Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849).
Daguerreotype taken around 1847
Collage
(On the Prelude n. 20 and the 24 Preludes by Chopin)
Para PianoCommentary
Recording
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Commentary
In November 2014, the Valldemosa Chopin Festival Association had the original idea of asking 24 Spanish composers to compose a very short piece (around a minute and a half long) that was based on one of the 24 Preludes op. 28 by Frédéric Chopin, to be premiered during the 2015 Festival in a concert in which two pianists will alternate the interpretation of Chopin's Preludes with the 24 new pieces written for the occasion.
Cover of the original edition of the 24 Preludes op. 28
by Frédéric Chopin (Ed. Breitkopf & Härtel, 1839)
I arrived in time to choose number 20, my favorite since in 1976 I had to take with it the oral examination for the analysis of the Harmony subject at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid; and after going back to it a few times to provide a starting point for my piece, I soon found a happy coincidence that immediately clarified my ideas.
Frédéric Chopin: Prelude No. 20 from the 24 Preludes op. 28
(Ed. Breitkopf & Härtel, 1839)
| Frédéric Chopin. Prelude op. 28, No. 20 Grigory Sokolov, piano |
Prelude No. 20, fundamentally harmonic-homophonic, actually consists of 12 bars in 4/4, since the 13th is nothing more than a final chord of C minor that "finishes off" the piece without adding anything relevant, given that the true ending has occurred in the sequence VI-II>-V7-I of the previous bar. As there are 24 Chopinian Preludes in total, it was enough for me to adapt to the different harmonies of No. 20 the incipit or the highlight of each one of them in a proportion of two Preludes per measure, with which the last two times of the measure 12 would correspond to Prelude No. 24, in a sort of collage in which Chopin's own music provided all the material for the work. The chord of the last bar, number 13, would serve as the basis for a brief ornamental cadenza in the high register of the piano, thus further evoking the Chopinian flavor of the piece.
First page of Collage
Written in December 2014, Collage was premiered on August 28, 2016 in the Cloister of the Cartuja of Valldemossa, within the 36th Chopin Festival. Its interpreter, Bertomeu Jaume, also starred in its recording on a CD that, together with the 23 works composed on the other Preludes, was published in 2017 by the Produccions Blau label.
Cover and back cover of the CD 24 Preludis per a
Frédéric Chopin (Produccions Blau, 2017)
In 2016 it was included in the album "24 Preludis per a Frédéric Chopin", published by Editorial Piles in Valencia.
Cover of the edition of 24 Preludis per a
Frédéric Chopin (Ed. Piles, 2016)
Recording
Recording: Bertomeu Jaume