A DETACHED EXPRESSION: THE FINALE OF CHOPIN’S THIRD SONATA

Scholarly debates about the finale of Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, have centered on its formal structure, yet the movement’s striking expressive dimensions reveal the work’s essential character. Musical topics and the concept of high points prove effective tools for elucidating the work’s expression, while their analysis delineates the work’s expressive structure and addresses the dominant expressive concerns in Chopin’s music. This expressive analytical approach thus contributes to the formal debate by delineating the work’s expressive form. Given the finale’s rondo characteristics, the analysis incorporates concepts from the comic opera tradition that popularized this form, including elements such as the shock tutti and stretta, which provide an appropriate framework for examining the content presented within the finale. This study applies this analytical method to examine the finale’s disputed formal sections and coda while considering evidence from score editions. The findings validate the effectiveness of the analytical tools and concepts employed while filling interpretive gaps in the literature concerning this movement.