Prélude Op.31 No.1

Description

This is the first of Alkan's 25 Préludes, Op. 31, published in 1846, and it opens the set. The collection is sometimes compared to Chopin's contemporaneous preludes, and it shares their habit of packing concentrated harmonic tension into a compact form.

The piece is in C major and 4/4 time. Lasting about 44 seconds with 379 notes, it is a miniature in the strictest sense. A lyrical melodic line runs throughout, but touches of chromaticism are slipped in at key moments, casting a brief shadow over the bright key. The range stays within about two and a half octaves around the middle of the keyboard, so it fits comfortably on a 61-key instrument.

It is rated intermediate. Precisely because it is so short, how you shape the rise and fall of its phrases is what the performance rests on. In the chromatic passages, follow the inner voices by ear and keep the harmony from clouding. Because it is so short, repeated run-throughs cost little. Listening through a few times at a reduced playback speed, and using the hand colours to see which hand carries the melody and which the chords, is a good way to grasp the whole shape before you start playing.

Preludes by Alkan, pairing formidable technical demands with the dense musicality typical of the Romantic era — underappreciated gems.