Prelude (music)

A prelude is a short piece of music, usually in no particular internal form, which may serve as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that are usually longer and more complex. Many preludes have a continuous ostinato throughout, usually of the rhythmic and melodic variety. They are also somewhat improvisatory in style. The prelude can also refer to an overture, particularly to those seen in an opera or an oratorio.

History

The very first preludes were lute compositions of the Renaissance era. They were free improvisations and served as brief introductions to a larger piece of music; lutenists also used them to test the instrument or the acoustics of the room before the performance. Keyboard preludes started appearing in the 17th century in France: unmeasured preludes, in which the duration of each note is left to the performer, were used as introductory movements in harpsichord suites. Louis Couperin (c.1626-1661) was the first composer to embrace the genre, and harpsichord preludes were used until the first half of the 18th century by numerous composers including Jean-Henri d'Anglebert (1629-1691), Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729), François Couperin (1668-1733) and Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), whose very first printed piece (1706) was in this form. The last unmeasured preludes for harpsichord date from 1710s.

The development of prelude in the 17th century Germany led to a sectional form similar to keyboard toccatas by Johann Jakob Froberger or Girolamo Frescobaldi. Preludes by northern German composers such as Dieterich Buxtehude (c.1637â€"1707) and Nikolaus Bruhns (c.1665-1697) combined sections of free improvised passages with parts in strict contrapuntal writing (usually brief fugues). Outside Germany, Abraham van den Kerckhoven (c.1618-c.1701), one of the most important Dutch composers of the period, used this model for some of his preludes. Southern and central German composers did not follow the sectional model and their preludes remained improvisational in character with little or no strict counterpoint.

During the second half of the 17th century, German composers started pairing preludes (sometimes toccatas) with fugues in the same key; Johann Pachelbel (c.1653-1706) was one of the first to do so (his preludes being more or less similar to his toccatas), although Johann Sebastian Bach's (1683-1750) "prelude and fugue" pieces are much more numerous and well-known today. Bach's organ preludes are quite diverse, drawing on both southern and northern German influences.

Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (died 1746) was one of the first German composers to bring the late 17th century French style to German harpsichord music, replacing the standard French ouverture with an unmeasured prelude. Fischer's Ariadne musica is cycle of keyboard music which consists of pairs of preludes and fugues; the preludes are quite varied and do not conform to any particular model. Ariadne musica served as a precursor to Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, two books of 24 "prelude and fugue" pairs each. Bach's preludes were also varied, some akin to Baroque dances, others being two- and three-part contrapuntal works not unlike his inventions and sinfonias.

Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier influenced almost all major composers of the next centuries, and many often wrote preludes in sets of 12 or 24, sometimes with the intention of utilizing all 24 major and minor keys as Bach has done. Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) wrote a set of 24 preludes, Op. 28, which liberated the prelude from its original introductory purpose. Numerous composers after him have written preludes that serve as independent works: particularly important of these are Claude Debussy's (1862-1918) two books of impressionistic piano preludes, which influenced many later composers.

Preludes were also used by some 20th century composers when writing Baroque-inspired "suites". Such works include Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin (1914/17) and Schoenberg's Suite for piano, Op. 25 (1921/23), both of which begin with an introductory prelude.

Notable collections of preludes

*J.C.F. Fischer's Ariadne musica (1702), contained 20 preludes and fugues in 19 different keys.
*Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the two volumes of the Well-Tempered Clavier, (1722). Each volume contains 24 preludes, one in each of the major and minor keys, with each prelude followed by a fugue in the same key. The odd numbered preludes are in major keys, starting with C major and each is followed by a prelude in the corresponding minor key. The odd numbered preludes proceed up the chromatic scale (i.e No. 1 C major, No. 2 C minor, No. 3 C-sharp major, etc.).
*Ludwig van Beethoven wrote two preludes, Op. 39; each one cycles through all of the major keys of the piano.
*Frédéric Chopin wrote 24 Preludes, Op. 28, which cycle through all of the major and minor keys. The odd numbered preludes are in major keys, starting with C major, and each is followed by a prelude in the relative minor key. The preludes proceed through the circle of fifths (i.e. No.1 C major, No. 2 A minor, No. 3 G major, etc.).
*Claude Debussy wrote two books of 12 Preludes, Book 1 (1910) and Book 2 (1913), for a total of 24 preludes. The title of the prelude is given at the end of the piece, while a Roman numeral serves as the heading.
*Sergei Rachmaninoff, wrote a prelude, Opus 3 No. 2, Ten Preludes, Opus 23 and 13 Preludes, Opus 32, for a total of 24 Preludes.
*Alexander Scriabin wrote 24 Preludes, Op. 11, and numerous shorter sets of preludes. He followed the same pattern as the Chopin preludes (C Major, A Minor, G Major, E Minor, D Major, etc.)
*Paul Hindemith wrote Ludus Tonalis, (1940) a prelude, 11 interludes, and a postlude, all separated by 12 fugues.
*Alberto Ginastera wrote a cycle of 12 American Preludes (Doce Preludios Americanos) (1946).
*Dmitri Shostakovich wrote a cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues in 1951, as well as an earlier set of 24 Preludes for piano.

See also

* Chorale prelude