Article 2 Preludes.pdf

8/11/2019 Article 2 Preludes.pdf

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24 preludes voor pianouit de vroege virtuozentijd, 1790-1835

Een aanzet tot een genealogie van de 24 preludes van vr Chopins opus 28,

deel 2

Jeroen Riemsdijk

Until now there has not been done any research on the field of 24 preludes writtenprior to the Prludes opus 28 by Chopin. In his previous article Jeroen Riemsdijk hasinventoried twenty-five collections of preludes, from which seven form cycles of 24

preludes through all keys. Most of these collections of preludes are connected to theart of preluding. The fashion of the day was the style brillant. The central questionof this present article is, which collection of 24 preludes, written before Chopins opus28, are suitable for an integral performance as a cycle. Of the seven cycles of 24

preludes three form instruction albums in theart of preluding, two albums seem lostand from the two larger Parisian collections, at least one is suitable for an integral

performance.

The Friday-evening soirees that took place in 1829 and 1830 at theresidence of Joseph Christoph Kessler in Warsaw, where visited

by young Frderic Chopin en the two became close friends. On

those evenings musician friends often where side reading

scores and Chopin got familiar with the newest music of that

time, but also with chamber music by Beethoven. Kessler was

about ten years older than Chopin and beside music he hadstudied philosophy. The two discussed music and art and visited

each others concerts.1

Kessler had written his 24 Studiesopus 20 in 1825, and when he moved to Warsaw in1829, Chopin got familiar with them. In that same year Chopin started writing his firststudies culminating in his 12 Studies2,opus 10, a series he had almost completedwhen he arrived in the autumn of 1831 in Paris. Kesslers Studieshave left their markson the first Studies,opus 10 by Chopin.3Liszt wrote in 1838 in a letter to Kessler:years ago, my dear Sir, I worked a good deal on your beautiful Studies, and ever

since I have always followed all your publications with a lively interest. My dear

friend Chopin too has very often spoken to me about you, and it would be a great

pleasure for me to know you personally.4

Kessler only lived for a short period of time in Warsaw; because of the Polish

revolution, he moved in November 1830 first to Breslau, and afterwards for a longer

period to Lemberg, where he had lived before he went to Warsaw. As musician hetherefore had his career far away from the hot spot Paris. Lemberg, now called Lviv,was considered, like Saint Petersburg, as one of the foremost musical centres of

Eastern Europe.

Kessler honouredtheir friendship by

dedicating his 24

Prludesopus 31 toChopin. Chopin

from his side

dedicated the German edition of his 24 Preludes, opus 28 a mon ami Kessler.5Halina Goldberg6has found some striking parallels between the 24Prludesand 24


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tudesof Kessler and the 24Prludesof Chopin. Kesslers 24Prludesare shortworks, often just a couple of bars long. The first fivePrludesonly contain 8 bars anda single one is 28 bars long. This small volume goes beyond the usual didactic

purpose of the preluding albums with its advanced display of original technical

challenges, which are in fact mono-thematic miniature studies7. They are short

sketches with more complex passagework, chords and embellishments. They have noparticular value as separate character pieces and certainly for an integral cyclic

performance the compositions seem too casual.8The keys have no order and start

brutally in F sharp major instead of the usual C major.

Kessler is one of the at least seven composers who have written a cycle 24 preludes

for piano before the publication of Chopins opus 28.

1814 Johann NepumukHummel

1821 Wilhelm Wrfel

1822 Henri Herz

1820/25 ca Charles Chaulieu

1827 Friedrich Kalkbrenner

1834 Joseph Kessler183? Wojciech (Albert) Sowinski


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Chopins 24 Prludes, opus 28 where first published in 1839. Chopin composed hisfirst one, no. 7 in A-major at the end of 1835. Before travelling to Mallorca he had

worked on most others. During his stay at Mallorca he composed the remaining four

or five and refined the rest.

9

His 24 Preludes have a special position among his oeuvreas well as among all existing 24 preludes. His 24Prludeshave inspired manycomposers after him to write for this genre. The question I try to answer in this essay

is, if some cycles of 24 preludes written before the publication of Chopins opus 28

have the quality to be performed integral on concert as a cycle. The published

preludes written between 1790 and 1835 usually are meant as didactic works in the

art of preluding.

As far as known, the first cycle of 24 preludes for piano10is written by pianist-

composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Kessler was, like many of his contemporary

pianist colleagues, a great admirer of Hummel en had dedicated his 24 Studies to him

in the hope, to win his attention and favour. Hummel, Kapelmeister at that time inWeimar, rejected the question, if he could teach the 26 years old Kessler, in a short,sober letter. Dear Mr Kessler, I am, very sorry not to be able to grant your wish; my

occupations dont allow me even to teach my son. Therefore it is certainly not

possible to accept strangers. I therefore apologise myself. Sincerely, Hummel.11

This

to great disappointment of Kessler.

Young Chopin knew some piano works by Hummel already before Hummel came to

perform in Warsaw in 1828. On the Friday evening soirees at Kesslers residence, also

works by Hummels were performed. Ferdinand Hiller, pupil of Hummel, kept Chopin

in Paris updated about the wellbeing of his master. Hummel-biographer Mark Kroll

calls him mentor of Chopin.12 Hummel was regarded a genius improviser, like

Beethoven. When Chopin made his debut in Vienna, his improvising, was appreciated

by a critique as equally striking as of his two celebrated colleagues. Chopin often ledhis pupils play works by Hummel. Hummel toured more then any of his

contemporaries, in fact creating a model for the contemporary travelling artist, and

was a innovator in the commercial aspects of the musical business, like

advertisement, PR and copyright.13He was one of the most sought after teachers in

Europe and in fact the most popular composer at his time, the appearance of every

new composition considered as a great event by his critics, the audience and the

musicians around him.

14


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1833 and 1835 he was editor of the magazineLe pianist. Chaulieu was one of theguests who attained the debut concert of Chopin in Paris on the 26

thof February 1832.

All cycles of 24 preludes by Hummel, Kessler and Chaulieu are short pieces, sketches

and models in the improvisatory preluding style, and have no significance as musical

pieces of their own. They are not character pieces, without melodies or evenfragments of melodies.

Zielinski mentions in his Chopin-biography the existence of a collection ofStudies inthe form of Preludes trough all major and minor tonalities15by Wilhelm Wrfeldating from 1821. Librarian Andrzej Spz of the musical library WTM in Warsaw

wrote me, that in Poland there are no examples of this cycle available. The only

known place where they are mentioned is in the article by L. Letronne in 1821 in the

Warsaw Couries, no 92. The catalogue of the National Library of Vienna, the city

where Wrfel lived and worked later, has several scores of Wrfel, but not his 24Studies in the form of Preludes.

Wrfel most likely played a significant role in the musical education of youngChopin, as a pianist. Bohemian born Vclav Vilm (Wilhelm) Wrfel (1791-1832)

taught piano and organ at Elsners Academy of Music. There are no documents that

could give an indication about the sort of lessons that Wrfel gave to Chopin.

Biographer Zielinski suggests that the general opinion that Chopin was mainly

autodidact could well be completely untrue and is even most unlikely.16

Most

likely there was someone, who took care of Chopins development as pianist, and this

person could have been very well Wrfel.17For sure, Chopin took organ lessons with

him and this gives enough reason to believe that he got as well consultations on hispiano playing. Wrfel, who was a first rate pianist, gave the young Frederic valuable

suggestions and remarks in the new virtuoso techniques of his time and took care ofhis development in piano playing. He gave him also lessons on the organ and made

him familiar with the international contemporary piano repertoire of the style

brilliant18

that was the fashion of the days. Wrfel played a role at the debut concert

of Chopin in Vienna, where Wrfel had become in the meantime second conductor of

the Krtnertorntheater. The VingtExercises et Prludesby Maria Szymanowska aresubstantial compositions and Wrfel might have known those in the time he lived in

Warsaw. He wrote his collection one year after hers. It could mean, that his cycle also

go beyond the pure pedagogic intentions of the art of preluding, presented in thesmall pieces of preludes, but this is for the moment only a presumption.

Until now, also the score of the Vingtquatre prludes et exercises dans tous les tonmajeurs et mineurs, opus 20 by Wojciech(Albert) Sowinski I have not found. Besidesbeing pianist Sowinski was journalist and he had asked Chopin to be the Warsaw

correspondent for the Revue Musicale. Sowinski was one of the first Polish

connections when Chopin arrived in Paris and he was one of the pianists who

performed on Chopins debut concert in Paris. Kalkbrenner had programmed his

Polonaiseopus 93.19 The original score for piano and orchestra was arranged for intotal six pianists. Kalkbrenner performed with Chopin the two solo parts and four

pianists, including Sowinski, did the accompaniment on pianos. Chopin played his

part on what he called a monochord20

and had Kalkbrenner playing on a grandpiano. All four Paris composers of 24 preludes where present at this concert.

Chaulieu and Herz where among the audience and Kalkbrenner and Sowinski whereperforming on stage.


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The two collections of 24 preludes written before Chopins opus 28 who have the

potential to be performed as a cycle are of the two foreign Parisian pianist-

composers (in this order) Henri Herz and Friedrich Kalkbrenner. That is not because

of the larger scale of their 24 preludes, but also the way they end their cycle. Herz

ends his collection with a Fugue and Kalkbrenner with an extensive Fantasy in three

parts. Forms that usually are not part of the genre of preludes, though the rules forwhat is a prelude is not precisely defined. 21

The names of Kalkbrenner and Herz often occur, when the Paris piano scene in the

twenties and thirties of the nineteenth century is mentioned. Kalkbrenner (1885) is

almost a generation older then Herz (1803) and both studied at the Paris

Conservatory, though where not French born. Herz was born in Vienna and

Kalkbrenner had spent his early youth at courts in Kassel and Berlin and both had

strong connections with piano firms. Herz was connected toErardand had later hisown piano firmHerz. Kalkbrenner was aPleyel-representative. Herz had hisDactylion and Kalkbrenner his Guide-mains. Both where teacher and businessman

and composed opera phantasies and variations.

Chopin chose to consult Kalkbrenner initially he admired him tremendously soon

after his arrival in Paris, and not Herz. Kalkbrenner was seen as the star pianist in

Paris during those years. Until Chopin22 only in a certain way - and a few years later

especially Liszt and Thalberg23took over the torch.

Henri Herz completed hisExercices et Prludes pour Piano dans tous les tonsmajeurs et mineurs,opus 21 in 1822, when he was nearly twenty. That Herz dedicatedhis volume to Hummel is significant. The preludes by Herz are of a different orderthen those by Hummel and a first view at the score shows instantly the large

ambitions and pretentiousness of Herz. With this collection he seems to give hispianistic answer on the 24 Vorspieleby Hummel and he shows certainly his playingcards. Nevertheless there are only seven years between the publication of the two

cycles.

Prior to the publication of Chopins opus 28 preludes and exercises occasionallyappeared as one collection. Such albums by Sowinski and Wrfel where preceded by

Maria Szymanowska, an excellent pianist who worked later in Saint Petersburg. Hercompositions left their marks on those of young Chopin. Her 24Exercises et Prludes(1820) are not so much instruction pieces but rather character pieces and can be

considered, with the Prludes by Kessler as the main inspiration for Chopins opus

28.

24

In 1825 twelve of them where separately published as a collection of tudes.The first English edition of the 24Prludesby Chopin in 1841 were, like the Studiesopus 10 and 25, published in two volumes. On the front page is written: This work

forms book 5 & 6 of Chopins Grand Studies.25It is an indication that by that time

both etudes and preludes where considered of didactic nature and a clear

distinction was not yet evident. Of theExercises and Preludesby Herz, no 2(repetition technique), no 19 and 17 (pass over

the hands), no 10, 13 and 16 (brilliant

passagework), no 17 (legato) and no 21

all are etude-like. The 2nd

prelude withits repetition notes is composed just after

the introduction of ErardsDoublechappement. From our present view these Exercices et


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Prludes can easily been seen as a cycle of 24 preludes. Many of the later albumswith 24 preludes after Chopin contain challenging Etude-passages.

The first prelude in C give a clear message to the kind of virtuosity that is expected in

the rest of the album, and is an exposition of brilliant passage-techniques and

modulation-techniques.

About half of the 24Exercises and Preludes26have a unity of thematically material,while others are more of a loose and improvisatory nature.

Remarkable is, that some of the musical ideas are anticipating later piano

compositions by Liszt and Chopin. In some cases the similarities are too obvious to

ignore.

Prelude no. 5 in E flat major resembles

Liszt first piano concerto in E-flat major.Remarkably.

And what about the chromatic sequences in Prelude no 11, which resembles the Study

opus 10 no 3 as if Chopin has copied it instantly.

The thematically relationship of Prelude no 22 in c sharp minor with Chopins Prelude

in c-minor is something remarkable.


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The cycle finishes with a fugue, which gives a dignifying and serious ending of the

collection. Also the last movement of his Sonata di Bravouraopus 200 Herzintroduces a beginning of a fugue.

With his cycle Herz has transformed the art of preluding to a new stage of pianistic

bravoura with extended theatrical, flamboyant and creative passagework. But do his

24Exercises et Prludeshave enough substance to stand as 24 pieces that could be

performed as a cycle on a concert? Many of the 24 Preludes have enough strength andcharacter to stand on their own, without being an introduction to other compositions.

Nevertheless, there are preludes that stay in line with the traditional way of preluding,

with up and down rolling scales and passages, without any dramatic narrative content.


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When the listener though is willing to accept such parts in this cycle, a complete

performance could be considered.

Herz doesnt mention any pedagogic purpose in his cycle, what is understandable

seen the young age he composed the album. A purpose that have the other (24)

preludes before Chopins opus 28. Are the techniques refreshing and new in that timeand do they point to the approach of Chopin and Liszt, his many variation works and

Phantasies, his oeuvre count 224 official works, looses this freshness and innovative

spirit very soon, and his works where fanatically criticised by serious composers

like Schumann.

Friedrich Kalkbrenners Vingt quatre prludes dans tous les tons majeurs et mineurs,pouvant servir dExemple pour apprendre a prluder, opus 88 from 1827,serveaccording to the title as examples to learning the art of preluding.

The first two preludes pass quickly and the last three preludes are lengthy; the last

prelude even is a multi-paged Phantasie in three parts. This 24thpreludes does not

refer to the traditional preluding in the sense of resembling an improvisedintroduction but to the wider definition of the French prluder, what means

improvising in a more general way.27 Also the twenty-second and third preludes

have an unusual length for what was common fashion in this genre.

The first 16 Preludes have mainly one musical idea, but from no 17 on, the preludesbecome more whimsical and several themes and characters are worked out in one

piece, one time using an A-B-A-form.

Many of Kalkbrenners preludes

are contrapuntal.28

Like prelude no

8.

Other preludes show elements of

Etudes with brillant Jeu perl-passagework. One therefore could speak of Brilliant

preludes.

Timbrell writes in his French pianism, that the term jeu perl in France is firstmentioned in context of the playing style of Thalberg. Though it was already year

before that Meyenbeer in his diaries mentions jeu perl when he is describing thepiano playing of Kalkbrenner. Timbrell

calls Kalkbrenner the Grandfather of

the French Pianoschool.

A single time the belcanto-melody in

Bellini style can be found. Prelude no

17 bar 16-21.


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Only one prelude reminds of the virtuoso kind of preluding. Prelude no 20.

A critic of that period writes, that if one can play flawless scales, one will find noserious technical problem when playing Kalkbrenners works. Kalkbrenner considers

himself as Classical composer. Indeed, Kalkbrenner stand with one foot in the late-classical style, being a student of Albrechtsberger and Haydn. When Gottschalk made

his debut in Salle de Pleyel in March 1845, his vanity didnt allow Kalkbrenner to

join Chopin afterwards to congratulate Gottschalk. Next day Kalkbrenner received

Gottschalk on audience at his residence. Kalkbrenner congratulated him and

commented: But I dont like the music you played Chopin, Liszt and Thalberg.

They are not classical. With Stamaty you should perform my music. That is classical.

And besides, everybody loves it.29On the other hand, his first Piano Concerto from

1823, that made him famous as pianist and composer throughout Europe, is certainlyof strong influence of the concertos by Chopin. As composer of such concerto he

stand therefore also with the other foot in the Romantic area.

All of his 24Prludes, opus 88 show a great improvisatory ease and are full ofsequenced passagework. They are rhythmically rather poor. Although one can sense

the improvisatory character all the time, his preludes are all compositions more

consistent then those by Herz, where many of his 24Exercises et Prludesarerhapsodic and fragmentary. The pedagogic title is for the vain Kalkbrenner

remarkable modest. KalkbrennersPrludesform a representative cycle worth to beperformed integral on the concert stage or as separate pieces.

Beside this album of 24PrludesKalkbrenner composed some nine more preludes atthe end of his Trait, that were published in 1849, the year of his death.30These

models of preludes are more scholar and didactic of nature compared to his opus 88.

Although Kalkbrenners Introductions composed before variations and phantasies

could be considered as examples of the art of preluding (as Czerny considered

already), his introductions and preludes show a different nature. Introductions in

general are usually used to increase musical tension and mood, before the main theme

starts and are less free and open ended then many of the preludes of that period beforeChopins opus 28.


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In the period Kalkbrenners opus 88 were published, in 1827, young Liszt had written

his first version of the 12 Studies. It seems, Liszt had considered naming his StudiesPrludes, but in the end only the first piece remained a Preludio. Liszt had

ambitious plans for writing 48 Studies. His early version of the 12 Studies seem poor

compared with his later version of 12 Grande Etudes and Etudes dExecution

Trascendante, but they hold place compared with many of his contemporary preludesand studies and for a young man of about 15 years they are nevertheless brilliant.

The 24 preludes, opus 28 by Chopin are different from all his precursors. Zielinski

speaks about a kaleidoscope and encyclopaedia of moods31, motley of musical

images, colours and playing techniques. The 24 preludes by Kalkbrenner form a

worthily precursor by those of Chopin. The cycles of 24 preludes written after

Chopins opus 28 are by no means anymore didactic works in the art of preluding.

With Chopin as one of the main sources of inspiration, the cycle of 24 preludes hasgrown unto a respected genre, which is beloved especially by composers, who are

decent or even excellent pianists.

Source list

Brown, Maurice J. E. The Chronology of Chopin's Preludes in The Musical TimesAugust 1957 Chopin, Frederic Chopins LettersDover Publications New York1931/1988 Eigeldinger, Jean-Jaques, Twenty-four preludes opus 28: genre, structure, significance in: Chopin Studiesed,

by J. Samson Camebridge University Press 1988.

Gerig, Reginald,Famous Pianists and their techniqueIndiana University Press 1974/2007 Goldberg, Halina,Music in Chopins Warsaw Oxford University Press 2008 Kalkbrenner,Trait dharmonie du pianiste, principes rationelles de la modulation pour apprendre a preluder

et a limproviser. Heuwekemeyer 1980 Kallberg, Jeffrey, Small forms: in defence of the prelude in: The Cambridge Companion to Chopin,

Cambridge University Press 1992.

Kroll, Mark,Johann Nepomuk Hummel a musicians life and worldThe Scarecrow Press, Inc 2007 Levesque, Shane, Functions and Performance Practice of Improvised Ninetheenth-Century Piano Preludes,

Dutch Journal of Music TheoryVol. 13 No. 1 Febr. 2008 Amsterdam University Press. Nautsch,Hans,Friedrich Kalkbrenner. Wirkung und Werk, Dissertatie Hamburger Beitrge zur

Musikwissenschaft 1983.

Pyllemann, FranzMittheilungen ber J.C. Kesslerin:Algemeine Musikalische ZeitungVII Jahrgang nr. 121872

Golos George S. Some Slavic Predecessors of Chopin in: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 4, 1960. Timbrell, CharlesFrench Pianism. A Historical perspectiveKahn & Avrill London 1992/99. Woodring, Valerie, By Way of Introduction: Preluding by 18th- and Early 19th-Century Pianists inThe

Journal of Musicology, Vol. 14, No. 3, 1996, pp. 299-337 University of California Press. Zielinski, Tadeusz A., Chopin Sein Leben, sein Werk, seine Zeit, Schott 2008.

1Goldberg p 193 Chopin had attained Kesslers concert where he performed the Pianoconcerto in E by

Hummel en Kessler was one of the priveledged guests who attained the performance of Chopins newly

composed e-minorpiano concertoat Chopins residence, that took place on 22 september 1830 . The

accompanement was a score reduction for small ensemble.2Although Kesslers Studies opus 20 where popular, he never has received revenues from sales fromhis Viennese Publisher Haslinger. Also Chopin didnt receive any money from Haslinger who

published his opus 2. Haslinger was willing to publish his variations opus 2, but because Chopin was

still an unknown artist in Vienna in that time Haslinger didnt want to pay a single penny.3Goldberg p. 194.

4AMZ, p 186.

5The French and English edition are dedicated to C. Pleyel. On the manuscript to Fontana the name J.

C. Kessler has been scrached and replaced by Mr Camille Pleyel, par son ami.6Goldberg, p 195-199.

7Goldberg p. 195.

8The polish publisher Ferdinand Gajewski, who had reprinted the work in 1994, suggests to perform

the cycle as a whole. I dont share his opinion. As publisher it is understandable to promote his edition.9

Brown, p 42310When we take cembalo into acount, most likely the first 24 preludes are composed by Georg

Andreas Sorge in the period 1740-1750.


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