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2 of 30 tracks have a preview · 7 works · 76:26

24 Préludes, Op. 28Frédéric Chopin 24 movements32:44
1. 1 No. 1 in C major – Agitato :28
2. 2 No. 2 in A minor – Lento 1:51
3. 3 No. 3 in G major – Vivace :52
4. 4 No. 4 in E minor – Largo 1:11
5. 5 No. 5 in D major – Allegro molto :33
6. 6 No. 6 in B minor – Lento assai 1:37
7. 7 No. 7 in A major – Andantino :48
8. 8 No. 8 in F sharp minor – Molto agitato 1:41
9. 9 No. 9 in E major – Largo 1:08
10. 10 No. 10 in C sharp minor – Allegro molto :28
11. 11 No. 11 in B major – Vivace :29
12. 12 No. 12 in G sharp minor – Presto 1:15
13. 13 No. 13 in F sharp major – Lento 2:43
14. 14 No. 14 in E flat minor – Allegro :26
15. 15 No. 15 in D flat major – Sostenuto 4:03
16. 16 No. 16 in B flat minor – Presto con fuoco 1:12
17. 17 No. 17 in A flat major – Allegretto 2:22
18. 18 No. 18 in F minor – Allegro molto :50
19. 19 No. 19 in E flat major – Vivace 1:16
20. 20 No. 20 in C minor – Largo 1:52
21. 21 No. 21 in B flat major – Cantabile 1:23
22. 22 No. 22 in G minor – Molto agitato :40
23. 23 No. 23 in F major – Moderato :59
24. 24 No. 24 in D minor – Allegro appassionato 2:37
25 Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49 Frédéric Chopin 12:16
26 Impromptu No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 29 Frédéric Chopin 3:42
27 Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp major, Op. 36 Frédéric Chopin 6:14
28 Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major, Op. 51 Frédéric Chopin 4:41
29 Fantasy-Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. post. 66 Frédéric Chopin 4:42
30 Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat major, Op. 61 Frédéric Chopin 12:07

This CD was released on 1 March 2010, marking the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth. It gathers a unique compilation: everything Chopin wrote under the designations fantasy and impromptu, works into which he poured both love and intensity.

It also includes the only work in which he composed in every key, creating a sound world to characterise every tonality: the magical and comprehensive Preludes, Op. 28, Chopin’s own homage to Bach.

In the artist’s words

1 March 2010 marks the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth. The genesis of this recording was to assemble a number of the composer’s most attractive and original works as a mark of homage to one of the most outstandingly innovative and important composers for the piano who has ever lived. The CD contains a unique compilation: everything that Chopin ever wrote involving the designations, fantasy and impromptu, works into which he poured both love and intensity. In addition the recording includes the only work in which Chopin composed in every key, creating a sound world to characterise every tonality: the magical and comprehensive preludes Opus 28, Chopin’s own homage to Bach.

The twenty-four Preludes were written between 1835 and 1839 though the intensity with which Chopin wrote these wonderful gems accelerated in the winter of 1838–1839 when Chopin escaped from the Parisian winter to Majorca with the turbulent George Sand and her equally troubling children. Historically, a prelude was a brief, often improvised, introduction to some larger work, setting the mood, and perhaps more prosaically testing the quality or tuning of the instrument. In Chopin’s Préludes, the influence of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Klavier is clear, most obviously in the progression through each of the 24 major and minor keys, though Chopin eschews Bach’s directly chromatic coverage in favour of the more artistically subtle principle of key relativity through the cycle of fifths. This connection underscores the astonishing changes in idiomatic keyboard writing in the mere one hundred years since Bach’s achievement.

A more subtle influence resides in Chopin’s characterisation of each key: the arpeggiated harmonies of C major; the melancholy of B minor; the serene warmth of F sharp major; the grave strength of C minor; or the pastoral quality of F major. Chopin was a master of the compositions which had focussed, miniaturised intensity, giving each prelude the concentration of a mood or idea.

The Fantasy in F minor was composed in 1841, when Chopin was 31 years old. It was dedicated to Princess Catherine do Souzo, a pupil of Chopin of whom he remained fond and continued to teach until his death. This masterpiece is structured in an advanced kind of sonata-rondo form of Chopin’s invention and it opens with a kind of ethereal funeral march which dissolves into a series of harmonic shifts before revealing the work’s main theme, a hauntingly lyrical melodic line which will appear in three keys throughout the work.

Composed between 1837, when the first impromptu appeared, and 1843, when the third impromptu was written, the works which bear the name impromptu have certain features in common. All have some sense of improvisational fluidity in keeping with the word impromptu’s original sense. All have a certain lightness to them redolent of the nineteenth-century salon which was the most comfortable environment for Chopin himself as a performer. All four works are structured in a highly discernible ternary form where lyrical middle sections express extreme creative contrast to the more florid outer sections.

At the time of writing this astonishing work, which was published in 1846, Chopin famously wrote, ‘I am writing something I do not know how to name’. Dedicated to one of his pupils, a not infrequent practice with Chopin, this work ranks amongst the greatest of his mature output. In the very opening moments the nature of the title is made explicit: the arresting rhythmically-dotted polonaise fragment followed immediately by the arpeggiated fantasy which covers nearly the entire gamut of the keyboard. Structurally, harmonically and in the rapidity of cascading emotional changes, this work predicts the experimentation of a later century. In it Chopin is prophet, poet and visionary architect.

— Ian Holtham

Reviews

One of the more lasting celebrations of Chopin’s 200th birthday comes in this solid exploration of the master piano composer’s work.

— Clive O’Connell, The Age 48 Hours

Artists

Ian Holtham

piano

Professor Ian Holtham is one of Australia’s most distinguished and highly regarded pianists and pedagogues. His performances of the great Classical and Romantic repertoire have drawn packed houses and strong critical acclaim for many years.

Frédéric Chopin

composer

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period. He wrote almost exclusively for the piano and remains one of its defining poetic voices.

Digital booklet

Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDF

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$25.00 AUD

Compact disc

Buywell Music Australian Music Centre

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Apple Music

Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Ian Holtham · piano

Technical credits

Contributor Benjamin Thomas
Recording Engineer Thomas Grubb
Editing Engineer Thomas Grubb
Venue Melba Hall

Details

List price: $25.00 AUD
Total playing time: 76 minutes 26 seconds
Release date: 1 Mar 2010
Categories: Classical, Keyboard
Genre: Romantic & Impressionist
Catalogue: MD 3336
EAN: 9314574333626

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