24 Preludes in Popular Style after Chopin
Performance notes
These 24 Preludes began their life as live improvisations based on Chopin’s Op.28 Preludes, and have since evolved into a recorded and published version intended for public study and enjoyment. While the inspiration of the project has pedagogical roots – equipping young piano students with the technical vocabulary and stylistic awareness needed to traverse a wide variety of popular genres of music – the pieces are also intended to stand on their own as enjoyable playing or listening experiences.
A few notes regarding stylistic considerations and notational practices:
Style
As classical music is a written tradition, i.e. we refer to the composer’s manuscript or published score to understand their musical ideas, popular music is a largely aural tradition, i.e. we refer to an artist’s recordings or live performances to truly get a sense of their intentions and stylistic inflections.
As such, it is highly recommended to base interpretations of these Preludes on recordings rather than the exact notation in this score. While you may find my own interpretations valuable (released on Albany Records and available on all streaming platforms), I would especially encourage referencing great artists of the past within each given genre to get an authentic sense of how best to navigate each style.
Notation
Even so, great care has been given to specify certain articulations in the written score, so as to better clarify the intended sound. Some common notations utilized and their corresponding implications:
Light and crisp, plucked “up” from the key
Struck with downwards force, harsh
Played with extra weight and depth, supple
Fingerings
Emphasized and heavy, yet still separated
Heavy, sinking down into the keybed
Extremely short and brassy, a “pop”
Used to indicate a barely audible pickup note
All hands are not created equal, so ultimately any fingerings chosen and practiced should be up to the performer, especially younger pianists with smaller hands. That being said, certain fingerings have been included to aid in navigating particularly challenging passages or hand positions that may not be otherwise intuitive. Please feel free to disregard or come up with your own in order to get the most stylistically appropriate sound and comfortable consistency in your own hands.
Please report any public performances to matt.cataldi@gmail.com
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