The Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28, No. 4 by Frédéric Chopin is often regarded as an ideal starting point for those looking to study, interpret, and perform pieces from the Romantic era piano repertoire. This prelude holds the fourth position in Chopin's collection of 24 preludes, Op. 28.
Chopin's teaching lineage led to Cortot in the 20th century, who described that Prelude this way:
"This piece must be played in the mood of a mourner, with the face dimly veiled and the eyes heavy with tears. The beginning should be so quiet as to be hardly perceptible: it should be a mere murmur. In the left hand the finger that establishes the change of harmony should alone emerge a little from the pianissimo. In the right hand there should be nothing but a lament, the lament of a mourner who can no longer lift up his voice"
At the twelfth bar pass from the feeling of sadness to sudden terror. Here it is no longer a question of correctness, of strict time, but of superhuman sorrow. Emphasize the chords of the left hand by thrusting the fingers well into the keyboard, and let the clamour of the right hand reach a kind of frenzy. Then the lament dies away. There is a pause-a long one-and then in the last chords a note of doom..."
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19 мар 2024
