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New page: A '''prelude is''' “something that goes before”. In music, the term began to describe pieces, often improvised, designed to test or “warm up” the instrument – and, it is suppose...
A '''prelude is''' “something that goes before”.
In music, the term began to describe pieces, often improvised, designed to test or “warm up” the instrument – and, it is supposed, the performer – before the serious music began; whether a recital or part of a church service. This use of the term goes back to the 15th century.
The prelude composed and designed specifically to be attached to another piece of music – normally a suite of dances or fugue - developed in the 17th century and reached a peak in the first half of the 18th with the ''48 Preludes and Fugues'' for organ by [[J. S. Bach]]. The prelude and fugue for organ or piano has continued as a well-respected form with notable examples by [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] (piano), [[Brahms]], Max Reger and [[Camille Saint-Saens]] (organ) and [[Shostakovich]] whose ''24 Prelude and Fugues Opus 87'' is a central work in the 20th century piano repertoire.
[[Chopin]], following an example set by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, disconnected the form from a companion piece; writing 24 preludes for piano, each a stand-alone composition although inviting the listener to believe that something was to follow. (The perfect miniature form of each denies that premise, and each is beautifully complete within itself. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rnRwqkwKtU]]) This form has been repeated successfully by Scriabin, [[Gabriel Faure|Faure]], [[Rachmaninov]], and especially [[Claude Debussy]] who, as well as his atmospheric individually named preludes for piano in 2 books (and which contain one of the most popular piano pieces ever written [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxnm-EtriX0]]), composed the tone picture “''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune''” [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5A4CkUAazI]] for flute and orchestra (which in itself has been considered a prelude to 20th century music.)
The prelude as a preliminary or introductory piece has continued of course, with the form replacing the [[overture]] in certain [[opera]]s - or acts within operas such as some of [[Wagner]]’s; or {{Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s "''La Traviata''" [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ojZCaYeLI]] and is often the opening movement in suites and other multi-movement works.
[[Category: musical forms]]
In music, the term began to describe pieces, often improvised, designed to test or “warm up” the instrument – and, it is supposed, the performer – before the serious music began; whether a recital or part of a church service. This use of the term goes back to the 15th century.
The prelude composed and designed specifically to be attached to another piece of music – normally a suite of dances or fugue - developed in the 17th century and reached a peak in the first half of the 18th with the ''48 Preludes and Fugues'' for organ by [[J. S. Bach]]. The prelude and fugue for organ or piano has continued as a well-respected form with notable examples by [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] (piano), [[Brahms]], Max Reger and [[Camille Saint-Saens]] (organ) and [[Shostakovich]] whose ''24 Prelude and Fugues Opus 87'' is a central work in the 20th century piano repertoire.
[[Chopin]], following an example set by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, disconnected the form from a companion piece; writing 24 preludes for piano, each a stand-alone composition although inviting the listener to believe that something was to follow. (The perfect miniature form of each denies that premise, and each is beautifully complete within itself. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rnRwqkwKtU]]) This form has been repeated successfully by Scriabin, [[Gabriel Faure|Faure]], [[Rachmaninov]], and especially [[Claude Debussy]] who, as well as his atmospheric individually named preludes for piano in 2 books (and which contain one of the most popular piano pieces ever written [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxnm-EtriX0]]), composed the tone picture “''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune''” [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5A4CkUAazI]] for flute and orchestra (which in itself has been considered a prelude to 20th century music.)
The prelude as a preliminary or introductory piece has continued of course, with the form replacing the [[overture]] in certain [[opera]]s - or acts within operas such as some of [[Wagner]]’s; or {{Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s "''La Traviata''" [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ojZCaYeLI]] and is often the opening movement in suites and other multi-movement works.
[[Category: musical forms]]