Trasformazioni e multiformità del livello profondo nel Preludio op. 28 n. 6 di Fryderyk Chopin

Chopin’s Prelude No. 6, Op. 28 is organized in two A-A’ segments that articulate a kind of compound period, which is followed by a codetta. It is possible to identify this formal trace by comparing the two cadences at bars 8 and 22.
However, my analytical reading provides the possibility of accepting a further reconsideration of the first cadential point in order to, then, assume the manifestation of two sentential phrases.
This choice aims to enhance the occurrences of both the submediant harmony and the striking shifting to C major of bars 11–14 so as to give them a crucial role that includes the possibility of reformulating the deepest level according to two overlapping configurations.
Therefore, this double hypothesis about the deep level suggests a structural multiformity which does not refer to the traditional tonal syntax as a potential disintegration, but, rather, as its basic permanency.
Besides proposing a phraseological segmentation along the lines of Caplin’s formal functions, this analysis will also make use of an interaction between a Schenkerian approach and neo-Riemannian transformations.
The aim is to illustrate how Chopin’s prelude is characterized by a compositional dynamic that, in addition to strongly adhering to the second practice of the nineteenth century tonalism, also highlights an evident continuity with the classical tradition.

Keywords: Chopin, Prelude No. 6, Schenkerian analysis, neo-riemannian theory, continuous 3.