The 24 Preludes, Op. 34 is a set of short piano pieces written and premiered by

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 First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

in 1933. They are arranged following the

circle of fifths In music theory, the circle of fifths (sometimes also cycle of fifths) is a way of organizing pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. Starting on a C, and using the standard system of tuning for Western music (12-tone equal temperament), the se ...

, with one prelude in each major and minor key.

Composition

Shostakovich began composing the preludes in December 1932, shortly after finishing his opera '' Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District''. He completed the cycle in March 1933, and premiered it in Moscow himself in May of the same year. He composed the preludes largely in order to return to public performance. He had stopped performing in 1930, after his failure to place at the 1927 First International Chopin Piano Competition. The Preludes were first published by Muzgiz in 1935, two years after their premiere.

Arrangements

In the 1930s, violinist transcribed 19 of the preludes for violin and piano. Shostakovich stated, "When I hear the transcriptions, I forget meanwhile that I actually composed the Preludes for piano. They sound so violinistic." In 1935,

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

arranged no. 14 for orchestra. In 2000, composer and pianist Lera Auerbach made an arrangement of the remaining five preludes. Pianist

Gintaras Januševičius Gintaras Januševičius (born 16 January 1985) is a Lithuanian pianist, music educator, event producer, radio presenter, and philanthropist. He is renowned for narrative recitals and original interpretations; particularly that of Rachmaninoff, ...

and actor Steven Markusfeld adapted the Preludes to the texts by poet Daniil Charms for their 2022 narrative programme "Damn Black Ice & Giant Cucumbers".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preludes, 24 Compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich 1933 compositions

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 thereafter was regarded ...