Sophia Gorlin

24 Preludes op. 34 for Piano by Shostakovich (cont'd)

IV. Summary—Conclusion

The 24 Preludes op. 34 by Shostakovich holds a special place in the history of the genre of prelude form. In this cycle of 24 piano miniatures, young Shostakovich experimented with different historical styles and with a number of different ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ genres, both ‘pure’ and ‘synthetic’, and at the same time made a successful effort to crystallise his own compositional style and techniques.

The traditions of the genre of preludes that Shostakovich followed in his composition were:

1. The use of the 24 major and minor keys proceeding through the circle of fifths (the tradition begun in Chopin’s Preludes, op. 28, then continued in Scriabin’s Preludes op. 11);9

2. The treatment of The Preludes as untitled ‘programme’ musical compositions [as with many later Shostakovich’s works, the ‘program’ has to be unravelled by the performer/ listener (variance is certainly possible; the reader here is welcome to offer his/her own ‘programme version’ if different from those offered in this article). The Preludes is the early example of Shostakovich’s so called Aesopian language.] The tradition started in Debussy’s two volumes of Preludes (1909-1913); nevertheless, the roots of the ‘programme’ cyclic compositions, especially in Russian music, lie deeper – I would assume, in Pictures from an Exhibition by Mussorgsky (Shostakovich’s admiration for Mussorgsky music is well known; the two most prominent operas by Mussorgsky were orchestrated by Shostakovich). The orchestral treatment of the piano by both Mussorgsky and Shostakovich is another thread connecting the two cyclic piano works. (The orchestrations of the Mussorgsky piece – most famous by Ravel and Stokovsky - are the exemplary orchestrations of the piano piece, and when we listen to The Preludes, for much of the time we might hear orchestral instruments playing.) If we recall the content of the Current Group of The Preludes, we can probably name this set as Pictures from an Exhibition of the Soviet Russia in 1930s – this title would be suitable for many Shostakovich’s later works – the entire history of the Soviet Russia is reflected in them.

The new treatment of the genre of a prelude as shown in Shostakovich’s composition is summarised in the following:

1. Shostakovich never intended the separate pieces of the cycle to be performed independently; firstly, because they are written in a very laconic, aphoristic manner (the longest prelude is 64 bars long; the shortest 21 bars); secondly, because of the high level of integrity of the prelude cycle – a presence of many transcendent elements speaks for that. (The Preludes still can be performed in groups – and they are performed this way often.)

2. If we remember the definition of the genre of a prelude - namely the statement that “the prelude generally features a single rhythmic and melodic motive that is used in every bar throughout the piece” - the significance of input to the genre by Shostakovich becomes clear. As was shown above, the composer, in the majority of the preludes, applies the ‘genre modulation’ feature (most noticeable in the 14 preludes listed above). This means that the set of stylistic patterns for the initial genre gradually or suddenly changes at some point (most often – in the climactic zones); therefore, the principle of a single pattern throughout the piece is no longer applied.

3. In The Preludes (especially in the Current Group of the cycle), the composer-author becomes an ‘invisible’ personage-observer (much like the narrator in the play) who at the end of the story ‘comes out of the closet’, sometimes demonstrates how well he can play with the different stylistic elements (especially ‘artificial’ scales, etc.); then he ‘hides back in the closet’ sending the listeners his final ‘wink’ - a quick ‘lament’ motive. The composer’s presence in almost all preludes, one way or another, is realized through the The Poet speaks episodes that can be found in the codas of many pieces of The Preludes.

4. Shostakovich creates the high-integrity cyclic piece, with many intra-cyclic elements that firmly cement the entire prelude cycle. These elements are marked with the two asterisks in our alphabetic list. In order to bring forward the importance of these ‘cementing’ elements, we will provide here the ‘secondary’ list of just the intra-cyclic stylistic features in The Preludes:

   1. Use of ‘artificial’ scales (solid or broken): 1) chromatic solid scale, 2) chromatically ‘sliding’ up or down, solid or broken (harmonic or melodic) intervals/chords/trichords/tetrachords (sliding effect); 3) whole tone solid scale; 4) whole tone broken scale; 5) whole tone-half tone scale;6) 7-8 tone series (see examples throughout the article).

   2. Lament motives (in most cases, the expression of the composer’s presence in the piece): a descending or ascending second (suspension): downbeat-upbeat structure; the best examples are Preludes Nos. 11 and 12, with the ‘hidden’ lament in the middle voice, in the final bars (the composer’s final ‘wink’) (see examples throughout the article).

   3. Romance motives (inclusive of the ‘lament’ motive, but go beyond it: include an ascending minor sixth from an upbeat (upbeat–downbeat–upbeat structure); the concentration of the romance motives is the Prelude No. 22 (the genre of romance). [It is worthy to demonstrate here how amazingly the ‘genre associations’ may work: the romance motive, used so intensively in The Preludes, emerges ‘unprepared’ in another piano work by Shostakovich written 10 years later - at the culmination of the third movement of the Piano Sonata No. 2 (in the B minor environment, notated as B–G–F#) – bringing the cathartic effect to its climax.10 See Example 32. For the listener who knows well the music of The Preludes, this ‘unexpected’ expression of romance should not sound unprepared - due to the ‘genre associations’ that come to mind almost unconsciously. Once the listener recognizes the motive, the intra-cyclic stylistic feature (on the level of the concrete musical composition) becomes the intra-stylistic feature –on the level of the individual composer’s style.]

   4. Syncopated rhythm at the climactic/‘genre modulation’/transition points; the best examples are Preludes Nos. 3, 17, and 22.

   5. Sequence of ascending/descending fourths that creates a ‘broken’, ‘jumping’ melodic contour, primarily used in the scherzo-preludes – the best examples are Preludes Nos. 9, 11 and 19.

   6. Innovative forms: specifically, the strophic form inclusive of the transitions/ codas (‘genre modulation’/’invasion’ episodes/’The Poet speaks’ phrases); the best examples are Preludes Nos. 3 and 6 (the strong ‘invasion’ episodes); the Prelude No. 12 (the sudden ‘genre modulation’ in the coda which is also the ‘The Poet speaks’ phrase); the Preludes Nos. 22 and 24 (expanded transitions and codas).

   7. Special effects: specifically, the invasion effect (the sudden ‘genre modulation’ in the transitions to codas or in the codas); the best examples are Preludes Nos. 3 and 6.

   8. Genre modulation within the prelude form which means that The Preludes are no longer the single-genre pieces; they are synthetic in their genre origin and demonstrate the genre interaction within the ‘form as process’.11

In The Preludes, there are many instances of the style/genre/motives/forms interconnections between the different preludes in the cycle. In this early work, Shostakovich represents himself as a potentially great dramaturge who is able to structure ‘large-scale’ musical compositions. The best examples of the ‘arch’ elements are:

1. Shostakovich shows a great mastery in the motivic, rhythmic and textural preparation of the most dramatic and significant prelude in the cycle – the Prelude No. 14 (simultaneously, the most synthetic in its genre origin in the prelude cycle). As was shown above, the composer gradually ‘installs’ the most important motives of this prelude - for instance, the ‘lament’ motives can be detected as early as in the Prelude No. 2; and the ‘romance’ motives can be found starting in the Prelude No. 7. In the Prelude No. 13 (F# Major), the appearance of the ‘romance’ motive is especially important for two reasons – firstly, it is in the same key (D# minor – the enharmonic equivalent to the Eb minor); secondly – it appears as a result of the ‘genre modulation’ process which makes it very noticeable and distinctive from the previous thematic material (creates a short but highly contrasting middle part of this 3-part form). There are some other interconnections that prepare thematically the Prelude No. 14 – for instance, tremolos and fanfares in the climactic bars first appeared in the ‘invasion’ episode of the Prelude No. 3.

2. The penultimate Prelude No. 23 (in the style of Neo-Renaissance) obviously arches back to the Prelude No. 1 (in the Neo-Baroque style). The use of the same modes (diminished tetrachords) and a similar type of texture (contrapuntal polyphony, with low bases as organ pedals in the first prelude or as the faux bourdons in the Prelude No. 23) enhance the perception of this Prelude as a distant ‘relative’ of the first prelude of the cycle.

3. As was shown above, the final Prelude No. 24 (in the Neo-Baroque style) is largely linked to other preludes of the cycle (as it should be as an Epilogue of the prelude cycle). With its genre modulation into the instrumental prelude in the Baroque style, it clearly brings to mind the coda of the recent Prelude No. 20 (the genre modulation here is of the same kind – the typical Baroque prelude figurations start in the coda, in bar 26). There is another ‘linkable’ place in this Prelude – this time to the Prelude No. 4 (the Fugue): the ‘genre modulation’ episode where the Ab Major triad appears (bar 40) links to the same triad in the Prelude No. 4 at the ‘invasion’ spot (bar 27). Finally, this prelude launches the obvious arches to the Prelude No. 14, the most dramatic piece in the cycle – with an inclusion of the Eb minor key in the coda, in the first cadence of the gavotte and in the penultimate bar of the piece (see the discussion above).

The above observations clearly demonstrate that The Preludes is a highly integrated cyclic musical composition, the precursor of future Shostakovich’s symphonies – the greatest creations by him.

e) Shostakovich introduced new content to the genre (especially in the Current Group of The Preludes) which was a reflection of his perception of new reality – a new lifestyle of post-revolutionary Soviet Russia in 1930s. This new content – a sarcastic vision and, as a result, a strong tendency to expose things in a distorted, grotesque way – will become an inalienable part of Shostakovich’s mature musical language.12

The 24 Preludes op. 34, written in the early period of Shostakovich’s life, is a crystal-clear reflection of the later, mature Shostakovich’s compositional style. Study The Preludes (and I hope that this article will be an aid to that process) – and you will learn the genuine essence of Shostakovich’s music.

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