Jaren Hinckley

TITLE: Rondo No. 3 in A minor, K. 511

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE: a lovely single-movement piano piece in rondo form. I’ve liked this piece ever since I first heard it in a movie (to be discussed later in this post).  It has a lovely lilting melody with more than a hint of melancholy.  It is in typical rondo form—in this case A-B-A-C-A.  However, as with most pieces in rondo form from the Classical Era, each section can be subdivided down into smaller sections.  Here’s my interpretation of its form:

The first A is subdivided a-b-aˈ with the second “a” (aˈ) featuring more written-in embellishments.  In other words, Mozart didn’t simply use a repeat sign as was common in this era, he wrote it out fully to make it more interesting the second time around.  Here it is.  See if you can hear how the second small “a” is more interesting than the first small “a”:

Rondo first A

The B section features mostly sixteenth notes (by comparison, the A section is mostly eighth notes in 6/8 time) and can be subdivided essentially the same as the A section, but because it is new musical material, we have to use different letters—in this case, c-d-cˈ and the cˈ is quite extended.  Here it is.  Notice how the “d” section sounds very similar to the very first “a” (at least, in that they both use similar ornamentation).

Rondo B

Now we return to “A” again, but this time, we only hear the first little “a” (no b or aˈ) and it, too, features some variations to keep things interesting.  I’m particularly fond of the syncopated moment near the end of this section.

Rondo second A

The C portion of this rondo form features sixteenth-note triplets and can be subdivided as e-e-f-eˈ, again, with the last e section (“e prime”) extended.  Here it is. Notice that the first “e” is repeated exactly note for note.  Mozart did indeed use repeat signs here (to save ink?). See if you can delineate between the e and f sections:

Rondo C

And that brings us back to the final “A” section, which is essentially the same as the first A, but with a lot more elaboration and an extended “coda” section at the end which brings back some of the sixteenth-note triplets from the “C” part.

Rondo final A

HIGHLIGHT: I was planning to say that the first A was the highlight for me due to my initial encounter with this piece through a movie. However, I think I actually would have to revise that. The highlight for me is hearing the final A section AFTER having heard the first A section. The elaborations are so charming and interesting that you really need to hear the whole piece to get the full effect.  So…now that you’ve listened to it in chunks, go online and search for recordings of this piece and listen to it in its entirety. I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.  Incidentally, the movie to which I referred to (above) is “The Changeling,” a haunted house film from 1980 starting George C. Scott.  My family and I watched this film dozens of times in my youth—at countless sleepovers, Halloween parties, etc.  It scared the living daylights out of me. I still get chills thinking of certain parts of the film. I’ve included a YouTube link below of the first fifteen minutes of the film. If you will please skip ahead to the 10:11 mark, you’ll be at just the right moment to hear the portion of the film that features Mozart’s Rondo.  If you watch until the 12:11 mark, you’ll get to hear most of the first A section of the Rondo and you’ll get to see the first indication in the film that something eerie is afoot. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUKE_CGOjnE

TITLE: Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 (“Heroic” or “Drum”)

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE:  I suspect most people have heard this piece before.  It’s fairly popular and has a catchy main melody:

Polonaise Op.53 in A flat major main melody

If you’ve never heard that before, go ahead and do a quick search for a recording on YouTube or Naxos and listen to it before you read on (it’s only 6 ½ minutes long).

Another detail about this piece is the fact that this is a polonaise, which is a type of Polish dance.  Chopin always felt loyalty to his homeland of Poland, even though he spent much of his career in France.  The middle section of this piece sounds somewhat like a military parade of sorts.

HIGHLIGHT: For me, the highlight is the main melody. It’s luxurious, catchy and memorable. It is featured at the beginning and then again at the end in a much grander way. And the third part of the phrase has an almost schmaltzy sentimental sound to it; almost cliché, yet still lovely.  Here’s the part I mean (first the main melody which ends with the schmaltzy part, then the schmaltzy part repeated a few times to get it to stick in your head):

Polonaise Op.53 schmaltzy part

Actually this schmaltzy part also contains something that I think may be unique to me, but perhaps some of you suffer from this too; I call it an “ear bug.” Perhaps you’ve heard the term “ear worm” which refers to a song that gets stuck in your head and you can’t get rid of it. An “ear bug” is different than an “ear worm;” it is when a small part of a melody sounds note-for-note like a small part of a completely different piece.  I notice this all the time. I do not think one composer plagiarized another composer in this case. It’s simply that the Chopin piece reminds me of this other piece every time I hear it—an ear bug! Here’s the song it makes me think of every single time I hear it:

Golden Ticket-1st example

Here’s the same “bug” from later in the song:

Golden Ticket-2nd example

By the way, how have I never noticed before what a bad singer Charlie was?

And here’s the comparison back and forth between Chopin and the first example:

Polonaise Op. 53 – 1st example of ear bug

And the comparison between Chopin and the second example:

Polonaise Op. 53 – 2nd example of ear bug

The existence of this ear bug doesn’t ruin the piece for me at all.  It’s just an amusing observation that makes me smile every time I hear it.

Do any of you have any ear bugs that afflict you?  If so, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about them.  Perhaps I’ll feature them in a future blog post.

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY CHOPIN?: Over 70 more opus numbers.  But I’ll do it!