Chopin's Preludes: History, Video, Content, Interesting Facts

Chopin's Preludes

Many predecessors and contemporaries of the composer wrote preludes, but all these works are difficult to compare with the works of F. Chopin. The preludes of the great Polish maestro are a completely new genre, which no one has ever heard of before. Each of his miniatures is a real romantic poem telling its own original story. That is why these Chopin plays are often compared with pearls, because they, like these exquisite creations of nature, are also unique and unique in their beauty and form.

History of creation

In the creative heritage of Chopin - 26 preludes, 24 of which are combined into a single opus №28. Traditionally it is believed that Chopin created his cycle in the image and likeness of the famous Bach HTK - he was very fond of the volumes of this German genius and knew them by heart. Chopin's preludes are also written in all 24 keys, only arranged not in a chromatic sequence, but in accordance with the circle of quinte.

It is very difficult to establish the chronology of the creation of these plays, since the work on them was constantly suspended due to events in Chopin's personal life. For a long time the composer could not return to writing music after parting with Maria Vodzinska in 1837, and later writing was difficult because of the aggravated illness.

Many sources claim that 24 preludes op.28 were written between 1836 and 1839, but not all historians disagree. Some biographical publications have information that the two preludes of this opus were created much earlier - in 1831 in Vienna, when Chopin received the tragic news of the defeat of the Polish uprising. His emotions from the fact that his native country was stained with blood, he then expressed in three works - the preludes a-moll, d-moll and the famous "Revolutionary Etude".

The prelude cis-moll op.45, dedicated to the 15-year-old Princess Elizabeth Alexandrovna Chernysheva, was composed and published in 1841. In the music literature it can be found in op.28 under the number 25.

Prelude As-dur was written in 1834. Researchers of Chopin learned about the existence of this work only in 1918, when they accidentally discovered a manuscript. In the same year the play was published. This prelude is dedicated to P. Wolf and is now also frequently published in opus 28 as number 26.

Interesting Facts

• Despite the fact that all the preludes of the 28th opus are independent, some musicologists believe that this entire collection is one indivisible work consisting of 24 parts in different keys. They explain this vision of the Chopin cycle by the fact that all plays have a motivic relationship, and between some transitions are present. However, this view is wrong. If the composer thought of them as a single whole, he would have performed them like that at concerts. But Chopin never played on stage all the preludes in a row - he never played more than four in one evening.
• In the creative heritage of the Polish composer there is another prelude, which is often considered number 27 in the 28th opus. Only it was partly written by Chopin - the researchers found an incomplete fragment in the es-moll tonality, and the professor of the history of music at the University of Pennsylvania Jeffie Callberg decided to recreate Chopin's composition on its basis. He also owns the name of the play - “The Devil's Trill”, which was given to them because of its intonation similarity with the famous violin sonata Giuseppe Tartini. For the first time this prelude was performed in 2002 at the Newport Music Festival in Newport, Rhode Island by pianist Alain Jacon.
• Prelude number 17 was one of the favorite works of Clara Schumann.
• Chopin absolutely could not stand loneliness, and in order to smooth it somehow, he always sat down to play at the piano. One of such cases is described in J. Sand. Then the writer together with the children went to Palma to buy groceries, while Chopin remained at home alone. On the way home, Sand and the children fell into the rain, and therefore lingered a lot. When they went home, Frederic cried and played the piano one of his preludes. Then he told me that he felt their sensations — as if he was dozing off over the instrument, and it seemed to him that he was drowning in a lake. Researchers assume that on that terrible evening for the composer he played either the prelude of Des-dur or h-moll.
• Preludes number 4 and number 6 were performed at the funeral of the composer.
• Prelude number 15 op. 28 was used by Microsoft in a computer game advertising company. It sounds in the video of the game Halo 3: Believe, which was published on September 12, 2007. According to the American magazine Adweek, this video was among the advertising companies of the decade.

• Every year, starting in 1999, a competition-festival of Polish music is held in it. Frederic Chopin and he wears the name "Prelude".
• Preludes of the 28th opus are devoted at once to two contemporaries of the composer - K. Pleyel and J. Kessler. True, these initiations appear on various publications. The French is addressed to the creator of the piano and the publisher Pleyel, who ordered these plays for 2 thousand francs. But the German edition Chopin decided to dedicate to the composer and pianist Kessler as a token of return gratitude - 10 years ago he wrote his name on his 24 preludes op.31.
• The tradition of performing all 24 Preludes of Chopin at one concert was introduced by Alfred Corto.
• Musicologist Henry Fink was so fascinated by Chopin's preludes that he considered them the most significant compositions in musical history. He always spoke with pride: if all the piano music of the whole world is destroyed and only one collection can be saved, he will vote for these compositions.
• The son of Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Lev Lvovich wrote a story called "The Prelude of Chopin."
• American musicologist Richard Taruskin believes that when creating his cycle, Chopin relied not only on Bach’s CTC, but also on I. Moscheles’s prelude (op.73). The researcher has revealed many similarities between these two opuses.
• In 2005, the famous pianist Mikhail Pletnev decided to leave the stage. It happened after a concert in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, where he played Chopin's 24 preludes. None of those present in the hall appreciated his performance, and the maestro himself was not in awe of him. And the reason for this was the new piano installed on the stage of the company sponsoring this event. Pletnev did not like the instrument at the rehearsal, but he had no choice.
• Prelude e-moll is considered the most famous work of the entire cycle. In the past century, she entered the canon of pop music thanks to French singers Serge Ginzburg and Jane Birkin, who included it in their song "Jane B", and Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Zhobimu, who used it in a composition called "Insensatez".
• Felix Mendelssohn loved the prelude number 17. When asked why he liked her so much, he always answered: "Because I would not write like that myself."

Content

Chopin's cycle is called the real encyclopedia of romanticism, because it captures all the typical genres, images and intonations of that time. It is known for certain that the composer left all his preludes without a name. He believed that the headlines could be misleading to listeners, and therefore preferred not to specify what inspired him to write works. However, the names of the plays and even the program in a few lines still exist. And they were written by famous personalities in the world of music, relying on their personal impressions - Alfred Corto and Hans von Bülow. The program associations of the latter were highly appreciated by Chopin's students - Wilhelm von Lentz and Mme Calierge. They agreed with this vision of Chopin's preludes and confirmed that it was these feelings and images that the composer wanted to convey in his works.

It is also known that George Sand gave the names of Chopin's plays, and even signed them with her own hand on some manuscripts. Only now they have not reached our days.

Use in the cinema

Some historians believe that in order to understand Chopin, who is so sensual, vulnerable, refined and impressionable, it is enough to get acquainted with his preludes. The composer managed not only to bring this genre to the highest degree of perfection, but also to fill it with amazing emotional depth and rich content. It would seem, what can be said in 24 small plays? Chopin was able to tell everything. According to Yu. Kremleva, in these preludes - the whole life of a great romantic, all the images that have ever been encountered on his short but so tragic life path.