Example 22: Hints
of a melodious second subject in the Finale
Réti emphasises the fact that Chopin's music, while
exhibiting expressive and romantic qualities, is firmly entrenched in thematic
homogeneity and thematic transformation. These transformations, he adds,
"become architectural forces, and, indeed, engender musical form."
On the results of his efforts, Réti concludes:
Guided by these structural clues, the compositional process
through which the work must have grown becomes strikingly transparent. We can
imagine a musical thought, pregnant both with emotional impulse and with
structural possibilities, revolving in the composer's mind. Visions flash up of
the various configurations and moods which this thought may assume, and thus different sections and movements
take shape.
The results of these two major analyses by Leichtentritt
and Réti show a disagreement with certain of the reservations with regard to
opus 35 that were uncovered in earlier chapters. The relevant criticisms are:
1)
The fact that Chopin was not comfortable in using a
sonata (implied in Schumann's critique in Appendix A);
2)
The fact that the last two movements have no connection
with the first two (Huneker, page 18);
3)
The lack of organic or thematic unity between the four
movements (Hadden, page 19);
