Erato Praeludium

Description

Fischer's Musicalischer Parnassus is made up of suites named after the nine Muses. This prelude opens the suite Erato, named for the Muse of love poetry, and leads into the dances that follow, beginning with the allemande. Setting out the key and mood in a prelude before the dances begin is a common plan in suites of the period.

It is in E minor and 4/4, a short piece of about one minute with just over 300 notes. The right hand has considerably more notes than the left: the right hand strings figures together to keep the music moving while the left marks out the harmonic progression in the bass. Like many Baroque preludes, it traces a sequence of chords through figuration rather than singing a melody.

It is rated intermediate. The range, E2 to A5, fits on a 61-key keyboard. Since the piece is short, put the whole of it in an A-B loop and listen first for where the left-hand bass moves; the right-hand figures are then easier to learn within that harmonic flow. Playing the allemande from the same suite straight after shows how a prelude and a dance differ in character within the same E minor.

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