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FROM PEDANTRY TO MASTERWORK
A Note on Chopin's Étude in C major, Op 10, No 1
It's amazing how much can be 'said' in just a few measures of music. To quote the obvious example, recall the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony -- Anton Schindler's 'fate knocking at the door'. In a mere five measures, Beethoven sets the tone of the symphony and provides us with the rhythmic and melodic material from which the entire movement is forged. Admittedly, motivic economy is a hallmark of Beethoven's style, so it is no wonder that such examples exist in his body of work, but the point still stands that even a single measure of music can tell us a lot about any composer's craft and the music that follows from it...
Copyright © 14 January 2013
Andrew Schartmann, Connecticut, USA
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