Preludes (Chopin): Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Partial 1st page, Chopin Prelude 15.png|thumb|800px|left|'''The first line of Autograph of Chopin's Prelude 15''' ]] |
[[Image:Partial 1st page, Chopin Prelude 15.png|thumb|800px|left|'''The first line of Autograph of Chopin's Prelude 15''' ]] |
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The Preludes were published in 1839. They caused, at that time, no small measure of consternation in the music world due to their apparent lack of formal structure and their brevity -- no prelude is longer than 89 measures and the shortest a mere 16 measures. [[Robert Schumann]] said of them: "They are sketches, beginnings of etudes, or, so to speak, ruins, individual eagle pinions, all disorder and wild confusions." [[Franz |
The Preludes were published in 1839. They caused, at that time, no small measure of consternation in the music world due to their apparent lack of formal structure and their brevity -- no prelude is longer than 89 measures and the shortest a mere 16 measures. [[Robert Schumann]] said of them: "They are sketches, beginnings of etudes, or, so to speak, ruins, individual eagle pinions, all disorder and wild confusions." [[Franz Liszt]] was less direct: "Chopin's Preludes are compositions of an order entirely apart." |
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Since that time, the Preludes have become standard fare for the pianist: nearly every major pianist has recorded his or her version of the works, beginning with [[Alfred Cortot]]'s recording in 1926. The simplest of them can be played by the intermediate student, while the most difficult require a piano virtuoso. |
Since that time, the Preludes have become standard fare for the pianist: nearly every major pianist has recorded his or her version of the works, beginning with [[Alfred Cortot]]'s recording in 1926. The simplest of them can be played by the intermediate student, while the most difficult require a piano virtuoso. |
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Revision as of 23:11, 1 May 2006
Frédéric Chopin's Preludes Op. 28 are a series of 24 short pieces written for the piano, one in each key. Although the term prelude generally means an introductory piece, Chopin's Preludes stand alone: they have no association with any other piece, nor is there any association between the Preludes.
Chopin's Preludes have been compared to Johann Sebastian Bach's Preludes in the Well-Tempered Clavier. However, each of Bach's preludes had led to a fugue in the same key and Bach's pieces were arranged chromatically while Chopin's were arranged in a circle of fifths.
Chopin's Preludes were partially written at Majorca in the winter of 1838/1839, where the composer had fled with George Sand and her children to escape the damp Paris weather.
The Preludes were published in 1839. They caused, at that time, no small measure of consternation in the music world due to their apparent lack of formal structure and their brevity -- no prelude is longer than 89 measures and the shortest a mere 16 measures. Robert Schumann said of them: "They are sketches, beginnings of etudes, or, so to speak, ruins, individual eagle pinions, all disorder and wild confusions." Franz Liszt was less direct: "Chopin's Preludes are compositions of an order entirely apart."
Since that time, the Preludes have become standard fare for the pianist: nearly every major pianist has recorded his or her version of the works, beginning with Alfred Cortot's recording in 1926. The simplest of them can be played by the intermediate student, while the most difficult require a piano virtuoso.
Like Chopin's other works, the Preludes were not named or further described, in contrast to many of Schumann's and Lizst's pieces. However, several lists of names have been proposed by Cortot and others, some quite fanciful.
Based in large part on a passage in George Sand's book Un Hiver à Majorque ("A Winter in Mallorca"), published in 1855, Prelude 15 is known as the Raindrop Prelude.
Preludes 4 and 6 were played at Chopin's funeral, along with his Funeral March (the third movement of his Piano Sonata No. 2).
External links
See also
