Improvisatory, compositional and performance issues in Chopin's Berceuse, Op. 57.
Item
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Title
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Improvisatory, compositional and performance issues in Chopin's Berceuse, Op. 57.
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Identifier
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AAI3159273
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identifier
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3159273
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Creator
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Grunstein, Sarah.
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Contributor
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Includes supplementary digital materials | Adviser: Richard Kramer
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music
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Abstract
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The performance of Chopin's music presents a myriad of challenges for the present-day pianist. Among them are issues relevant to the stages and fluidity of Chopin's compositional process, his improvisatory style, the interpretation of his phrase markings, his use of the pedal, and rubato. The questions that confront the pianist are further complicated by the occasional presence of contradictory indications among the sources in Chopin's hand and in the first editions, by the particular nature of certain markings (phrasing and hairpin dynamics), and by features whose very nature defies notation, such as the inherent improvisatory elements of his aesthetic, and rubato.;How then, are we to understand Chopin's score? That is the fundamental question asked by this dissertation. Focusing on the Berceuse, my study will examine the sketch, the autograph, its contemporary sources, and Chopin's corrected copy through to the editions and recordings of the first generation of recording pianists.;My dissertation is based on the premise that the improvisatory element of Chopin's style permeated every aspect of Chopin's creativity, from his notations on the page to his pedagogy and his playing. My investigation traces the connections between the improvisatory nature of the Berceuse and Chopin's inherited tradition of improvisation as taught by principals in the Bach circle, locating the parallels of such improvisatory practices in the field of rhetoric. The study of the sources in Chopin's hand and the first editions reveal the principles of Chopin's style and the hierarchical nature of these principles. My discussion of the editions and performances of the first generation of recording pianists focuses on those aspects inherent in Chopin's music that defy notation: the improvisatory elements, and the nature and use of rubato, all of which come under the umbrella of the ownership of the work in the pianist's hands. A final perspective seeks to address how we relate these findings to Chopin, at once the composer and pianist.;The dissertation includes a CD of Raoul Pugno, Ignaz Friedman, Leopold Godowsky, Alfred Cortot and Ignaz Paderewski.*.;*This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Windows MediaPlayer or RealPlayer.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.M.A.
