Dreams and Intertextuality in Chopin’s A-Minor Prelude

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on a unique relationship that Chopin’s Prelude in A Minor, Op. 28, No. 2 shares with the Lieder of Franz Schubert. Proceeding from the topical analysis of the Prelude, I examine the role of the Parisian salon and the little-known influence of Schubert’s music on Chopin. I then present two songs by Schubert that, I will claim, function as hitherto unnoticed models for his prelude, and demonstrate how Chopin used the “cut and paste” technique to create a representation of a dream. This analytical reading is supported with concepts borrowed from narrativity, performativity, and Romantic interiority.