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Essay Chopin Sonata NO. 3

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MUS 404: Keyboard Literature
June 22, 2010
Piano Sonata No. 3 in b minor, Op. 58 by Frédéric Chopin
Chopin’s third sonata is a masterwork filled with pianistic elements, daring harmonies, experimental form, and a wealth of expressivity. In this four-movement work, references to other Chopin compositions and influences from fellow composers are found. At the same time, there is a progressive element; it looks forward to the heights which would be achieved by Chopin and later composers.
Background
Chopin wrote the Sonata, Op. 58 in 1844, several months after the Berceuse, Op. 57. The Berceuse provides inspiration for the slow movement (Samson, Chopin 23). These works were written at a time when Chopin’s relationship with George Sand was …show more content…

It was an uninspired composition, a failure, and largely forgotten (Huneker 166).
Movement 1: Allegro maestoso
The first movement of the third sonata is the most experimental, the one which deviates most from Classical form and harmonies. The exposition, in particular, is more like a fantasy than a sonata. The sonata opens quite promisingly. A descending broken chord followed by ascending march-like chords creates the primary theme (mm. 1 – 4). As soon as this theme is established, it is lost by a transition. The transition (mm. 12 – 16) is derived from the opening theme. Traditionally, the transition should segue way into the second theme. However, this transition leads to another idea, which is characterized by majestic chords (mm. 17 – 18). This melodic idea is equally promising; it has the potential to serve as the primary theme which had been cut short. Unfortunately, it only holds for two measures before it is swept away by a descending chromatic scale in sixths.
The listener would perceive the slow-moving idea (mm. 23 – 29) which follows as the second theme, if it were not for its fleeting mysteriousness. It provides a contrast to the majestic themes which opened the movement. The harmonic ambiguities, created by the chromaticism, are very progressive for the Romantic era. This chromatic section is only the beginning of a lengthy transition (mm. 23 – 40), composed of at least

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