Abstract

Chopin’s Barcarolle can be heard as a compelling narrative. Its intricate ‘story’ might be mapped onto any number of different events in our lives. It could, for example, be related to a conversation, a journey, a dance, or a romance. This paper, instead of pursuing any one of these mappings, will focus on how its coda ties up some of the specifically musical ‘story lines’ of the piece. This analysis is not exhaustive and those interested in more indepth treatments of the Barcarolle could read Rink’s essay in Chopin Studies (Cambridge 1988) or my dissertation ‘Chopin’s Strategic Integration of Rhythm and Pitch: A Schenkerian Perspective’ (Trinity College Dublin, 2003).
The Barcarolle maintains momentum and interest right until the end – beyond the close of the urlinie – due to the intricate ‘story’ created from the interaction of the work’s premises. Chopin seems to think about the structure of the piece in an unusual way
for dramatic reasons. Throughout the Barcarolle it is as if two voices are trying to find a particular relationship with each other. In particular, I will show how pairs of notes imply specific arrival goals (to a specific octave or sixth in a specific register), how
Chopin manipulates our expectation for those arrivals, and how the coda finally finds and celebrates the achievement of those goals. Register – especially the coupling of notes an octave apart – not only differentiates between one octave and another octave, but also integrates the ebb and flow of tension throughout the work. Rather than speak of an ‘obligatory register’ in this piece, perhaps we should speak of ‘obligatory coupling’. These premises work together in forming the structure or dramatic narrative of this work, and can therefore present interpretive questions for the performer. I will conclude with an examination of how the interpretations of selected performances (by Claudio Arrau, Dinu Lipatti, Artur Rubinstein, and Murray Perahia) may be heard as reflecting the ‘story lines’ i describe in cogent and compelling ways.