Demystifying Chopin’s Préludes Op. 28: Thoughts on a Musical Genre of the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries and its Theoretical Contexts.

Abstract

Fryderyk Chopin’s 24 Préludes Op. 28 represent a milestone in the development of the piano prelude. Previous analytical studies of these works are characterised by either highlighting Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier as a decisive source of inspiration, sometimes even overemphasising it, and/or mystifying them in view of the density of their musical content and their sometimes cryptic and, at the time of their creation, ultra-modern-seeming musical language (i.e. Leikin 2015 and Tatlow 2020). However, little research has been done on the influence of the art of preluding, which was in decline during Chopin’s lifetime but nevertheless remained alive and widespread and is described in numerous theoretical textbooks of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, has been largely ignored in academic discussions of Chopin’s preludes to this day. In my presentation, I would like to examine music theoretical treatises from the same period that deal with the preluding practice as an essential component of improvisation and highlight key aspects that paved the way for a transformation of the genre of the (secular) piano prelude in the first half of the 19th century (Vierling 1794, Grétry 1801, and Corry, undated [1812?]). By illuminating their music-theoretical context, Chopin’s 24 Préludes Op. 28 will undergo a sober, objective musical analysis that nevertheless seeks in no way to detract from their undeniable depth of poetry and magic