| |
| author |
Jaclyn Moldawsky
| | title |
Frédéric Chopin's Life and Work: The Scholarly Debate and the Limitations of Nineteenth-Century Nationalism
| | abstract |
The Polish-born Frédéric Chopin is often considered in the history of Western music to
be a national composer. In Chopin's own time, critics such as Robert Schumann found Polish
national qualities in his work. After Chopin's death, biographers and scholars searched for
individual details in his music that they viewed as possessing a sense of authentic Polish folk;
scholars continue to do this today. Nineteenth-century musical nationalism and its effect on
Chopin are explored in the introduction, noting how the label was often applied to music from
countries outside a German universal standard as exemplified by Beethoven. Chapter 1 critically
examines the works of nationally-minded Chopin scholars in order to determine the nature of the
debate surrounding Chopin and Polish nationalism. Chapter 2 then discusses Chopin's life
through his letters and recollections of his contemporaries, with a particular focus on his musical
influences in Warsaw and Paris, as well as his artistic values. Chopin ultimately valued logic and
form in music as exemplified by the counterpoint of Johann Sebastian Bach, holding the Baroque
composer's music as a standard to which he compared his contemporaries. Chapter 3 then
analyzes Chopin's mazurkas in this context, emphasizing structure, form and his unique
chromatic language that transformed the mazurka genre. This thesis ultimately argues that
Chopin's life and work should no longer be analyzed primarily through a Polish nationalist lens,
as its scope is limited and glosses over Chopin's innovations as a composer by attributing them
to Polish national qualities.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2019)
|
| advisor |
Leslie Sprout
|
| committee |
Trevor Weston
Edward Baring
|
| full text | JMoldawsky.pdf |
| |
