Ioannis
Fulias, “Chopin and sonata form:
an overall appreciation of a limited but also multi-faceted relationship”,
in:
Giorgos Sakallieros and Ioannis Fulias (ed.), Three eras –
Four
anniversaries:
Pergolesi,
Chopin, Schumann, Barber (Congress
proceedings,
Thessaloniki, 26 &
27 November 2010), Faculty of Music Studies of the University of Athens,
Athens 2011, p.
138-154.
Despite the fact that
Fryderyk Chopin’s piano sonatas and concertos have become the subject of many
analytical studies, the application of sonata forms in his overall work has been
only partially investigated and still remains a rather controversial matter
among several scholars. The present paper deals at first with the highly
unorthodox tonal plots of all early sonata forms by Chopin, which curiously come
in stark contrast to the absolutely conventional tonal options in his sonatas
after 1830. Afterwards, Chopin’s concerto sonata form is quite thoroughly
examined in the light of the recent theory on classical concerto that is proved
to be very appropriate also for the early romantic concerto repertory. Moreover,
the three late sonatas by Chopin (including, of course, his masterly Cello
Sonata) are considered in parallel to show the gradual evolution that has been
achieved within each of their structural sections, while their binary sonata
form is totally re-evaluated, placed in the proper theoretical and chronological
framework. Some remarks on the realisations of the rondo-sonata form in final movements
complete this critical review of the “problematical” but also original and
– for this very reason – really important relationship between Chopin and
sonata form.
© Ioannis
Fulias