24 Preludes and Fugues (Shostakovich) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
After the Second World War, Dmitri Shostakovich was Russia's most prominent composer. Although out of favour with the Soviet communist party, he was still chosen to travel abroad as a cultural ambassador. One such trip was to Leipzig in 1950 for a music festival marking the bicentennial of J. S. Bach's death. As part of the festival, Shostakovich was asked to sit on the judging panel for the First International Bach Competition. One of the entrants in the competition was the 26-year-old Tatiana Nikolayeva from Moscow. 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. She won the gold medal. Inspired by the competition and impressed by Nikolayeva's playing, Shostakovich returned to Moscow and started composing his own cycle of 24 preludes and fugues. Shostakovich worked fairly quickly, taking only three days on average to write each piece. As each was completed he would ask Nikolayeva to come and visit him in his Moscow apartment where he would play her the latest piece. The complete work was written between 10 October 1950 and 25 February 1951. Once finished, Shostakovich dedicated the work to Nikolayeva, who undertook the public premiere in Leningrad on 23 December 1952.
After the Second World War, Dmitri Shostakovich was Russia's most prominent composer. Although out of favour with the Soviet communist party, he was still chosen to travel abroad as a cultural ambassador. One such trip was to Leipzig in 1950 for a music festival marking the bicentennial of J. S. Bach's death.
As part of the festival, Shostakovich was asked to sit on the judging panel for the First International Bach Competition. One of the entrants in the competition was the 26-year-old Tatiana Nikolayeva from Moscow. 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. She won the gold medal.
Inspired by the competition and impressed by Nikolayeva's playing, Shostakovich returned to Moscow and started composing his own cycle of 24 preludes and fugues. Shostakovich worked fairly quickly, taking only three days on average to write each piece. As each was completed he would ask Nikolayeva to come and visit him in his Moscow apartment where he would play her the latest piece.
The complete work was written between 10 October 1950 and 25 February 1951. Once finished, Shostakovich dedicated the work to Nikolayeva, who undertook the public premiere in Leningrad on 23 December 1952.
The structure is: start with C major (all the white notes on a piano keyboard), write a prelude followed by a fugue. Then drop to the relative minor (A minor--again it's all the white notes), write another prelude and fugue, then go up five notes from the C to G (C D E F G), write a prelude and fugue, then do the same for the relative minor (E minor) and on and on until you get back to C.
Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major In unbroken chords and a haunting melody Shostakovich nevertheless evokes the immortal first Prelude of the 48. The tone is wistful, mostly pianissimo and the harmonic language is very much Shostakovich's own, though not a note is out of place. The tone continues in the Fugue, whereas Bach begins with a scaled 4th, Shostakovich has a bleak bare 5th. In contrast to the characteristic harmonic complexity of the prelude, the fugue is written in the purest C major, without a single accidental.
In unbroken chords and a haunting melody Shostakovich nevertheless evokes the immortal first Prelude of the 48. The tone is wistful, mostly pianissimo and the harmonic language is very much Shostakovich's own, though not a note is out of place. The tone continues in the Fugue, whereas Bach begins with a scaled 4th, Shostakovich has a bleak bare 5th. In contrast to the characteristic harmonic complexity of the prelude, the fugue is written in the purest C major, without a single accidental.
Here it is.
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