Carmen - Prelude

Description

From a brilliant procession to the bullring to the ominous "fate" motif, light and dark trade places abruptly in the Prelude to Bizet's Carmen, heard here in a solo piano arrangement. The opera was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1875, and before the curtain rises this prelude previews several of its main musical ideas.

The first part opens with brilliant, lively music evoking the procession to the bullring, followed by the melody known as the song of the toreador Escamillo. The second part turns abruptly to the ominous "fate" motif, played over tremolo; as the tension rises it breaks off and leads straight into Act 1.

Its 1,888 notes in about 2 minutes 45 seconds in this data make for considerable density, and it is rated advanced. Recreating the orchestral sound on the piano brings a continuous run of fast repeated notes, chords and leaps across a wide range. The range in this data runs from A-flat 1 to A6, which does not fit on a 61-key keyboard. Distinguishing the brilliance of the first part from the dark tension of the second is the heart of the piece. Slow the playback to check the chord shapes, and section off the tremolo passage of the second part with an A-B loop for practice.

A collection of preludes not tied to a specific set, featuring short, evocative works by composers from Bach to more modern voices.