Print this page Toggle page colour
Chopin: Prelude No. 15 in Db (Raindrop) (1839, romantic)
Texture:
- Homophonic
- Piano played by 2 hands – 2 part texture
- Very chordal and rich
- Expressive dynamics typical of era
- Large span of dynamics
- Monophonic texture for 2 bars (82-83(
- Ends pianissimo
Harmony:
- Diatonic, in Db major
- Section A: dominant pedal throughout (repeated quaver Ab), chromatic notes to colour harmony, modulation to Ab major (dominant) in section A confirmed with a perfect cadence, change in tonality to Ab minor, change in tonality to Bbm (relative minor of home key), ends in Db (tonic key)
- Section B: repeated Ab used as pivot note to modulate to C# minor
- Coda: tonic to dominant relationship in the final bars
Instrumentation:
- Solo piano
- Limited tessitura (range)
- Careful use of pedalling to sustain notes
- Rubato playing
- Cantabile legato (smooth and like singing)
Rhythm:
- 4/4 time signuature
- No tempo marked but generally played at moderate speed for cantabile legato effect
- Rubato throughout to “steal time”, performer flexible with tempo to be more expressive
- Augmentation in section B
- Slows down towards the end
Melody:
- Acciaccatura in bar 4
- Septuplet in bar 4 (7 semiquavers in the space of 4)
- Melody moves to left hand for section b, and is low in pitch
- Climatic top Bb in Coda, the highest note of the work
Form:
- Ternary form – 3 sections unbalanced in length
- A: 27 bars, B: 47 bars, A3: 6 bars + 8 bar coda
Go back