 43, the introduction unfolds into a 23 measure transition to the
exposition. The 1st theme appears at measure 68, still in F Minor. At measure 77, the
theme modulates to A-flat Major, where it stays until measure 85 where the transition to
the 2nd theme occurs, lasting 7 measures. At measure 93, the 2nd theme is introduced in C
Minor. At this point Chopin makes no effort to avoid the structural V of F Minor,

20

Carl Schachter and Joseph Nathan Straus, Unfoldings: essays in Schenkerian theory and
analysis (New York, Oxford University Press, 1999), 261.

although the final tonality of the piece is still a mystery to the listener. Four measures
later, Chopin states the 2nd theme again, this time in E-flat Major. Even after significant
chromatic activity, measure 109 reveals E-flat Major as the current and outstanding
harmony, which continues until measure 127, where Chopin introduces the closing
theme, still in E-flat Major. Measure 144 marks the beginning of the development, which
borrows material from the transition between the introduction and the start of the
exposition (Ex.4.i, measures 44-47 and Ex.4.ii, measures 144-145). At measure 155,
Chopin re-states the 1st theme developmentallynot in recapitulation. This time the
theme appears in C Minor. Again, Chopin has no fear of the structural V to F Minor.
Op. 49: measures 44-47

Ex.4.i21
Op. 49: measures 144-145

Ex.4.ii22

At measure 164, the 1st theme transitions to G-flat Major, where it stays for 7 measures
before a new statement of the transition that appears between the introduction and the

21
22

Chopin, 77.
Ibid, 82.

exposition, at measure 179. Chopin uses this material until measure 197, where the
development concludes. Using the previously established G-flat Major and turning it into
F-sharp, Chopin introduces the 3rd theme at measure 198, in B Major. At measure 222,
the 3rd theme concludes and Chopin re-transitions for 12 measures before beginning the
functional recapitulation with the 1st theme in B-flat Minor. Although in a different key
than the exposition, Chopin literally restates the 1st theme and transition before arriving at
the 2nd theme at measure 259 in F Minor. This new recapitulatory harmony lasts for 4
measures before yielding to A-flat Major. The closing theme appears for the last time at
measure 293, now in A-flat Major, where the tonality stays for the remainder of the piece.
Measure 319 marks the return of the 3rd theme, which, by synthesis, affirms the end of the
piece and its true tonality, as in the 3rd Ballade. According to one analyst:
The deceptive progression that extends the final cadence, therefore is a
compositional necessity. Its effect is far more powerful than that of its
analogue at the end of the first cycle, or any of the other deceptive
cadences in the Fantasy. This is so precisely because the progression it
interrupts is perceived by any experienced listener to be a motion toward
final closure. That closure represents the resolution both of immediate
tonal tensions and, indirectly, of all the processes whose lack of resolution
has kept the Fantasy in a constant state of flux almost without parallel in
the literature.23

Introduction
Transition
Theme 1
23

Schachter, 285.

Bars
1-43
44-68
69-93

Tonality
F Minor
F Minor, A-flat Major

Theme 2
Closing Theme
Development
Transition
Theme 1
Transition
Theme III
Transition
Theme 1
Theme 2
Closing Theme
Theme III
Coda (from Transition)

94-127
128-143

C Minor, E-flat Major

E-flat Major

144-153
156-172
181-199
200-223
224-233
236-260
261-294
295-307
321-322
323-333

C Minor, G-flat Major

B Major
B-flat Major, D-flat Major
F Minor, A-flat Major
A-flat Major
A-flat Major
A-flat Major
Figure 4

A true harmonic journey (Figure 4), Chopins Fantaisie Op. 49 is possibly his most
daring treatment of sonata allegro in his solo piano repertory. By obscuring the final
harmony of the piece, Chopin glorifies its arrival with the appearance of the closing
theme and the thematic synthesis of the 3rd theme at the end of the piece. Using formal
techniques similar to those of the 4 Ballades, Chopins Op. 49 is a masterpiece ranked
equally with any of his 4 Ballades.

III
Conclusion

Frderic Chopin crafted the most glorious moments in his oeuvre not by following
in the footsteps of Bach and Mozart, but by defying formal practice and using sonata
allegro form as a point of departure rather than as an end unto itself. Chopins four
Ballades and Fantaisie in F-Minor contain his most daring formal techniques which are
romantically justified by the apotheosis they create. By embarking on a series of
harmonic adventures full of formal mystery, foreshadowing, and subsequent fulfillment,
Chopin creates some of the most climactic endings in the solo piano repertoire. Analysis
reveals his exact techniques including the delayed structural V, the mirror reprise, 3rd
theme tonal synthesis and abundant tonal ambiguity. That being said, the challenge lies
with the analyst or performer to do justice to the breadth, complexity and depth of the
larger works of Frderic Chopin, the only truly great composer for the piano24.

Bibliography
24

Vladimir Horowitz, Newsweek Magazine, 1982.

Bellman, Jonathan. Chopin's Polish ballade: Op. 38 as narrative of national martyrdom.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Chopin, Frderic. Edited by Carl Mikuli, Complete Works for Piano.Vol. 5 and 6. New
York: G. Schirmer, 1894.
Horowizt, Vladimir. Newsweek Magazine, May 1982.
Samson, Jim. Chopin - The Four Ballades. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1992.
Samson, Jim. The Music of Chopin. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul plc, 1985.
Schachter, Carl. Edited by Joseph Nathan Straus, Unfoldings: essays in Schenkerian
theory and analysis. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Witten, David. Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: Essays in Performance and Analysis.
New York: Garland Publishing, 1997.