The Barcarolle and the Barcarolle: Topic and Genre in Chopin

This chapter discusses how the Barcarolle was one of Chopin's last compositions, and he did not turn to the genre or even the topic again. Later composers produced enormous numbers of piano barcarolles, and insofar as Chopin's music was among the influences on them, they imitated Chopin's treatment of the barcarolle topic more than his concept of the genre. A much closer approach to Chopin's attitude toward the barcarolle topic can be found in the 13 piano barcarolles of Gabriel Fauré. In his barcarolles, Fauré pursued what intrigued him about the barcarolle topic from one work to another over the course of his whole career, just the way Chopin pursued his interest in the nocturne or ballade or mazurka topic.