A prelude (german: Präludium or '; la, praeludium; french: prélude; it, preludio) is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that were usually longer and more complex, it may also have been a stand-alone piece of work during the Romantic era. It generally features a small number of rhythmic and melodic

motif Motif may refer to: General concepts * Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions * Moti ...

s that recur through the piece. Stylistically, the prelude is improvisatory in nature. The term may also refer to an

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

, particularly to those seen in an opera or an oratorio.

History

The first preludes to be notated were organ pieces that were played to introduce church music, the earliest surviving examples being five brief ''praeambula'' in the

Ileborgh Tablature The Ileborgh Tablature is a source of early keyboard music. It was compiled by Adam Ileborgh in 1448. Since 1981 it has been in a private collection; previously the tablature was in possession of Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. The tab ...

of 1448. These were closely followed by freely composed preludes in an extemporary style for the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

and other Renaissance string instruments, which were originally used for warming up the fingers and checking the instrument's tuning and sound quality, as in a group of pieces by Joan Ambrosio Dalza published in 1508 under the heading ''tastar de corde'' (in Italian, literally, "testing of the strings"). 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 A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite' ...

s. 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 Jean-Henri d'Anglebert (baptized 1 April 1629 – 23 April 1691) was a French composer, harpsichordist and organist. He was one of the foremost keyboard composers of his day. Life D'Anglebert's father Claude Henry known as AnglebertJean constru ...

(1629–1691),

Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre Élisabeth Claude Jacquet de La Guerre (, née Jacquet, 17 March 1665 – 27 June 1729) was a French musician, harpsichordist and composer. Life and works Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre (née Jacquet) was born on March 17, 1665, into a ...

(1665–1729),

François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...

(1668–1733) and

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...

(1683–1764), whose very first printed piece (1706) was in this form. The last unmeasured preludes for harpsichord date from the 1720s. The development of the prelude in 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.1637–1707) and

Nikolaus Bruhns Nicolaus Bruhns (also ''Nikolaus'', ''Nicholas''; late 1665 – in Husum) was a Danish-German organist, violinist, and composer. He was one of the most prominent organists and composers of his generation. Biography Bruhns was born in Schwabste ...

(c.1665–1697) combined sections of free improvised passages with parts in strict contrapuntal writing (usually brief

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

s). Outside Germany,

Abraham van den Kerckhoven Abraham van den Kerckhoven (c. 1618 – c. 1701) was a Flemish organist and composer. He was active in Brussels, working as organist at the local Saint Catherine's Church and as court organist. He was held in high regard by his contemporaries. A si ...

(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 (or sometimes toccatas) with fugues in the same

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

;

Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (baptised – buried 9 March 1706; also Bachelbel) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and h ...

(c.1653–1706) was one of the first to do so, although Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685–1750) "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. Most of Bach's preludes were written in the theme and variation form, using the same theme motif with imitation, inversion, modulation, or retrogression of the theme as well as other techniques involved in this baroque form. Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer 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 ''Ariadne musica'' is a collection of Organ (music), organ music by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, first published in 1702. The main part of the collection is a cycle of 20 Prelude (music), preludes and fugues in different Key (music), keys, so ' ...

'' is a 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 '' The 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 also composed preludes to introduce each of his

English Suites The ''English Suites'', BWV 806–811, are a set of six suites written by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach for harpsichord (or clavichord) and generally thought to be the earliest of his 19 suites for keyboard (discounting several les ...

. ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'' influenced many composers in the coming centuries, some of whom wrote preludes in sets of 12 or 24, sometimes with the intention of utilizing all 24

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

keys as Bach had done.

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

(1810–1849) wrote a set of 24 preludes, Op. 28, often composed in a simple ternary form, which liberated the prelude from its original introductory purpose and allowed it to serve as an independent concert piece. While other pianist-composers, including Muzio Clementi,

Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the Transition from Classical to Romantic music, transition from the Classical period (music), Classical to the Romantic ...

and Ignaz Moscheles, had previously published collections of preludes for the benefit of pianists unskilled at improvisatory preluding, Chopin's set renewed the genre. Chopin's set served as a model for other collections of 24 or 25 piano preludes in the major and minor keys, including those by

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Lisz ...

( Op. 31 for piano or organ),

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

(Op. 37, BV 181),

César Cui César Antonovich Cui ( rus, Це́зарь Анто́нович Кюи́, , ˈt͡sjezərʲ ɐnˈtonəvʲɪt͡ɕ kʲʊˈi, links=no, Ru-Tsezar-Antonovich-Kyui.ogg; french: Cesarius Benjaminus Cui, links=no, italic=no; 13 March 1918) was a Ru ...

(Op. 64),

Stephen Heller Stephen Heller (15 May 1813 – 14 January 1888) was a Hungarian pianist, teacher, and composer whose career spanned the period from Schumann to Bizet. Heller was an influence for later Romantic composers. He outlived his reputation, and was a ...

(Op. 81), and

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

( Op. 11).

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

(1862–1918) wrote two books of impressionistic piano preludes which, unusually in this genre, carry descriptive titles. Chopin's conception of the prelude as an unattached character piece expressing a mood rather than a specific musical programme extended into the 20th century with works by composers such as George Antheil, George Gershwin,

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buen ...

, Dmitry Kabalevsky,

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

(who also completed an entire set),

Giacinto Scelsi Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988, sometimes cited as 8 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French. He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, ...

and

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the inf ...

. Preludes were also incorporated by some 20th-century composers into Baroque-inspired suites: such "attached" preludes include

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

's '' Le tombeau de Couperin'' (1914/17) and

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's ''Suite for piano'', Op. 25 (1921/23), both of which begin with an introductory prelude (Schoenberg's choral introduction to the Genesis Suite is a rare case of an attached prelude written in the 20th century without any neo-baroque intent). As well as a series of unattached piano preludes (Op. 2),

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

composed a set of

24 Preludes and Fugues {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The prelude and fugue is a musical form generally consisting of two movements in the same key for solo keyboard. In classical music, the combination of prelude and fugue is one with a long hist ...

in the tradition of Bach's ''The Well Tempered Clavier''. Some avant-garde composers have also produced unattached preludes.

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's brief Prelude for Meditation is written for prepared piano, while François-Bernard Mâche's ''Prélude'' (1959) and

Branimir Sakač Branimir () is a Slavic male given name. It is a combination of the ( Slavic) verb ''braniti'' ("to defend") and the noun ''mir'' ("the world" or "peace" in Old Slavic), and hence means "the one who defends the world/peace". It is especially common ...

's ''Aleatory Prelude'' (1961) call on electronic resources and

aleatoric Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "action ...

techniques.

Notable collections of preludes

(1813–1888) wrote a set of 25 preludes, Op. 31, published in 1847. His key scheme differs from Chopin's in that the major keys ascend chromatically and are followed by their respective minor

subdominant In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...

s, though Alkan also starts on C major. The last piece returns to C major, hence the additional prelude (a device Alkan repeated in the Esquisses, Op. 63, and that

employed in his own 25 Preludes, Op. 64). As a further distinction between his and Chopin's sets, Alkan provides programmatic titles for several of his preludes, including the most famous of the set, (''The Song of the Madwoman by the Seashore''). * Lera Auerbach (born 1973) wrote three full sets of 24 preludes, which cycle through all of the major and minor keys, for piano solo, violin and piano, and cello and piano respectively (2003). * Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) wrote the two volumes of '' The Well-Tempered Clavier'' (1722, 1744). Both volumes contain 24 preludes (and associated fugues) proceeding up the chromatic scale with alternating parallel major and minor keys (C major and C minor; C major and C minor; D major and D minor; etc.). * Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) wrote two preludes, Op. 39, as a teenager; each one cycles through all of the major keys of the piano. * Felix Blumenfeld (1863–1931) composed a set of 24 preludes, Op. 17 in 1892, following Chopin's key scheme, as well as a set of four, Op. 12. * York Bowen (1884–1961) wrote a set of 24 preludes, his Op. 102, in 1938. It is in all major and minor keys and was published posthumously. *

Julian Cochran 200px, Julian Cochran in 1998 Julian Cochran (born 1974) is an English-born Australian composer. Cochran's earlier works show stylistic influences from Impressionist music and his later works are more noticeably influenced by Classical music an ...

(born 1974) wrote three volumes of preludes, many with an impressionistic character, and increasing in complexity and length through each volume. *

(1810–1849) 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 Relative may refer to: General use *Kinship and family, the principle binding the most basic social units society. If two people are connected by circumstances of birth, they are said to be ''relatives'' Philosophy *Relativism, the concept that ...

minor key. The paired preludes proceed through the circle of fifths (C major and A minor; G major and E minor; D major and B minor; etc.). Most can be played as stand-alone pieces. *

(1862–1918) wrote two books of 12 Préludes, 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. * Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (c. 1656 – 1746)'s ''

'' (1702), contained 20 preludes and fugues in 19 different keys. *

(1916–1983) wrote a cycle of 12 American Preludes (; 1946). * Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) wrote '' Ludus Tonalis'' (1940), a prelude, 11 interludes, and a postlude, all separated by 12 fugues. * Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904–1987) wrote many preludes for piano, op. 1, op. 5, op. 20, op. 38, op. 61 (1943–1944). * Nikolai Kapustin (1937–2020) wrote 24 Preludes in Jazz Style, Op. 53, and later a set of 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 82. *

(1908–1992)'s set of eight piano preludes (1929) developed from the Impressionism of Debussy's piano music. * Casimir Ney (1801–1877) wrote a collection of 24 preludes in all major and minor keys for solo viola from 1849–53. *

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

(1887–1959) wrote 5 preludes for guitar (1940), which have become popular repertory pieces. A sixth prelude is lost. *

(1873–1943) wrote a prelude, Op. 3, No. 2, in 1892 followed by 10 preludes, Op. 23 (1903) and 13 preludes, Op. 32 (1910) for a total of 24 preludes in all the major and minor keys; he also composed a prelude in D minor, without opus number, in 1917 (there is yet another among his early unpublished works). * Florent Schmitt (1870–1958) wrote two books of preludes, book 1, 3 ''préludes'' op. 3 (1890 - 95), book 2,''10 Préludes'' op. 5 (1896). *

(1872–1915) wrote 24 Preludes, Op. 11 in 1896, and numerous shorter sets of preludes. He followed the same pattern as the Chopin preludes. *

(1906–1975) wrote a cycle of

, Op. 87 in 1951, as well as an earlier set of 24 Preludes, Op. 34 (1933), for piano. *

Matthias Vanden Gheyn Matthias Vanden Gheyn ( nl, Matthijs Vanden Gheÿn or ; 7April 1721 – 22June 1785) was a Flemish musician from the Baroque/Classical transition period. He is a descendant of the famous bell founding family of the same name. During his life, ...

(1721–1785) composed 11 preludes, possibly

off-the-cuff In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The ...

, for performance on a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...

, a musical instrument of bells. They are festive pieces featuring virtuosic progressions and effects to a propulsive bass rhythm. They are additionally the earliest known compositions specifically for the instrument. Citing his preludes, carillonneurs refer to Vanden Gheyn as "the Bach of the carillon".

History

Notable collections of preludes

See also

References

Further reading