24 Preludes and Fugues (Shostakovich)
|
|
The 24 Prelude and Fugues (Op 87) of Dmitri Shostakovich are a cycle of piano pieces, written in each major and minor key of the chromatic scale. As such it follows the form of Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier written some 200 years earlier, although the musical style is Shostakovich's own.
Each key is represented by two pieces, a prelude followed by a fugue woven from a musical idea taken from the preceding prelude. The pieces vary in pace, length and complexity, including a five part fugue in No. 13. Unlike Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, in which the pieces are arranged in parallel major/minor pairs ascending the chromatic scale (C major, C minor, C sharp major, C sharp minor etc.), Shostakovich's set proceeds in relative major/minor pairs around the circle of fifths: first C major, then A minor, G major, E minor, D major, B minor, and so on, ending with D minor. (Frederic Chopin's set of 24 preludes is organised in the same way).
The first prelude starts with the same notes as the first prelude from Bach's cycle and there are other references and quotations from Bach to be found in many of the later parts. Of course there are also many references and musical ideas taken from Shostakovich's own work. The complete cycle takes about two and a half hours to play.
History
After the Second World War, Dmitri Shostakovich was Russia's most prominent composer. Although in disfavour with the Soviet communist party, he was still chosen to travel abroad as a cultural ambassador. One such trip was to Leipzig in 1950 for a music festival marking the bicentennial of J. S. Bach's death.
As part of the festival, Shostakovich was asked to sit on the judging panel for a piano competition. One of the entrants in the competition was the 26 year old Tatiana Nikolayeva from Moscow, who won the gold medal.
Inspired by the competition and Nikolayeva's playing, Shostakovich returned to Moscow and started composing his own cycle of 24 preludes and fugues. Shostakovich worked quickly, taking only one or two days to write each piece. As each was completed he would ask Nikolayeva to come and visit him in his Moscow apartment where he would play her the latest piece.
The complete work was written between 10 October 1950 and 25 February 1951. Once finished, Shostakovich dedicated the work to Nikolayeva, who undertook the premiere in Leningrad in December 1952.