DUET POLYPHONY IN THE TEXURE OF PIANO WORKS F. CHOPIN (BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF BARCAROLA, op. 60)

Abstract

Duet polyphony is studied as one of the distinguishing features of the texture of F. Chopin's piano works. Barcarola Fis-dur op. 60 was chosen as the material of the analysis. This piece is often compared to Chopin's nocturnes, but it far exceeds the nocturnes in its scale and level of technical complexity. The figurative and emotional connection of the Barcarola with the nocturnes is reflected in the textural similarity between them, therefore, in its extremely developed texture, you can find expressive manifestations of the signs of duet polyphony. It was found that duet polyphony is characterized by the transformation of one of the accompanying voices into a melodious undertone to the main theme. This leads to the formation of an instrumental duet against the background of harmonic accompaniment. Usually, the undertone appears unexpectedly, picking up the «abandoned» tone, and begins an emancipated development, and sometimes immediately declares itself as a full-fledged textural component. Thanks to duet polyphony, the piano texture is diversified, the leading voice is condensed and given greater expressiveness. Analysis of the duet polyphony textural patterns in F. Chopin's Barcarola showed that the composer uses them to diversify the extremely developed texture of his piano work and applies them in all sections of the musical form, creating a «singing piano» style. The phenomenon of Chopin's texture consists in the excessive melodism of all components of the musical fabric. Voices have a cantabile genesis, and their aggregate forms textured layers, each of which requires a particularly expressive intonation.