Art Blogging Contest

Please vote for Musical Perceptions in the Art Blogging Match of Doom

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

"Mazurka" Op17 no2 by Chopin

"Mazurka" is a great piece. The minorness of the piece paired with the intricate rhythms create a picturesque feeling of Lenten wander and excited flurry for the coming future. It is a parallel period with the first phrase ending with a half cadence after 12 measures and the second symmetrical phrase ending on a PAC. This first section is an expository section presenting the theme for the entire piece. The next section is divided into two 8 measure symmetrical phrases. It makes another parallel period with the first phrase ending on an IAC and the second ending on a PAC of a new key. This section is also expository with new material. The following 12 materials consist of repetitious transitional material that eventually brings us back to our original key of e minor and the first theme. After the first 10 measures of this original expository material, it changes and instead of creating another parallel period, it seems to begin terminative functions to finish the piece. This piece uses rhythm and dynamics within structural phenomena to its advantage. The tempo fluctuates frequently while the many sixteenth rests add spunk and the fzs really draw out the beginning of new melodic material. Many rhythmic motives are repeated and the triplet and eighth functions seem to be written to correlate with what we're studying in sight-reading rhythms during theory.

No comments: