Blogtrek

Mercury: Chopin's Posthumous Etude in A-flat Major

This Etude sounds more like a Prelude, as it is a short composition with a simple melodic line. What is interesting about it is its 3 over 2 rhythm. The treble is a fast 3/4 waltz or 6/8 piece. The bass is an ordinary 4-beat rhythm. Chopin has put these two together and they sound fine. It reminds me of the planet Mercury, which does a 3/2 dance around the Sun with its rotational system, so I call this Etude "Mercury". Douglas Hofstadter mentions the prelude in his book Metamagical Themas, as an example of the type of music Chopin composed. I find the piece fascinating with its 3/2 rhythm and have put it in Cakewalk with a bell-like treble and a string bass. The melodic and bass lines are interesting as they resemble sine waves: they go down and then up and then down again in a wave pattern. It is not a very well known etude, as it was published after Chopin's death. Its main idea appears in some form in some of the Preludes of Opus 28. It is an interesting one to play and hear.