James Sobaskie

Le sous-texte ironique de La bonne chanson de Gabriel Fauré

Abstract:
This article, originally read at a music conference held at the Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, proposes that Gabriel Fauré's greatest song cycle bears an ironic subtext which is realized by a singer who assumes the rôle of a character who deceives himself regarding his beloved. Through artful re-ordering of Paul Verlaine's poems, which were drawn from the poet's like-titled collection, and skillful investment of the songs' musical fabrics with subtle nuances, Fauré depicts an infatuated individual who becomes more and more removed from reality, yet seems to begin to recognize his self-delusion in the ninth and last mélodie.

Citation:
Sobaskie, J.W. (2012). Le sous-texte ironique de La bonne chanson de Gabriel Fauré. In Pascal Terrien (ed.), Musique Française: esthétique et identité en mutation 1892–1992. Sampzon: Editions Delatour France.

Critical Edition of Gabriel Fauré's Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle (1923) and Quatuor a cordes (1924)

Abstract:
The first critical edition of the last two compositions of Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) since their original publication in 1923 and 1925, this volume proceeds from research on numerous original sources located in France, Sweden, and America. In its presentation of Fauré's string quartet, which was left incomplete at the composer's death, this critical edition features a new interpretation of the Quatuor's dynamics and articulation based on evidence in its first sixty bars, which were fully-scored by the composer, and on principles observed in Fauré's immediately-preceding Trio. More information is available at: https://www.baerenreiter.com/html/Faure/en/index.htm

Citation:
Sobaskie, J. W. (2010). Œuvres Complètes de Gabriel Fauré, Musique du Chambre, Vol 3: Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle, Quatuor a cordes, BA 9464. Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag.

Schubert’s Self-Elegies

Abstract:
Schubert’s Self-Elegies examines two poignant utterances among the composer’s late works for piano, the Impromptu in G flat major (D. 899; 1827) and the Andante sostenuto from his last piano sonata in B flat major (D. 960; 1828). Applying the Schoenbergian concept of "musical problem" within the framework of the Schenkerian approach to music, this essay portrays these pieces as musical equivalents of the self-elegy, a literary sub-genre that began to emerge during Franz Schubert’s lifetime, proposing that they represent the very first of their kind in the tonal domain. It also advances the thought that for Schubert, the art of music represented a kind of refuge for his imagination as he faced what he regarded as his certain fate, a safe haven that enabled him to develop some of his greatest and most innovative works during his last years.

Citation:
Sobaskie, J.W. (2008). Schubert's Self-Elegies. Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 5(2; special Schubert issue, Schubert Familiar and Unfamiliar: New Perspectives, J. Sobaskie and S. Youens, eds.), 71–105.

Precursive prolongation in the Préludes of Chopin

Abstract:
The poetic allusiveness of Chopin’s Préludes, Op. 28 (1839), intrigues and inspires—yet remains remarkably elusive. However, the concept of "precursive prolongation", founded on the Schenkerian notions of prolongation, diminution and structural levels, offers insight. Precursive prolongations, which include anticipations, appoggiaturas, secondary dominants and initial ascents, as well as elaborated versions of these plus those structures Heinrich Schenker called "auxiliary cadences", all are distinguished by the trait of prospective dependency. Expectations elicited by these tonal structures correspond to many of the allusive qualities we perceive in Chopin’s Préludes. Extended analyses of Chopin's Préludes, Op. 28, in C major, A major, B major, A-flat major, F minor, and E minor offer evidence, and musical excerpts (accompanied by aural examples) plus analytical sketches, provide illustration.

Citation:
Sobaskie, J.W. (2007-2008). Precursive prolongation in the Préludes of Chopin. Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, 3 (25–61). Retrieved from http://www.music.ucc.ie/JSMI/index.php/jsmi/issue/view/5

A balance struck: Gesture, form, and drama in Schubert's E flat Major Piano Trio

Abstract:
This essay argues that the themes of Franz Schubert's E flat Major Piano Trio, Op. 100, share two simple melodic melodic gestures responsible for a balanced binding force within the work's four movements, whose individual formal designs exploit tension between formal design and tonal structure to produce their own form of balance. It also reveals that all of these features support a comprehensive dramatic plan that unfolds over the course of the nearly hour-long work. It concludes that gesture, form, and drama combine to produce a balance between ontogeny and teleology that enables Schubert's Trio to represent a worthy response to the artistic challenge of Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as a most welcome legacy to us.

Citation:
Sobaskie, J.W. (2007). A balance struck: Gesture, form, and drama in Schubert's E flat Major Piano Trio. In Xavier Hascher (ed.), Le style instrumental de Schubert: sources, analyse, contexte, évolution (115–146). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne.