I have been practicing this beautiful piece and found it difficult, although only two pages, to memorize. I think partly because there is so much material condensed into those two pages, but also he repeats phrases and harmonies three or four times but with slight alterations, so you have to really focus on which repetition you are on. I was also curious why the Db Major section had such a different feeling-outside of the obvious of being in a Major key as opposed to minor.

I broke the piece down into three parts: the Bass and Soprano lines, a harmonic reduction, and what I see as the "real" melodic lines.

Below is a reduction of only the Soprano and Bass voices. In the c# minor section, the forward motion is created by the phrase starting on "2", or quarter note, half note etc.

The Db section has a different feeling of momentum, here Chopin reverses the melodic pulse to begin on "1", or half note, quarter note ect. And if you look at mm48, just before the c# minor returns, he reverts back to the phrases starting on "2"


[img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?ymfbx5f7i8tdmuk[/img] [img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?p5apqcc33logz6e[/img] Mazurks OP.63

For the harmonic reduction, I reduced the harmonies to four voices and placed some voices, at times, to other locations for what I felt was the core "disposition" of the harmony [img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?bm04hkwi244cibr[/img] [img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?obxmirh1jjlnbsl[/img] [img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?bjrsky57v7ksbws[/img]

For the melody, I noticed that it was one succession after another of 3 seconds, and the note of resolution was usually the 3rd note of the three note motive. I wrote out the melody "in order", over the left hand part Also, how do I insert the images into the post instead of links? [img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?dchcsh820mjj7th[/img] [img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?4q55ugw3ounpiv8[/img] [img:left]http://www.mediafire.com/i/?fnmz2ecv273gulq[/img]

Seems like a wonderful effort on a great little piece that certainly deserves such analysis.
But, I'm not gonna look at it because I'm working on the piece (will be playing it at the amateur Chopin competition if I'm accepted) and I try to avoid being exposed to people's ideas about a piece (except my teachers'!) when I'm working on it.

Are you doing the entire Op.63 set? The Mazurkas never cease to amaze; especially the later ones, there is so much harmonic and dissonant exploration. The Op.63 #2 has this constant use of C against Db

No, just this one, along with a mazurka from another opus. But I do love all the Op. 63's.

Whew! My ink cartridge lasted *just long enough* to print the op. 63 from imslp... Antony's recommendation convinced me to risk the last ink drop on the whole set, rather than just #3. Now to read through them.

I like this kind of stuff. Sometimes as you mention, it helps solve a problem in learning or performing it. I did some breakdown of the toccata I am working on, because it's not so hard to remember what it sounds like, but for some reason my fingers lose their way when playing it in lessons, or when I sit down to practice and start out too fast for the first play-through of the day. Thought it couldn't hurt to know what progressions are happening "underneath" the figures. It hasn't made my fingers goof-proof but at least able to pick up quickly after a flub, "you were heading to the F-sharp minor when that happened" or "just going from A to B here" instead of coming to an awkward stop while I switch out of automatic and try to find where I was in the score... It makes you think about what you are playing. Of course you ultimately can't be thinking like that while playing (unless my brain is just too slow and everybody else *does* think like that while playing)-- but it must be a good foundation for learning a piece.