Prelude No. 15

Question 1

Describe the instrumentation

Answer 1

Piano
Most of the prelude is in the lower/middle register of the piano.
Chopin concentrates on creating a legato sound rather than showing off what the piano can do.
Lots of use of the sustain pedal helps to achieve a legato sound.

Question 2

Structure

Answer 2

Ternary form: A B A (with a little coda)

Question 3

Time sig

Answer 3

4/4 or C

Question 4

Rhythm

Answer 4

4 crotchet beats in a bar.
Interesting septuplet bars 4 and 23 (seven notes in the space of one beat)
Dectuplet in bar 79 (10 notes)
Played legato (smoothly)
Rubato (flexible tempo for expressive effect. Play some bits quicker and then some slower)
Repeated quavers – throughout the piece
Melody begins with a dotted rhythm (repeated throughout)

Question 5

Tonality and Harmony

Answer 5

Section A = Db major. Mainly diatonic harmony with a bit of chromaticism.
Section B = C# minor, which is the tonic minor.
Section A = back to Db major.
Dominant pedal throughout. (Section A this is an Ab, Section B is a G#)

Question 6

Cadences

Answer 6

A and B end with an imperfect cadence.

Prelude ends with a perfect cadence.

Question 7

Genre

Answer 7

One of 24 preludes written by Chopin.
Likely to be performed in a small space (home, recital room, small concert hall)
Romantic music in general:
More expressive and emotional.
Rich, chromatic harmonies.
Modulations became more adventurous.
Technical advances in instruments.
Programme music (descriptive)

Question 8

What is the main texture?

Answer 8

Homophonic

Question 9

What is the texture like in different sections?

Answer 9

Section A: melody in right hand, broken chord in left hand.
Section B: melody in the left hand. Repeated quavers in the right hand (dominant pedal*) Pedal is inverted, which just means it’s played in the top part. More chordal than section A.
Section A: back to the opening texture. 2 bars of monophonic texture in the coda.

Question 10

Melody

Answer 10

Starts with a lyrical melody in the right hand.
Decorated with ornaments (acciaccatura and a turn)
Melody features dotted rhythms and chromaticism.
Section B – melody moves to the bass. Narrower range of notes and made up of some longer notes.
Mostly made up of four and eight bar phrases.

Question 11

Musical features

Answer 11

Careful expressive use of pedals particularly the sustaining
pedal; SOSTENUTO 􀂱 sustained
ACCIACATURA - ‘crushing note’ melodic decoration
PEDAL NOTE - A flat (enharmonic G#)

Question 12

Pitch

Answer 12

Keyboard range is moderate and
keeps to the stave with a few ledger
line notes. The top note is B flat.
Lower pitch is used in Section B.

Question 13

Dynamics

Answer 13

P, Wider range in Section B

Question 14

Tempo

Answer 14

Use of RUBATO (pull back or speed up the tempo to show expression)

Question 15

Name some related composers

Answer 15

Beethoven; Rossini;Tchaikovsky; Berlioz; Franz Liszt

Question 16

be able to fill in notes into a melody

Answer 16

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