24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. Dmitry Shostakovich's Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues op. The fugal subject is based entirely on the notes of the tonic chord (A – C-sharp – E). The tone continues in the Fugue; whereas Bach begins with a scaled 4th, Shostakovich has a bleak bare 5th. Among his prizes was one from the First International Chopin Competition in Warsaw (1927). 1, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 18, 23 and 24 twice by doing the recording for EMI.[24]. In contrast to the characteristic harmonic complexity of the prelude, the fugue is written in, The prelude is a toccata mostly for one voice, with, The prelude is composed of a juxtaposition of a. Composed in 1950-51 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), the 24 Preludes and Fugues, Opus 87 for piano represented a relief from the Russian composer’s life under the Stalinist yoke. 3 IN G MAJOR: The stern Prelude sounds like its inspiration could have come from a liturgical chant, while the Fugue could not be more different in character – witty, playful, dancelike, and demanding virtuosity and crystalline clarity of execution to make its effect. Tatiana Nikolayeva recorded complete sets four times, in 1962, 1987 (both originally issued by Melodiya), 1990 (Hyperion Records) and in 1992 as a filmed performance (Medici Arts). 9’s focal weight rests in its Prelude – longer by far than the Fugue. As the key of G sharp minor has five sharps, the meter for the Fugue is appropriately 5/4. There is conflicting evidence as to Shostakovich’s feelings about whether the 2½-hour cycle should be played complete in performance. Of great interest is the CD jacket notes which express that Shostakovich composed these among controversy of Soviet Union restrain from abstract composition. 87: An Analysis and Critical Evaluation of the Printed Edition Based on the Composer's Recorded Performance", doctoral document by Denis V. Plutalov, May 2010, University of Nebraska School of Music; Prelude and Fugue No. With this in mind, I … For sheer, unabashed joy and an almost reckless sense of abandon, the Fugue is hard to beat. NO. 87. Each piece is in two parts—a prelude and a fugue—varying in pace, length and complexity (for example, Fugue No. The Fugue is actually a double fugue. Through analysis (structural and stylistic) of selected preludes and fugues from Shostakovich's opus as well as a survey of other sets of preludes, fugues, and preludes and fugues (from Fischer to Shchedrin) we will be able to see the prelude and fugue lineage more clearly. The Fugue consists of “a theme stuttering in repeated notes, with farcical clownish effect.”. NO. subject table. 10 IN C SHARP MINOR: Again the spirit of Bach informs this Prelude. Take for example the first fugue (C major), which employs only the white keys of the piano throughout, or the seventh (A major), whose subject is built entirely from a major triad. J.S. This work is included in that group along with several string quartets. Canadian pianist David Jalbert also recorded the piece for ATMA Classique in 2008, and Peter Donohoe for Signum Classics in 2017. While fugal subjects usually use stepwise motion, this subject uses only the notes of the A-major triad. 3 No. Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues 24 Preludes and Fugues, opus 87 Craig Sheppard (piano) Roméo Records 7315-6 TT: 141:35 (63:34 + 78:01) Compiled from recordings of two concerts at the Meany Theatre Seattle, April 2015. 4 IN E MINOR: The Prelude is a three-part texture consisting of (1) ponderous, sustained octaves in the depths of the piano’s range; (2) a continuous, even stream of eighth notes, usually in the middle voice; and (3) a slower-moving melodic line that includes numerous “sighs.” (Bach associated E minor with the Crucifixion.) NO. The prelude is a two-part, Jewish influences are evident in both the short, agitated prelude, with its staccato and chromatic textures amplifying the grotesque melody, and the massive, mysterious fugue (in three voices) which increases in intensity and obsessiveness as it progresses towards a final resolution with its, The prelude is written on three staves where left and right hands take turns playing on the center staff. These lead to a climax in A major, signalled by a dominant pedal, but this lasts just four bars before the music plunges into C major. University of Nebraska at Lincoln, dplutalov@gmail.com. Towering over those pieces are the 24 Preludes and Fugues, written for Tatiana Nikolayeva after Shostakovich heard her at … Only two voices develop with increasing stretto in the middle culminating at the end when the two voices join in unison as before in the prelude though only with an octave separation. NO. 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. G major: 4. Roger Woodward describes the "poignant intervallic juxtapositions of alto and tenor voices" throughout the prelude. The question of the relative stability of E major in Shostakovich's Prelude and Fugue No. In their vast range of textures, figurations, rhythmic devices, characterizations, compositional procedures and moods, Shostakovich’s 24 preludes and fugues rank as one of the monuments of  twentieth-century piano literature. Before premiering the work, Shostakovich privately performed the first half of the cycle before the Union of Composers (as was typical with new compositions during the Soviet Era) on 31 March 1951. Shostakovich 24 Preludes & Fugues Op87, Vol.2 - Piano by Dmitri Shostakovich (2001-04-12) 4.6 out of 5 stars 4. The three-voice fugue begins with a statement of the main theme, or subject, in the soprano voice. The following fugue starts with a short introduction. In this case, the pianissimo maestoso theme transforms into the six-bar opening theme which is fully … 87. The composition begins rather humbly with a quiet, conservative exposition, but it ends triumphantly with nearly every possible fugal device (invertible counterpoint, stretto, double stretto, diminution, augmentation, retrograde) exploited in the final bars. Denis V. Plutalov. "[22][23] According to Ross, the composer used chamber forms in the period to channel his most personal compositions, those that would not be suitable for use or approval by the Soviet government. 6 and 9. Dmitri Shostakovich: 12 Preludes and Fugues from Op. E minor: 5. The inspiration came principally from Bach, as it has for similar sets from other composers: Hans Huber, Castelnuovo-Tedesco (for guitar duo) and Niels Viggo Bentzon for preludes and fugues together; Chopin, Scriabin, Busoni, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich himself (Op. Among his prizes was one from the First International Chopin … The complete work was written between 10 October 1950 and 25 February 1951. The first subject is a slow stepwise melody consisting mostly of half notes and quarter notes, while the second subject is a partial diminution or variation on the first subject (eighth notes instead of quarter notes). The E minor fugue is one of progressive complexity. The fugue in 34 time is a frantic scurry with fast notes and staccato markings. The fugue, in three voices and once again with a, A sombre prelude, associated for Woodward with the bleak landscape of Russian steppe, and in a similar mood to the musical landscape of the opening movement of the, This pair are humorous and clownish throughout. The first performance presented what amounted only to a teaser: Shostakovich offered four of the preludes and fugues at a recital on November 18, 1951 in Leningrad’s Glinka Hall. The fugal subject is built almost entirely from the intervals of the fourth and the fifth. Fugue 8:39 Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Op. The analysis will point towar ds References to and quotations from Bach's cycle appear throughout the work. 12 IN G SHARP MINOR: The Prelude is written in passacaglia form (a method of composition in which a set of variations is constructed over a repeating bass line or chord progression). It will focus on six movements from the work, three preludes and three fugues respectively. Dmitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes & Fugues, op. "Dmitry Shostakovich's Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues op. Part of the Composition Commons. 2 IN A MINOR: The Prelude is a toccata-like affair (“pure harpsichord textures,” says Melnikov), with a single line of rapid sixteenth-notes running in perpetual motion throughout. 2 in A minor on YouTube, played by … [2] For example, Shostakovich begins his C major prelude, the first piece in the cycle, with exactly the same notes that Bach uses in his own C major prelude, BWV 846, which likewise begins The Well-Tempered Clavier. These days Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues are encountered in recital only rarely, but over the decades the cycle has attracted champions who … Shostakovich' s DSCH There are sweeping and breathtaking in … The tone is wistful, mostly pianissimo and the harmonic language is very much Shostakovich's own. Subject Area. Shostakovich composed his 24 Preludes and Fugues in the early 1950s, in a style that is more tonal and retrospective than much of his earlier music. Many listeners hear in it strong reverberations of a Bach two-part invention. This Prelude is also notable for its extremes of range, which cover nearly the entire keyboard; three staves are required to notate it. Shostakovich recorded 18 of the 24 pieces at five recording sessions in 1951–1952, 1956 and 1958 (EMI). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The subject is exceptionally long – nine measures – and thereafter unwinds in three-part texture to an unrelenting tread and highly dissonant harmony. In 1950, Shostakovich was sent by his government as the head of a Soviet delegation to East Germany for the ceremonies surrounding the bicentenary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. For example, his A minor prelude is a figuration prelude—a prelude in which the same hand position is used throughout the piece. A few composers wrote odd preludes and fugues not in a set, like a few Brahms organ fugues, or Godowsky's prelude and fugue on BACH. Though not required by competition regulations, she had come prepared to play any of the 48 preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier on request. The cycle was composed in 1950 and 1951 while Shostakovich was in Moscow and premiered by pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva in Leningrad in December 1952; [1] it was published the same year. 1, 7 and 15 in 1952–1953. 23, and Op. [21] The panel expressed great displeasure at the dissonance in some of the fugues. Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. NO. Three voices develop with contrasting legato passages against the staccato. ), which differs from Shostakovich's Op. Audio CD. Following the prelude, Shostakovich proceeds directly to the fugue without pause. A major: 8. Required fields are marked *. D major: 6. Sheet music. B minor: 7. 1 in C major on YouTube, played by Shostakovich; Prelude and Fugue No. 87 No. Sviatoslav Richter never played all the pieces in concerts but made notable recordings of 15 numbers in 1961. No. After the Second World War, Dmitri Shostakovich was Russia's most prominent composer. Roger Woodward made the first complete recording available in the West in 1975; it was re-released in September 2010 on CD by Celestial Harmonies. Examples of this abound in Baroque keyboard literature from composers such as Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, from whom Bach drew inspiration for his own figuration preludes (the C major and the D minor, for example).[3]. There are also several references and musical ideas taken from Shostakovich's own work or anticipating future work. $42.10. It then continues in a gentle weaving fashion (much like the C♯ minor fugue from Book I of Bach's 48). This type of linear movement is something common to much of Shostakovich’s body of work (24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. …The breadth of images and characterizations is very great: from tragedy to humor, from gaiety to the grotesque.” Musicologist Wilfrid Mellers maintains that “if there is a single work among his large output that assures us that Shostakovich is among the handful of great composers [of the twentieth century], this collection is it.” And for tonight’s pianist, Alexander Melnikov, “we hear the voice of a tormented man, finding again and again the superhuman force to face life as it is – in all its variety, ugliness, and sometimes beauty.”, In an interview accompanying his recording of the 24 Preludes and Fugues, Melnikov suggests that one of Shostakovich’s aims was to see what he could do with the forms beyond Bach, what he could do with material completely unsuitable as a fugal subject. This is followed by a fugue with another highly extended subject, which unfolds "in finely sculpted legato cantabile. 34, are solid but not often played. In addition to more direct quotation, Shostakovich also at points imitates the various types of preludes found in the Bach cycle (and in other, similar, Baroque compositions). 9 in E major is in only two voices). 2, Op. About two-thirds into the fugue, Shostakovich brings back the original subject in the bass combined with the second subject in the soprano. In the preludes too, there is in each one a sense of experimentation, of compressing a single idea into a few pages of music to see where it will go. AllMusic Review by Richard S. Ginell [+] Dmitri Shostakovich 's epic series of preludes and fugues for solo piano was inspired by the very composer whom you would immediately suspect -- … 5 IN D MAJOR: “A graceful, wistful dance-song over a lightly arpeggiated accompaniment” is how Wilfrid Mellers describes this Prelude. Recommended Citation. One of the contestants was the 26-year-old Tatyana Nikolayeva, whose playing of the Well-Tempered Clavier so impressed Shostakovich that upon returning to Moscow, he undertook to create a similar work himself. It is also the first prelude we have encountered to feature Shostakovich’s hallmark rhythmic pattern, short-short-long. It remains calm throughout despite wide ranging modulations and chains of "weeping" seconds towards the end, which trails off into nothing. The Three Fantastic Dances get some airings. Sign up to get free in-depth coverage on up and coming artist and more! Three days on average to write each piece of pitches and their corresponding durations contained within the given work has. Rhythmic cell upon which it is today pieces are the 24 pieces at recording! 11, 15, 19 or 21 but he recorded Nos and fugue, is often regarded the. C minor, S. 462 No: Analysis, `` Dmitry Shostakovich 's Twenty-Four Preludes and from. 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