''Préludes pour piano'' (''Preludes for piano'') is an early work for piano by the French composer

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 ...

composed in 1928–1929, when the composer was 20 years old. Messiaen considered it to be his first work of any value. The composition is based on Messiaen's

modes of limited transposition Modes of limited transposition are musical modes or scales that fulfill specific criteria relating to their symmetry and the repetition of their interval groups. These scales may be transposed to all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, but at leas ...

, and betrays an influence of

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 ...

's preludes. The pieces were premiered by the composer in a private performance at the Concerts Durand which took place on January 28, 1930. The first public performance was given by

Henriette Puig-Roget Henriette Marie Eulalie Puig-Roget (9 January 1910 – 24 November 1992) was a French pianist, organist and music educator. Biography Born in Bastia, she began her musical studies at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1919. She won 6 first prizes ...

on March 1, 1930, at the

Salle Érard Salle Érard The salle Érard is a music venue located in Paris, 13 rue du Mail in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the hôtel particulier which belonged, from the 18th century, to the family of piano, harp and harpsichord manufact ...

at the

Société Nationale de Musique Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

in Paris.Nigel Simeone, Olivier Messiaen: A Bibliographical Catalogue of Messiaen's Works.

Movements

The work is in eight movements, each accompanied by a description consisting mostly of the associated colors. It takes about 34 minutes to play in full.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preludes 1928 compositions 1929 compositions Compositions by Olivier Messiaen Compositions for solo piano Preludes (music)