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Month: July, 2023
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what’s a prelude
as the word suggests – pre, from the
Latin, means before, lūdus, again
from the Latin, means game, play,
spectacle – it is a piece of music that
precedes another more elaborate
segment in a compositional whole
a prelude is therefore likely to be short,
otherwise completely improvisatory,
no technical demands, just something
that comes from the heart
there probably existed preludes before
Bach, but he’s the one who put them
on the map, with, specifically, his
monumental Preludes and Fugues,
though that’s another story, more
about which later, but he did write
some stand-alone preludes, for
a little over a hundred years later,
in 1834, Chopin picked up the
mantle and wrote his own iconic
Opus 28, 24 stand-alone preludes,
one for every major and minor key,
and established thereby the prelude
as a viable musical form
nearly a hundred years later still,
Debussy set up his own homage
to Chopin, in two bursts of inspired
composition, the twelve preludes of
his Book 1 in 1909 to 1910, followed
by his Book 2, again of twelve preludes,
written in 1912 to 1913
these works are now generally played
in complete sets, though they often
pop up individually as short and sweet
encores here and there at the end of
successful recitals
enjoy
R ! chard