Chopin's D Minor Prelude, Op. 28 No. 24 : A Motivic Analysis

By: Roger Hansford

 INTRODUCTION

I have found it fascinating to study this Prelude by Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849), and my intention is to communicate my understanding of the way this piece is constructed.  This being a short solo piano piece, with few changes of texture or timbre, I have been able to undertake a detailed analysis of the melody and rhythm to show how these form motives which are re-deployed and developed throughout the 77 bars of the piece. I also pay attention to harmonic structure and pianistic techniques such as phrasing, dynamics, pedalling, and other performance directions, which form the context for the chronological development of the motives. As I will show, the characteristic intervals and rhythmic fragments of the opening can be grouped into two statements of an opening motive, followed by one statement of a closing motive. What I describe as motives may appear similar to phrases, although often they defy phrase boundaries. Please note that I use Helmholtz pitch identification system in order that ranges will not be confused.                                                   
In structuring my analysis I am guided by the way that characteristics of one motive can be traced to one or another following motive. Therefore I am indebted to Rudolf Réti’s [1] (1885-1957) analytical method, a reasonable influence for my chronological treatment of a musical work published just over a decade after Beethoven ceased to write. Although my application of the method is not innovative, it is independent of Réti’s application to Beethoven in the sense of using longer rather than shorter series of tones from which to draw analytical conclusions. This is because I aim to demonstrate how Chopin’s writing has used motive to develop an interesting structure which the listener can understand. Developing Réti’s ideas [2], I include rhythm within my initial identification of the motives. I hope this study will increase understanding of the compositional technique of Chopin within his Op. 28 Preludes.
 
MOTIVIC ANALYSIS OF PRELUDE OP. 28, NO. 24
Bars 1–13:  Introduction of Motives
            The Prelude begins with a two bar introduction in the left hand containing four statements of what I will call the left-hand motive. This consists of a broken-chord figure which repeats the tonic and dominant notes to establish the tonic triad and key of D minor. The shape of this figure is upwardly-moving and open, and its repetition creates a sense of insistence, appropriately beginning the allegro appassionato. With its repetition – rhythmically unaltered – through to bar 72, this figure constitutes a rhythmic motive for the piece (Example 7). The left-hand motive is a constant companion throughout, driving the tempo and metre and providing an indication of the modulations which I will mention as the piece progresses. Often the motive will be a vehicle for modulation, introducing the seventh note of the intended tonic a half-bar before this is reached (although the tonic in the cases I will describe is sounded an octave below its leading note, unlike bars 50-51). Therefore the left-hand motive sets the pace and serves as a point of orientation and departure. With the forte dynamic and wide range of the motive we are given a good foretaste during the first two bars of the overall character of the Prelude. Moreover, the left-hand motive can be seen as a source of tones for the genesis of the two main right-hand motives, as I will discuss.             
         In bar 3 the opening melodic motive begins in the right hand, descending through the tonic triad of D minor. Since Réti discussed ‘corner intervals’ [3], I will discuss the formation of the intervals present here. It is possible that the outline fifth descent from a′ to d′ in bar 3 could be an inversion of the ascent from D to A in the left hand at the opening, or a re-ordering of the first three notes starting bar 1. The tonic triad is again inverted in bar 4, moving up to d′′ to fall by one tone to the sustained c′′ in bar 5, then – pre-empted by the semiquaver ending bar 5 (possibly derived from semiquavers in the left-hand motive) – falling by a minor third to a′ at the start of bar 6, the very tone on which this three bar opening motive began. The repetition of the dominant note here could be reminiscent of that in the left-hand motive, if register in the latter is ignored. With the sustained d′ in bars 3–4 the tonality at this point is clear: only the held c′′ in bar 5 is not from the tonic triad; this falls to the dominant and introduces the seventh above the tonic (and the bass) which, as mentioned, will be important for later points of modulation. By this point the main rhythmic motives for the Prelude have been introduced in the tonic key, and the important intervals of a (minor) third, a seventh, and a tone have been prominent in the melodic shape.[4]  I will call this the first opening motive.                                                                                                                        
          The right hand rests during bar 6 to remind the listener of the two bar introduction to the piece and to clarify the start of the second opening motive in bar 7. This phrase from bars 7-10 appears derived from that of bars 3-6. The a′ beginning bar 7 is pre-empted by an upbeat semiquaver, rhythmically derived from the ending of bar 5, so that the dominant note is heard four times in succession. This a′ falls to d′ by the end of bar 7, which introduces the importance of decoration to the piece: a three-note ornament outlines the minor third between d′ and f′ and there is emphasis on the tone descent between the accented e′ on beat two (a beat suggesting accent also in bar 3 with the descent to the sustained tonic) and the delayed fall to the tonic here. In bars 8-9 there is a rhythmic repeat of bars 4-5, preceded in bar 8 by a quaver which can remind us of bar 3, and/or the idea from bar 7 of the strong beat pre-empted by a shorter weak beat. The tonic triad reaches a higher register in bar 8 than bar 4, this time falling to a sustained e′′ and descending by a fourth to the a′ starting bar 10. The opening motive of bars 7-10 is derived from that of bars 3-6 but with melodic decoration, rhythmic development, pitch alteration, and the addition of the interval of a fourth.                                                                                                                                              
          To clarify my organisation of the motives it would be beneficial if the next new phrase began after the a′ starting bar 10. With the B-natural trill and the first pitch change of the left-hand motive in this bar we prepare for and, I believe, enter the phrase I call the concluding motive. This includes an outline descent of an octave from c′′ to c′ between bars 11 and 13, containing intervals of a tone, a third (this time major) and the descent of a fourth at the end. Rhythmically bar 11 exchanges the two halves of bar 3, and the recurrent semiquaver idea precedes the sustained c′ which concludes the phrase in bar 13. The rhythmic and melodic ideas – including tone, (major or minor) third, fourth, and seventh relationships – are repeated, developed, and given meaning when forming the two opening motives and the closing motive (Example 1): derived from each other and from the left-hand motive. 
Bars 14 – 18:  Figuration and Modulation
            Here the first of nine rapid figuration patterns ascends from c′ to f′′′′ and, with the left-hand motive moving from the repeated C during the previous bars up to F in bar 15, the modulation is achieved. Decoration was first identified in bar 7 and here continues to be a stylistic feature. The bass centres on E by bar 17, and with two further bars of rapid figuration – descending from f′′′ to e and then ascending from e to a′′′ - moves to A minor by bar 19; the bass D-sharp of bar 16 and the bass G-sharp of bar 18 act as leading notes drawing towards each respective centre. Réti showed how harmonic progressions in Beethoven’s Sonata Op.13 emulated melodic motives [5], so it is reasonable to note that the bassline ascends a fourth in bars 14-15 and descends a tone in 16-17, emulating the descent in bars 10-11.  From bars 18-19 the bassline descends a fifth and, whilst outlining a perfect cadence into A minor, this can also remind us of the intervallic relationship between the opening two notes of the piece. In bars 16-17 the last part of the closing motive from bars 12-13 appears transposed up a third, this partial recurrence heralding the sectional closure at bars 18-19. The triple appearance of figuration patterns – which share rhythmic but not melodic similarity – towards points of closure in this piece suggests their function as vehicles for modulation which lack motivic independence (Table 1). As explained, bars 14-18 are linked intervallically to the motives of bars 1-13, helping to explain the Prelude’s structure.
Bars 19–36:  Complete Recurrence of Opening Motives
            In terms of rhythmic and melodic motives, bars 19–36 are a transposed repeat of bars 1–18 (Example 2). The interval of transposition is a perfect fourth down to A minor, which (even without C-sharp) suggests a dominant key, and links to the opening two notes in bar 1 because of the fifth relationship between A minor and D minor. Both statements of the opening motive and that of the closing motive are exact transpositions of their first appearance, with the same phrasing and pedal markings.   Just as the tonal centre fell from D to C by bars 11-13, so the repeated bassline A falls a tone to G by bars 29-31; the fourth rise from C to F major in bars 14-15 is matched by a similar rise from G to C major in bars 32-33.  Only bars 35-36 deviate from the transposition due to the modulation through B major (with A-sharp in bar 34 leading to the tonic) to prepare for the new tonal areas starting at bar 37. As in bars 11-14, the closing motive in bars 34-35 recurs close to the tonal area C major (reached as a tonic by bar 33), and this may even refer to the tonality of Op. 28 No. 1. Thus the complete transposed restatement during bars 19-36 increases the coherence of the motives and makes large-scale structures clearer.
Bars 37–54:  Recurrence and Elision of Material from Opening Motives
            As the piece modulates towards climax there are further appearances of the opening motivic material (Example 3). In bars 37-39 there appears to be a recurrence of the closing motive modulating from E minor to C minor. However, this statement is only three bars long and omits the leap of a fourth; moreover bar 39 is melodically and rhythmically derived from bar 3, the start of the first opening motive. That elision is taking place is supported by this statement beginning halfway through bar 37 and almost immediately after e′′′′, referring back to the elision of bars 19-20 where the left-hand motive begins immediately underneath the accented a′′′. Although the melodic treatment here could suggest the identification of bar-sized motives, the growing use of elision to dissect my longer motives supports their original identification during bars 1-13. I will now show how these are elided and referred to.               
          A full statement of the first opening motive appears to start in bar 39, and bar 40 is an exact transposition of bar 4 down one tone. In bar 41 the pitch contour gives an impression of the second opening motive with non-equivalent scale degrees, but the rhythm is again that of bar 3. A phrase derived from the second opening motive appears for bars 42-45 with the modulation into D-flat minor. With the first departure from two-part texture on beat two, the elisive opening of bar 42 is pre-empted (as at bar 7) by the repetition of the dominant. The statement begins in bar 43 like a transposition of bar 3, but continues in bars 44-45 as a transposition of bars 8-10. Bar 45 shortens the statement because it has the rhythm of bar 3, and in this way appears to refer also to the statement at bars 39-41.     
          Since dynamics always increase and decrease with pitch in this Prelude, the piano in bars 46-47 signals a unique statement of the motive: the near repeat of bars 44-45 with the semitone alteration to A-natural. Not a new interval, the semitone is contained within bars 7, 10 and 11, so refers to both main motives. Neither is the rhythm in bar 48 a new idea as it comprises one straightening and one copy of the dotted triplet of bar 4, and with the same insistence on the dominant note as occurs at bar 6.   This dominant recurs in bar 50 in octaves just as the bass enharmonic change allows the C-sharp to rise directly to the tonic. Approached by major thirds in the melody in bars 48 and 50, the recurrence of the left-hand motive in bar 51 as first stated signals that the climax is imminent.                                                
          The main motives, not only their characteristic intervals, continue to reappear. Bar 51 is bar 3 with the right-hand in octaves, but bars 52-53 sees a contraction of bars 8-10, again in octaves. In this way the statement of the opening motive in bars 51-53 is derived both from bars 1-13 and from the elisive treatment of material from bar 37 (Example 3). Elision continues in bars 53-54 with seamless repetition of the contour and most pitches from bars 52-53, but with a chromatic descent to the G-sharp that also appears in the bass. From this section is it clear that the motives I identified in bars 1-13 have been continually referred to and elided in order to reach the climax.
Bars 55-77:  Climax and Closure
            Although not the loudest point of the piece, the start of bar 55 has the highest pitches. Once the descent from d′′′′ and f′′′′ has begun - continuing chromatically and in triplet minor thirds for almost three octaves - it is clear that the return to the tonic has started. The pedalling is infrequent and the bass repetition of G-sharp, introduced during the quasi-sequence in bars 53-54, also delays the clear reassertion of the tonic. The increase of decoration between the two opening motive statements (Example 4) in bars 57-60 – themselves referring to the decoration between the two opening motives in bars 3-10 and the octaves used at 50-54 – stands out clearly. The insertion of a demisemiquaver rest at the end of bar 60 delays its elided ending and links to the dotted rhythm in bar 4, which has been deployed similarly in bars 48 and 50. Here too the statement of the dominant note is unequivocal: twice in bar 57 and three times in bar 59, each rising an octave. With the texture change in bar 60, the stretto instruction (also in bar 72) suggests elision and refers to an alternative timbre, as did the vibrato in bar 3. [6]  Even at this point, then, the composition refers to the motives that appeared in bars 1-13.                                                                               
           Thus far the derivation of motives has increased their complexity, but a simplification of the compound duple rhythm explains what might otherwise appear to be a new motive at bars 64-65. As with the concluding motive of bars 11-13, the two-bar figure includes semitone relationships. Following the descending figuration of bars 61-63 (rhythmically derived from bar 48) at the loudest point of the piece, the dotted crotchet figure brings the piece back to D minor, again via the leading tone, C-sharp. Variants of the figure (Example 5) occur in bars 68-69 and 72-73 as the texture increases, culminating in two six-part D minor chords. The conclusion is assisted by the descending nature of all the figuration from bar 55 onwards, and by the alternation of the tritone (G-sharp first appearing in bar 54) with the diatonic left-hand motive acting like a series of V-I cadences from bars 65-73. The triple repetition of the tonic in bars 75-77 (Example 6) unequivocally closes Prelude No. 24. With the reminiscences of the C major tonality of Op. 28 No. 1, and the appearance of sharp keys in the first half and flat keys in the second, the descent to D minor in No. 24 may mark the overall ascent of Op. 28 from C major to D minor. Thus the development of the motives has clarified the harmonic structure central to the composition.
CONCLUSION
            What I have shown in Op. 28 No. 24 is that from the tonic triad idea of the left-hand motive, two opening motives and the closing motive can be derived. These contain some characteristic intervals – semitone, tone, third, fourth, and seventh – and rhythmic fragments which may lack individual significance but can be seen to recur and develop throughout the piece as derivations from the main motives. The length of these motives sometimes differs from the marked phrasing, but is proven by one complete transposed repetition which the motives survive intact, and by the elision of material in the second half of the Prelude. The shared characteristics even between derivational motives have made recognisable such features as the harmonic structure and the progressive importance of decoration.                          
         Using an analytical method influenced by Réti’s, I have created an analysis which balances musical detail and overall structure to identify points of interest. I have considered the piece chronologically as the listener would hear it, and used evidence from the score. I have avoided any mention of theme or the use of letter designations for motives so as to account for fine detail and avoid imposing categorisations of extreme rigidity for this genre. Unlike Réti I cannot be sure how Chopin composed; if he improvised this Prelude at the piano I am certain he had motives in mind.     
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Eigeldinger, Jean-Jacques, ‘Twenty-four Preludes op. 28:  genre, structure, significance’, in Jim Samson (ed.), Chopin Studies (Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp.167-193.
 
Moens-Haenen, G., "Vibrato." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/29287>  (accessed November 14, 2009).
 
Morgan, Paula, "Réti, Rudolph." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/23259> (accessed November 13, 2009).
Réti, Rudolf, Thematic Patterns in the Sonatas of Beethoven (New York:  Macmillan, 1967).
 
TABLE 1:  Variety of the Figuration Patterns in Op. 28 Prelude No. 24 by F. Chopin

Location
Starting note(s)
Ending note(s)
Direction
Details
Bars 14-15
cʹ
fʹʹʹʹ
Ascending
Initial turn including B-natural, then C major scale including B-flat.
Bars 17-18
fʹʹʹ
e
Descending
Descent through E, C, A, and F, three times. F major 7 arpeggio.
Bars 18-19
e
aʹʹʹ
Ascending
Initial turn including D-sharp, then E melodic minor scale ( B-natural).
Bars 32-33
g
cʹʹʹʹ
Ascending
Initial turn including F-sharp, then C major scale including B-natural.
Bars 35-36
cʹʹʹ
B-natural
Descending
Descent through B, G, E, and C, three times. C major maj7 arpeggio.
Bars 36-37
B-natural
eʹʹʹʹ
Ascending
Arpeggiated ascent using C, D-sharp, F-sharp and A, four times.
Bars 55-57
fʹʹʹʹ   dʹʹʹʹ
a
Descending
Chromatic descent in minor thirds, G-sharp repeated in final triplet.
Bars 61-64
dʹʹʹʹ   dʹʹʹ
b-flatʹ   b-flat
Descending
Descent in octave triplets; variety of tones and intervals
Bars 66-67
fʹʹʹʹ     fʹʹʹ
d
Descending
Descent through F, E, D, B-natural, G, four times, with F, E at end.
Bars 70-71
fʹʹʹʹ     fʹʹʹ
d
Descending
Descent through F, E, D, B-natural, G, four times, with F, E at end.
Bar 74
dʹʹʹʹ   dʹʹʹ
D1
Descending
B-flat, A, F, D, five times, then B-flat, A, F, E. Unaccompanied.

 
 

 

[1] Rudolf Réti, Thematic Patterns in the Sonatas of Beethoven (New York: Macmillan, 1967), pp. 17-94.
[2] Paula Morgan, “Reti, Rudolf.” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/23259 (accessed November 13, 2009).
[3] Réti, Thematic Patterns, pp.40-41. ‘Corner intervals’ are created by the main extremities of pitch within a melodic line.
[4] Concentrating on intervals between consecutive melody notes, I do not discuss motivic development of the ascending sixth between notes two and three of the left-hand motive (Example 7) which has been shown to link all the Op. 28 Preludes by Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, ‘Twenty-four Preludes op. 28: genre, structure, significance’, in Jim Samson (ed.), Chopin Studies (Cambridge University Press, 1988), p.181.
[5] Réti, Thematic Patterns, pp.28-29.
[6] With the term stretto the genre of fugue, with its separate voices, can be associated. Vibrato is a technique normally used by singers or the players of string instruments, traditionally for purposes of ornamentation. See G. Moens-Haenen, "Vibrato." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/29287> (accessed November 14, 2009). Stretto may also be a synonym for accellerando.