12/24/2023 0 Comments Chopin raindrop preludeIt’s also one of the less challenging of the preludes at around a grade 9 level. About halfway through, we hit the “B” section and the left hand switches to a chordal part – and then we return to the beginning. The left hand has this consistent flowing quality with a simple and slower right hand melody which is very lovely. This is one of the longer preludes at around 2:30 minutes long (depending on the performer). Prelude 13Ĭortot’s subtitle: On foreign soil, under a night of stars, thinking of my beloved faraway These guys are Alfred Cortot and Hans von Bulow, and I think their pseudotitles give us some deeper information into the preludes, which is why we’ll be talking about them. The second note is that, though Chopin never gave these preludes titles, and he didn’t endorse them having titles, there are two musicians who gave them working titles anyway. We’ll be listening through 10 of the 12 preludes today. A couple notesĪ couple quick notes before we get going: There are 12 keys on the piano, but since there’s a major/minor version of each key, there’s actually 24 keys in total – hence, 24 preludes. But as a quick refresher, each of the preludes covers each of the keys on piano. We already discussed the backstory of these preludes in the previous video, and I don’t want to be repeat girl. His genius was filled with the mysterious sounds of nature, but transformed into sublime equivalents in musical thought, and not through slavish imitation of the actual external sounds." Sand did not specify which piece Chopin had played on that occasion, but it has been assumed to be the D-flat major prelude.Get Free Chopin Course Chopin Preludes: Backstory He protested with all his might – and he was right to – against the childishness of such aural imitations. He was even angry that I should interpret this in terms of imitative sounds. Heavy drops of icy water fell in a regular rhythm on his breast, and when I made him listen to the sound of the drops of water indeed falling in rhythm on the roof, he denied having heard it. Interpreters of this piece need to be able to sustain the long melodic lines, balance the different levels of sound, and convey the two contrasting moods convincingly.īackgroundIn her memoirs, George Sand related how one evening she and her son Maurice, returning home in a terrible rainstorm, found a distraught Chopin who told them about a dream he had while sitting at the piano: "He saw himself drowned in a lake. The repeating A-flat (written as G-sharp in the middle, ominous section) never stops throughout the piece. The first theme is reintroduced towards the end of the prelude, giving it a peaceful ending. The feeling of uneasiness present in the middle part is made even stronger by the serene calm and beauty of the first 27 measures. Listeners and music historians have likened it to a beautiful dream that turns into an oppressive nightmare. The C-sharp minor section begins rather suddenly in measure 28, and with it the piece changes from something peaceful and serene into something much darker. Within the rather short piece - even if it is the longest of the preludes - Chopin manages to build up two entirely different atmospheres, using the same obsessively repeated note. Sign up to listen & download > A beautiful dreamHere is a miraculous example of Chopin’s amazing virtuosity in translating human emotions to piano music.
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