ABSTRACT
In The Romantic Generation, closing the last of three chapters on Chopin, Charles Rosen remarks: That is the true paradox of Chopin: he is most original in his use of the most fundamental and traditional technique. Chopin wrote a number of compositions in which modularity plays a significant role. The mazurkas offer an ideal repertoire for examining modularity, since, as dance forms, they are typified by traditional relationships and by frequent repetition. The Nocturne in G Major, Op. 37, no. 2, arguably Chopin's most consequential modular conception. Although the G-Major Nocturne is of medium length, the F-Minor Fantasy, Op. 49 (1841), one of Chopin's most important large-scale works, is also pervaded with modular construction. The Fantasy poses numerous problems, not least because it begins and ends in different keys. Another large-scale piece by Chopin, the F-Minor Ballade, though not so consistently modular as the F-Minor Fantasy.
