princess paupr’s Reflections

(yoinked from Dorkie)
C u r r e n t
001. time? 3:33 PM
002. date? Thursday June 24th, 2004
003. jewelry? silver necklace with a round ball that has blue crystals
004. clothes? TC 2004 baby blue t-shirt and purple shorts (i’m at home:P)
005. taste? Food taste? Rice >.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him, who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:1-3

My last essay of high school…(ignoring the Food and Nutrition and English exam essays) I stayed up til 5 doing this essay…here it is. Mistakes included.

Waltz in C# Minor and Waltz in E Minor by Frederic Chopin

Jacqueline Leung

Throughout history, composers have alternated between the classical and romantic styles of composition. While classicism is characterized by its poised and conservative nature, romanticism is set apart as being unrestrained, and radically expressive. The two pieces “Waltz in E Minor op. posth.” and “Waltz in C Sharp Minor Op.64, No. 2”, by Frederic Chopin are pieces that exemplify many characteristics of romantic music. The waltz, dance music written primarily for the salon, received much popularity in the early nineteenth century. The waltz may be light and airy, polished and graceful, dazzling and brilliant, timid or playful in nature (Samson, 1985, p. 121). Chopin demonstrates romanticism in the “Waltz in E Minor” and the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” through a greater range of dynamics and increased expressiveness, catchy melodies, and lastly, through chromatic harmony.

Chopin’s waltzes are popular piano pieces that can be classified into two styles: gracious and brilliantly decorated, or melancholy (Chopin Society, 2004). The use of dynamics is one trait that demonstrates the “Waltz in E Minor” and the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” are both distinctly romantic era pieces. Romantic music composers used a greater range of louds and softs than their predecessors. This was partially due to changes in instruments in the era that allowed for even more variety in terms of dynamics (Machlis, 1984, p. 65). Thus, a classical forte for piano would not be as loud as a forte in the romantic era because the improvements gave a deeper and brighter tone to the nineteenth century piano. In the “Waltz in E Minor”, sudden changes in loud and softs provide contrast between sections. For example, bar 31 marks a change in dynamics from piano to forte. This change is abrupt and stirs up anxious and rushed feelings. It contrasts the soft passages before, where the mood is serene. In the “Waltz in E Minor”, the range of dynamics is huge: from pianissimo to double forte and everything in between. Chopin uses louds and softs to build and to pull back; to contrast lyrical and figurative sections.

The “Waltz in C Sharp Minor”, a piece Chopin dedicated to Baronne de Rothschild, has a reminiscing, pensive tone that is accentuated by the extensive use of crescendos and decrescendos. These dynamic markings give the feeling of drifting in and out of consciousness, as in a dream. Before the romantic era, crescendos, decrescendos and other dynamic markings were present, but not in abundance. In the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor”, the changes in dynamics are not as dramatic as they are in “Waltz in E Minor”. (They range from pianissimo to mezzo forte) This is because the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” falls into the melancholy style of waltzes and is more delicate and lyrical in nature (Chopin-Works, n.d.).

In addition, romantic era composers put a great amount of detail in terms of musical expressiveness. Words like con passione and dolce instructed the character with which the musicians should play. Unlike composers of the past who allowed musicians to make most of the musical decisions, romantic era composer took time into making pieces sound the way they want them to sound. In the “Waltz in E Minor”, musical terms of expressiveness are used throughout the piece. The piece itself is marked vivace, which means “in a lively or vivacious manner”. Bar 9 is marked grazioso: a graceful, smooth manner and bar 25 is marked dolce e legato, which means sweetly and smoothly. Changes in tempo also stated in the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” through the use of different terms. The piece begins with a Tempo giusto and at bar 33, there is a piu mosso: more movement. Similarly, at bar 65, a piu lento signals the musician to play a more slowly. The use of these musical expression terms is important because when a musician is in the right frame of mind, they are more likely to play a piece stylistically correct (Machlis, 1984, p.64).

The use of rubato or “borrowed time” in these waltzes is another element that is typical of the romantic style. While composers in the past wrote in strict time, romantic composers allowed for variations in speed. This added a whole new aspect of expression and gave musicians to further emphasize feelings of longing, anxiety and other emotions (Frederic Chopin, 2001). An example of significant use of rubato is at bar 65 of the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor”, where allowances for the durations of the longer notes (ie: the dotted half notes and half notes) adds to pensiveness of the piece.

Besides the use of dynamics and musical expression, the “Waltz in E Minor” and “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” are also typically romantic because of their easy-to-recognize melodies and because of the length of the pieces. In contrast to the confusing, hard-to-follow melody lines of Baroque (and even some Classical) music where the melody line is a cluster of sixteenth note runs, romantic pieces usually have a lyrical or highly emotional theme that is easily sung; audiences can pick up the melody almost instantly. In the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor”, the bittersweet theme is stated right away in the beginning of the piece whereas in the “Waltz in E Minor”, an introduction or “announcement” is stated before the actual theme. The melody in “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” is memorable because of its emotional appeal – the use of dissonance and suspension conveys feelings of loneliness and longing. For example, at bar 9e in the right hand, the b sharp and f sharp notes which make up the diminished seventh chord delay moving to the next chord, the tonic chord.

The theme begins with the three repeated staccato notes in the “Waltz in E Minor” and runs for sixteen bars, until bar 24. After a passage where new material is presented from bar 25 on, Chopin brings back the theme or main melody at bar 41. Bar 9, 41 and 97 mark the area where theme is recurring. Similarly, the themes in “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” also reoccur and it is the four bar phrasing that helps listeners to hear the expressions. As well, the ending of both waltzes is characteristic of romantic style music because the excitement and intensity builds until it finally comes to a stop at the end. However, the “Waltz in E Minor” ends forte with strong, full chords while the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” seemingly dissipates into the air. These two different endings illustrate the romantic’s love for extremities (very loud versus very soft).

In addition to its romantic melody, and the length of the two waltzes proves the pieces to be good examples of romantic era pieces. The short length of the two waltzes is typical or the short lyric piano pieces of the romantic era which aimed to appeal to audiences immediately (Samson, 1985, p.121). Like song, these pieces provided lyric and dramatic moods within a small time frame (Machlis, 1984, p 68).

Although they are miniature works in comparison with his ballades and other larger works, Chopin also paid careful attention to details in his waltzes (Samson, 1985, p.122). In particular, Chopin’s use of non-harmonic tones to create emotional and expressive harmonies in the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” and “Waltz in E Minor” proves the pieces to be good examples of romantic era music. Before the romantic era, the harmony was well rooted in the key, as in the classical sonata form (Machlis, 1984, p.210). Classical composers used diatonic harmony: melody or harmony built from the seven tones of a major or minor scale (Machlis, 1984, p.210). In the Romantic era however, chromatic harmony – harmony where notes that do no belong in the key bring out notes that do belong. Also, in the romantic era, composers continued to write out the harmonies instead of using the figured bass method of the Baroque period.

In the introduction of the “Waltz in E Minor”, the dissonant minor second interval that begins each bar helps build intensity to tonic chord at bar 8. Similarly, starting from bar 9, the left hand goes up by semitones and tones while the right hand continues to use minor second intervals to climb to the tonic chord (bar 16). Also, it is important to note that the interval between the grace notes and the notes starting from bar 13 is a major seventh, which is again, a dissonant interval. As well, the first quarter note of each bar moves down chromatically in the left hand from bar 25 and on. At bar 57, the piece modulates to the tonic major, E major, which has four sharps. Frequent and abrupt modulation is also characteristic of romantic music, and for this reason, the “Waltz in E Minor” is a good example of romanticism.

In the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor”, dissonance and chromatic harmony are also used to add colour to the chords. The piece begins with two minor sixth intervals in the right hand and reappears quite frequently (bar 5, 6). The left hand’s use of diminished fifth intervals and minor sixth intervals (bar 15, 27) also makes it typically romantic in style. This dissonance contributes to highly expressive harmony which lingers in the hearts of those listening. From bar 45 to 47 the use of chromatics helps the melodic line to flow, until at last, it reaches home: the tonic chord, C sharp minor. Unlike the safe, straightforward diatonic harmony used in the past, chromatic harmony used in these waltzes and in romantic music gave a sense of wonder and of ambiguity. Chopin used accidentals generously and used chromatic harmony is used to build and relieve tension in these waltzes.

In conclusion, the “Waltz in C Sharp Minor” and “Waltz in E Minor” are both typically romantic pieces. When analyzed, it is evident that they display romantic traits of a greater range of dynamics and increased expressiveness, a catchy melody, and the use of chromatic harmony.

References

Lee, K. (n.d.). Chopin Society. Retrieved May 12, 2004 from http://www.chopinsociety.org/waltz_rf.htm

Machlis, J. (1984). Enjoyment of Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Mui, D. (2004). Interview with Dorinda. Toronto: Wowthephoneisthebest, Inc.

Paterson, J. (2001). Frederic Chopin. Retrieved May 14, 2004 from http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Composers/Frederic-Chopin.htm

Samson, J. ((1985). Music of Chopin. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Smolenska-Zielinska, B. (n.d.). Chopin-Works. Retrieved May 12, 2004 from
http://www.virginiahogan.com/Chopin/Chopin’s_Works.htm