THE ANATOMY OF REVOLUTION:

OVERTHROWING CONVENTIONAL PHRASE RHYTHM

Charles Wofford
MUSC 5061: Advanced Tonal Analysis
Professor Keith Waters
April 28th, 2016
 Introduction

In his brilliant 1989 book ​Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music​, William Rothstein claims that,

“The later works of Chopin–those composed after 1840–are known for their often dense

chromaticism...During the decade of the 1840’s both [Chopin and Wagner] were moving toward

an increasingly seamless style of melodic writing.”1 A little later, he claims, “In its more

advanced stages, especially in some of [Chopin’s] later works, there seems to be an attempt to

transcend phrase boundaries altogether.”2 The relevant point is that Rothstein is reluctant to

assign pre-1840 Chopin pieces the quality of phrasing that he would assign to later pieces. This

paper aims to assure Rothstein that such reluctance is unwarranted: advanced, “transcendent”

quality of phrasing (including “endless melody”) can be found in Chopin’s earlier etudes, namely

Op. 10 No. 12, subtitled ​Revolutionary​. Phrase rhythm is intimately tied with notions of melody,

harmony and form, so those topics will be discussed as they are relevant.

What does Rothstein mean when he writes that Chopin, “attempt[s] to transcend phrase

boundaries altogether?” As I see it there are two interpretations: (1) An analytical interpretation,

where ​Chopin the Innovator ​is consciously attempting to dissolve recognized phrase structures

and yet retain musically meaningful phrases, or (2) A romantic interpretation, where ​Chopin the

Artist​ is “transcending” analytical notions of phrase and composing from some place of pure

musical thought. Though this paper emphasizes the analytical, the romantic interpretation should

not be dismissed, and I will return to it toward the end.

Rather than attempt an exhaustive analysis of Op. 10 No. 12, I will focus on particular

characteristics that are salient to my thesis. Nevertheless, we will encounter harmonic, formal,

1
William Rothstein, ​Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music​ (New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1989), 233.

2
​Ibid. ​233
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phrase, melodic, contrapuntal, and speculative analysis and content. For aesthetic purposes, I

have relegated all musical examples to an appendix, rather than dispersing them throughout the

text.

A Call to Arms

In November 1831, an uprising of Polish nationalists was brutally suppressed by the

Russian Empire. A possibly apocryphal tale relates how Chopin realized his resultant grief in this

impassioned etude, threshing it out in less than a day. The turmoil in Chopin’s heart may be

reflected in the ambiguous phrasing and harmonies we shall now uncover.

The piece opens with an eight measure ​introduction​ phrased as a ​sentence​ (2:2:4). After

striking a G​7​ in first inversion on the first beat of m. 1, Chopin flies down a C harmonic minor

scale outlining the tones of the previous chord. The scale resolves to tonic on the 3rd beat of m.

2. In the right hand on the following beat we see a iv 4​​ 3​ chord serving as an harmonic anacrusis to

return to V. Measures 3-4 are essentially identical to mm 1-2. Measures 5-8 mark the

continuation​ of the sentence, but Chopin blurs the phrase by purposely misaligning the beat and

the scale articulation. The scale is patterned as four descending notes before an ascending one,

but the pattern begins on the third 16th note of beat 1 of m. 5 (see example #1), marked

crescendo​, instead of having the four descending notes align with the four 16th notes in the beat.

A harmonic reduction would label this entire introduction as dominant 7th of tonic in second

inversion. However, combined with the ​crescendo​ marking, the continuation sounds like a series

of asymmetrical waves rather than the logical, melodic follow-up to mm. 1-4. This introduction

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alone may demonstrate how Chopin’s rhythmic ideas can “transcend” phrase rhythm even as

early as 1831.

Measure 9 marks the beginning of the ​A section​. The larger form is of a ​parallel period​,

with the F#°​7 ​at m. 14 acting as a half cadence in the key of G, separating the antecedent and

consequent. The consequent echoes the rhythmic phrasing of the antecedent with the anacrusis

motive, (justifying the “parallelism”), before a descending chromatic scale leads us to scale

degree 2, allowing for a return to tonic at m. 19. Though the half-cadence suggests a dominant

harmony, I hesitate to call it a modulating period, because the larger phrase returns to the tonic

key (mm. 18-19). The half cadence merely tonicizes G. This tonicization emphasizes the

midpoint of both the sentence and the period with a chromatic harmony in a thus far almost

purely diatonic piece.

The motives that make up the phrase structures in mm. 9-15 are highly unorthodox. The

primary accompaniment figure is a striking phrase-rhythmical structure I call the ​retrograde

sentence​. Whereas a sentence has a 1:1:2 structure, a retrograde sentence has a 2:1:1 structure.

Measure 9 contains one full melodic “arc,” while m. 10 contains two, yielding a 2:1:1 pattern

outlining a tonic harmony vamp (see example #2). The harmonies in the right hand are

interpreted on their own at this point, as separate movement from the tonic vamp. The phrasing

here between the right and left hands is remarkable. While the left hand is playing two measure

retrograde sentences (1: ½: ½ in measures), the right hand is playing prograde (i.e. normal)

sentences (2:2:4 in measures). An anacrusis leads into the first portion of the sentence at m. 11,

and the pattern repeats going into m. 12–but here something else remarkable happens. A Cm​6​4

leads into the Ab​6​ on the first beat of m. 12. However, the new chord is simply revealed to be an

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upper neighbor, as the Abs resolve to G on beat 2. However (again), when we ​ ​were moving from

m. 10 to m. 11, the ​downbeat​ of m. 11 was the resolution of that particular motive, so when we

hear that rhythmical pattern repeated, we expect the Ab major chord on the ​downbeat​ of m. 12 to

be the resolution of ​that​ particular motive. The immediate sonic effect is​ ​one of a deceptive

cadence, not of an upper neighbor. Given that second inversion triads traditionally function as

dominant suspensions, there is theoretical justification for seeing this as a deceptive cadence,

with the 6​​ 4​ resolution elided. Other composers have used similar phrase structures as well, e.g

Wagner and Brahms interpreting a dominant 7th chord as a Gr​+6 ​chord, then eliding the dominant

of the new key and going directly to tonic. If we choose to call the chord C minor going to Ab

major, then it is a relationship by thirds, a common Romantic-era harmonic movement. Rothstein

describes an almost identical scene taking place in Chopin’s Op. 10 No. 3. “This analysis

strongly suggests that Chopin has taken advantage of the identity sound between 6​​ 4​-as-dominant

and 6​​ 4​-as-tonic...sealing the harmonic reinterpretation with a phrase overlap, the resolution of the

cadential 6​​ 4​ to the simply V or V​7​ is elided completely; the concluding sequence represents an

expanded final tonic.3”

We can conclude, before even reaching the middle sections that contain much more

harmonic drama, that Chopin has, (a) briefly expanded the motive, (b) contrasted a retrograde

and prograde sentence, and (c) committed to a simple but deviously ambiguous harmonic

movement.

3
William Rothstein, ​Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music​, 225.
4
 Harmony and Revolution

The harmonies of mm. 15-18 deserve a close inspection. The F#°​4​3​ chord in m. 14 leads

to G​6​, followed by Gb​6​, going to F​6​, Fm​6​. Roman numeral analysis in the key of C minor yields

V​6​, v​°6​, IV​6​, iv​6​, I​6​4​, i​6​4​, V​7​. Beginning at m. 14, we can trace the bass note from C down through

B, Bb, A, Ab, and finally G in m. 17: a chromatic descent from tonic to dominant. Coincident

(though syncopated) to that is a descending chromatic line in the top voice of the right hand,

starting in m. 13 on A. Through a leaping melodic figure Chopin descends the voice through G

in m. 15 to F, E, Eb and finally D in m. 18. The chromatically descending parallel 6ths outline

the roots of the chords on top with the thirds of each chord in the bass.

As the bassline descends, Chopin has the option of lowering other chord tones as well. In

m. 15 for example he flats both the third and fifth of G​6​ to render G°​6​. He does not though

change the F​6​ to F°​6​ ​in the following measure, opting instead to drop only the third, yielding the

F minor. Imagine Chopin had chosen the opposite direction: G in m. 15 goes to G minor, which

then descends to F, which then goes to F°​6​. F°​6​ can be respelled from F, Ab, Cb, to F, G#, B, and

chromatically raising the F to F#, outlining a G#m​4​2​ (minus the 5th, but the D# is enharmonic to

the Eb which is written in the right hand at mm. 17-18). That can easily be chromatically altered

to be G#​4​2​, respelled as Ab​4​2​, the dominant of the Neapolitan chord in C minor, leading to a more

conventional V-i cadence. This would yield the following progression in Roman numerals,

starting in m. 14: V​6​, v​6​, IV​6​, iv°​6​, ii​4​2​/#iv, V​4​2​/N​6​.

It is easy to see why Chopin chose the progression he did rather than the bizarre and

tonally confused Frankenstein progression just outlined. However, before I reveal the purpose of

this thought experiment, it must be reemphasized that these chord progressions are based on a

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simple contrapuntal figure of chromatically descending parallel 6ths. The point is this: Rothstein

emphasises Chopin’s increased reliance on counterpoint after 1840 to help overlap and expand

his phrasing.4 But in this ​Revolutionary​ etude, composed in 1831, Chopin ​could​ have gone

further than he ever did by cracking the mold of tonality even earlier than Wagner’s famous

Tristan​ chord (1865). Obviously, this would have had profound implications for the entire

musical culture, and phrase rhythm–a musical feature highly interdependent with harmony–

would have been drawn into the maelstrom. Even more ​ ​impressive is the appeal to an older,

established compositional technique (counterpoint) that by most accounts reached its zenith in

the late Baroque era. It may be argued that Chopin, like all people, was of his time, and the

reason he did not choose a more revolutionary progression is simply that he did not compose in a

more revolutionary milieu. That may even be trivially true. To return to the thesis of this paper

though: Chopin’s ​Revolutionary​ etude illustrates advanced or “transcendent” phrase rhythm

occurring prior to 1840.

The ​A section​ closes with a dramatic example of phrase overlap. The descending chordal

melody goes from m. 14 to m. 18, but at the beginning of m. 17 the left hand begins a

two-measure cadential phrase that concludes at the downbeat of m. 19. The last part of this

phrase outlines a G​7​ chord. A similar pattern can be found in mm. 27-28. In terms of large scale

phrasing, mm. 19-28 can be considered a varied repetition of m. 9-18. One notable difference is

that the phrase overlap at the end of the second set is only one measure long. A glance at the

right hand reveals why: Chopin is building up the climax of the continuation section and wants

the melody to seamlessly flow into the following sequence at m. 29. Another difference is in

4
William Rothstein, ​Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music​, 234.
6
Chopin’s handling of counterpoint: the chromatic 6ths in mm. 15-16 were descending to the

repeat of the ​A section​ at m. 19, while they ascend toward a climactic sequence at m. 29.

Storming the Castle

Measures 29-40 comprise the ​climactic​ section of Op. 10 No. 12, divided into two

sections. Beginning with a G# minor chord, it sequences through D# minor, F# minor, C# minor,

G#​6​5​, Bb​6​5​ and C​6​5​, ending at m. 37. The second section, mm. 37-40, contains the peak of the

piece, before we return to the introduction at m. 41.

Notice the dual character of mm 37-40. As the climax of the piece, Chopin draws special

attention to them, however he also blurs the boundaries of the climax with other sections. The

transition from m. 40 to m. 41 is completely seamless. The left hand continues the 16th note

scales it has been maintaining the entire piece, but now in long melodic arcs that are displaced

with the barline. The first melodic arc fits neatly into mm. 35-36, but the second takes up 1 ½

measures, and the third takes up 1 ¾ measures. Chopin adds melodic “tails” to make up for the

remainders of mm. 38 and 40, before effortlessly (it seems) returning to the introduction. This is

as clear an example as anything else in the ​Revolutionary​ etude of Chopin “transcending”

phrasing.

In the introduction, I suggested two ways of understanding the notion of “transcending”

phrase rhythm, one analytical and the other romantic. I think the striking overlap of phrase

rhythm in Op. 10 No. 12 shows that ​Chopin the Innovator​ is in command, intentionally pushing

phrase structure to its limits. However, the romantic interpretation is valuable, and given the

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romantic emphasis on individual expression, I will attempt to explore it largely through my own

experience as a musician.

Lessons of Revolution

Theoretical distinctions are often drawn between technical ability and expressive skill.

While such distinctions provide us room to interpret, praise and/or criticize various musicians, I

have found that technique ​is​ expressive ability. In the experience of studying and practicing an

instrument, being able to think only in theoretical terms and play/compose in narrow, linear

ways, no matter how cleanly it may be done, is poor technique. A dynamic player who plays

more sloppily is not necessarily less technically endowed than a precise, undynamic player. The

point of this is simply to show that the distinction between ​Chopin the Innovator​ and ​Chopin the

Artist​ is mostly one of convenience. If technique can be considered part of artistic sensibility,

then artistic ability and capacity to “not think” about analytical issues while making such

advanced music is ​itself​ a technique.

Aesthetician Susanne Langer argued that the forms of music are analogous to the forms

of our conscious, emotive experience.5 If this is true, then the dramatic conflict of phrase

structure and ambiguity of harmony may be analogous to the conflicts of life in Chopin’s world:

the hope and disappointment of the revolution and his own ill health. All this is not to say that

Chopin ​intentionally​ expressed these things this way, or that direct lines can be drawn between a

particular thought or emotion and a particular music movement. Only that the immediate,

5
Susanne Langer, ​Philosophy in a New Key​ (United States: Harvard University Press, 1942)
8
emotive life was central to the romantic ideology. And Chopin, as an arch-romantic composer,

lived​ his music as much as he wrote it or thought about it.

Considering this piece was written in 1831, 9 years before what Rothstein calls Chopin’s

“late period,” it contains a number of striking features. Chopin (a) contrasts common phrase

structures with retrograde versions of themselves (b) expands inner parts of phrases via devious

harmonic language and (c) creates seamless transitions between sections through a furious left

hand technique that plays an almost literally ​endless melody​. Perhaps most importantly, Chopin

accomplishes all of this through the ​unorthodox use of orthodox technique​–sentence structures,

counterpoint, etc. Thus, we can conclude that Chopin has literally transcended the phrase rhythm

in his 1831 ​Revolutionary​ etude.

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 Appendix

Example #1. Four note scalar descent with metrical displacement (marked).

Example #2. Chopin’s ​retrograde sentence​ in the left hand.

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 Bibliography

Chopin, Frédéric. ​Etude Opus 10. No 12, “Revolutionary”​. Dowloaded from free-scores.com on

April 24, 2015. http://www.free-scores.com/download-sheet-music.php?pdf=1494

Langer, Susanne. ​Philosophy in A New Key​. United States: Harvard University Press, 1942

Rothstein, William. ​Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music​. New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1989

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