Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 04/25/2006, uploaded on 01/19/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Inspired by the folk songs sung by Venetian gondoliers, the barcarole carries with it the romantic imagery of the Venetian canals and of the city itself evoked by its rolling compound meter. Several composers of the 19^th century, from Rossini to Fauré, composed barcaroles. Foremost among them, however, is a solitary specimen by Frédéric Chopin. Composed late in his life, during 1845-46, it is among his most popular compositions.

Three measures of dominant harmony open the piece followed by two more establishing the gentle rhythmic figure of the bass, as if rocking gently on the waves of the Venetian waterways. Over this flowing accompaniment sounds the piece’s entrancing cantabile melody. Within this melody, one can almost imagine the beautiful architecture of the city as it passes by or of two lovers floating peacefully down the river. Cast in the usual ternary form, in which Chopin showed superb mastery and imagination, the middle section, via a monophonic passage in the bass, shifts to the key of A major. This section becomes more harmonically adventurous, moving suddenly into the key of G-sharp major and F-sharp minor before returning the starting key again—all this, though, for the purpose of affecting a gradual increase in intensity from the episodes quiet beginning.  A quasi-rhapsodic section closes the central portion of the piece leading to an embellished reprise of the opening. From the close of the reprise, the coda launches forth in its own passionate melody. Venturing through distant harmonies, it eventually comes to rest quietly on a figure heard earlier in the piece. Sweeping scales then carry the listener onward to the end and bare dominant and tonic octaves conclude the barcarole.       Joseph DuBose

Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60                   Frédéric Chopin

Made popular in 19^th-century opera, the barcarolle conjures up images of the Venetian gondolier's folk song.  Chopin's Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, perhaps the most well-known barcarolle in the piano literature, is actually three barcarolles strung together.  The first melody is sung warmly over a guitar-like accompaniment in the left hand.  A mysterious transition leads us to a magical second section, complete with pianissimo arpeggios and startling harmonic progressions.  A third barcarolle melody appears in all its Italianate glory before a gossamer-like moment of repose leads to a reprise of the first barcarolle, which in turns leads to a climactic presentation of the third barcarolle.  An extraordinarily beautiful coda reflects on the remarkable landscape Chopin has traversed in this short piece.   Michael Mizrahi

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.