Preludes[edit]
- Agitato – C major
- Lento – A minor
- Vivace – G major
- Largo – E minor
- Molto allegro – D major
- Lento assai – B minor
- Andantino – A major
- Molto agitato – F-sharp minor
- Largo – E major
- Molto allegro – C-sharp minor
- Vivace – B major
- Presto – G-sharp minor
- Lento – F-sharp major
- Allegro – E-flat minor
- Sostenuto – D-flat major ("Raindrop Prelude")
- Presto con fuoco – B-flat minor
- Allegretto – A-flat major
- Molto allegro – F minor
- Vivace – E-flat major
- Largo – C minor
- Cantabile – B-flat major
- Molto agitato – G minor
- Moderato – F major
- Allegro appassionato – D minor
Description and analysis[edit]
The following personal impressions of the pieces were given by Hans von Bülow.[5] They are not official, and certainly not named by Chopin, but are cited in various sources as mnemonics. Only No. 15 "Raindrop" is universally used, but No. 20 is often referred to as the "Chord" prelude.
| No. | Nickname | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reunion | marked agitato, is short and uniform with its triplet-semi-quaver figuration |
| 2 | Presentiment of Death | an immediate contrast, with a slow melody over a fixed accompaniment of four-note chords played two eighth notes at a time |
| 3 | Thou Art So Like a Flower | marked vivace and has a running semiquaver bass part throughout |
| 4 | Suffocation | was played at his funeral. It consists of a slow melody in the right hand, that masterfully prolongs tonic resolution, and repeated block chords in the left hand, that descend chromatically. It is incorporated in conductor Benjamin Zander's TED Talk on music and passion.[9] |
| 5 | Uncertainty | contains exuberant ostinati |
| 6 | Tolling Bells | (also played at Chopin's funeral) features its melancholy melody primarily in the left hand |
| 7 | The Polish Dancer | is written in the style of a mazurka, in 3/4 time. It is the basis of Federico Mompou's Variations on a Theme of Chopin |
| 8 | Desperation | molto agitato, is considered one of the most difficult in the set, featuring continuous thirty-second note figuration in the right hand, with semiquaver triplets (alternating with quavers) in the left hand. The entire piece employs a ceaseless figuration of polyrhythms. |
| 9 | Vision | a harmonically dense piece with a low "plodding" bass line; with 12 bars, it is the shortest in the collection |
| 10 | The Night Moth | molto allegro, is short and light, with alternating triplet and non-triplet semiquavers in the right hand, over arpeggiato chords in the left |
| 11 | The Dragonfly | is in 6/8 time and is similarly brisk, with continuous quavers |
| 12 | The Duel | presents a technical challenge with its rapid hold-and-release of quavers against crotchets in the right hand, involving much chromatic movement |
| 13 | Loss | lento, is one of the longest preludes and features an A B A structure with continuous single-note quaver movement in the left hand and chords and melody in the right |
| 14 | Fear | recalls Prelude No. 1 in its shortness and textural uniformity |
| 15 | Raindrop | is the longest of the twenty-four. The main melody is repeated three times; the melody in the middle, however, is much more dark and dramatic. The key signature switches between D-flat major and C-sharp minor. |
| 16 | Hades | starts with six heavily accented chords before progressing to an impromptu-like passage in the right hand. The left hand mainly supports the right hand and repeats the same melody repeatedly. This piece is considered by many to be the most difficult of the set. |
| 17 | A Scene on the Place de Notre-Dame de Paris | is one of the longest and the favourite of some musicians including Clara Schumann. Mendelssohn wrote of it, "I love it! I cannot tell you how much or why; except perhaps that it is something which I could never at all have written."[10] |
| 18 | Suicide | is suggestive of a mortal struggle. The technical challenges lie chiefly in the irregular timing of the three runs, each faster than its predecessor, played simultaneously by each hand one octave apart. A fortissimo five-octave arpeggio echoes downward into the depths of the bass registers, where the final struggle takes place and culminates with the double-fortissimo chord finale. |
| 19 | Heartfelt Happiness | vivace, consists of widely spaced continuous triplet-quaver movement in both hands, which some pianists consider to rival the difficulty of No. 8 and No. 16. |
| 20 | Funeral March | is short, with slow majestic crotchet chords in the right hand predominating, against crotchet octaves in the left. It is often called the "Chord" prelude. It was originally written in two sections of four measures, although Chopin later added a repeat of the last four measures at a softer level, with an expressive swell before the final cadence. It has been used as a theme for variations by Ferruccio Busoni, and later (without the repeated bars) by Sergei Rachmaninoff in his Variations on a Theme of Chopin, a set of 22 variations in a wide range of keys, tempos and lengths. |
| 21 | Sunday | is marked cantabile, and features an easy melody in the right hand; the left has continuous doubled quavers characterized by chromatic movement, including chromatic nonharmonic tones,[11] taken up by the right hand also in the latter half of the piece |
| 22 | Impatience | molto agitato, is in 6/8 time; it begins with a characteristic dotted rhythm (quaver, dotted quaver, semiquaver) that Scriabin was later to make his own, in his early preludes that are perhaps the most important to emulate this genre of Chopin's |
| 23 | A Pleasure Boat | is spacious and melodic in the left hand, with running semiquavers throughout in the right |
| opens with a thundering five-note pattern in the left hand. Throughout the piece, the left hand continues this pattern as the right hand plays a powerful melody punctuated by trills, scales (including a rapid descending chromatic scale in thirds), and arpeggios. The piece closes with three booming unaccompanied notes – the lowest D on the piano. 24 The storm     |
