The Contrapuntal Legacy of the French fin‐de‐siècle: A Look at Dukas’s Piano Sonata in E-flat Minor

John Koslovsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This essay takes a look at Paul Dukas’s Piano Sonata in E*f, a piece exhibiting a rich array of formal and contrapuntal detail. In contrast to other analytical studies of French fin-de-siècle pieces, which focus on the purely chordal aspects of the music, we propose an analysis that emphasizes the contrapuntal dimension. The paper first develops what we call the “Combined Melodic String Hypothesis” (CMSH), and it does so by drawing on the writings of both Théodore Dubois and Heinrich Schenker. It then explores Dukas’s own use of contrapuntal principles in the second and third movements to his sonata, using the CMSH and other Schenkerian-derived techniques. In the end, the paper aims to bridge the gap between the training composers like Dukas received at the Conservatoire and the works he produced as a result of that training.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)129-152
Number of pages23
JournalIntégral
Volume30
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Paul Dukas
  • Piano Sonata in Eb Major
  • Theodore Dubois
  • Heinrich Schenker

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Contrapuntal Legacy of the French fin‐de‐siècle: A Look at Dukas’s Piano Sonata in E-flat Minor'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this