24 Préludes, Op.28 & Prélude, Op.45

Description

Hardly any cycle of piano pieces can match the magnetic attraction of Chopin's "24 Préludes", published in 1839. Schumann called them "sketches, beginnings of études, [...] ruins, stray eagle's pinions, all disorder and wild confusion".

Christoph Flamm has critically reevaluated the sources, bringing to light new readings of this well-known musical text. Hardy Rittner, a hammerklavier specialist and two-time winner of the ECHO Classic prize, who has recorded Brahms' piano music and all of Chopin's "Études" on period pianofortes, has supplemented Chopin's fingering from a historically informed perspective. He also provides valuable notes on performance practice, especially with regard to pedalling, rubato, latent polyphony, legato and Chopin's perception of sound.

An aesthetically presented engraving and practical page-turns make this current edition indispensable for today's scholars and performers.

• Urtext edition with new readings
• Notes on performance practice (Ger/Eng)
• With historically informed fingering and practical page-turns
• Informative Foreword (Ger/Eng) and detailed Critical Commentary (Eng)

• Vorwort
• Hinweise zur Aufführungspraxis
• Preface
• Notes on Performance Practice
• Twenty-four Preludes for piano op. 28:
  1. Agitato in C major
  2. Lento in A minor
  3. Vivace in G major
  4. Largo in E minor
  5. Allegro molto in D major
  6. Lento assai in B minor
  7. Andantino in A major
  8. Molto agitato in F sharp minor
  9. Largo in E major
  10. Allegro molto in C sharp minor
  11. Vivace in B major
  12. Presto in G sharp minor
  13. Lento in F sharp major
  14. Allegro in E flat minor
  15. Sostenuto in D flat major
  16. Presto con fuoco in B flat minor
  17. Allegretto in A flat major
  18. Allegro molto in F minor
  19. Vivace in E flat major
  20. Largo in C minor
  21. Cantabile in B flat major
  22. Molto agitato in G minor
  23. Moderato in F major
  24. Allegro appassionato in D minor
• Prelude for piano op. 45
  • Sostenuto in C sharp minor
• Critical Commentary