Richibi’s Weblog

       “Prelude“ (1909) 

               Willard Metcalf

                         _________

what’s a prelude

something that, by definition, 

precedes something else

which it had been, formally, 

before Chopin made it stand 

alone as a musical form, 

much, incidentally, as he 

later did the scherzo 

a prelude, earlier, had preceded

several other dance pieces in

suites, Bach’s Cello Suites, for 

example, all start with a

prelude

or fronted fugues, in, again,

notably, Bach’s celebrated 

Preludes and Fugues sets, 

more of which, for their 

complexity, later

here’s Chopin, however, with 

his array of 24, his Opus 28, 

one for each key, incidentally, 

much in the manner of Bach’s 

template pieces, the Preludes

and Fugues

here’s Debussy’s Book 1, 

picking it up for the 20th 

Century, with his tonally

indiscriminate 12 

what’s the difference

you tell me

R ! chard

psst: apples and oranges, I think,

          depends on my mood that 

          particular night, whether

          meditative or melancholy