Instrumental Gesture in Chopin’s Étude in A-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1

Abstract

Recent scholarship in music and other fields demonstrates the importance of embodiment for musical cognition and meaning. This paper builds on these insights by examining the role of instrumental gestures—the movements required to perform a piece of music—in music-making. I illustrate the potentials of this focus of study through an analysis of instrumental gesture in Chopin’s Étude in ".fn_flat(A).", op. 25, no. 1. Working from the limited number of movements in this music, the analysis explores the notion that there is a central referential gesture for the Étude, defined through the physical motion of expanding the span of the hand. I show that this expansion becomes a thematic element in the piece, an element that pursues its own logic over the course of the Étude. This gesture unites with harmony and motive in creating the experience of the music for both performer and listener.