Blogtrek

Storm: Chopin's Prelude in D-flat Major

This, along with Number 17 (A-flat) and Number 20 (C minor) is one of the more well-known pieces in Chopin's Opus 28. This one, Number 15, is usually called the Raindrop Prelude because of the constant A-flat eighth notes pitter-pattering in the bass like a light rain shower. The beginning and end of this piece are tranquil, something like the F-sharp or A major preludes, like a pretty day out in the garden. But that is not what makes this piece notable. To me the most characteristic part of this prelude is the middle part, a troubled C-sharp minor passage that reminds me either of a bad dream, or of the tranquil day represented by the rest of the piece interrupted by a storm, replete with thunder. I therefore call this one "Storm". It is the longest C-sharp minor passage in the Preludes of Opus 28, even longer than the C-sharp minor (Opus 10) Prelude itself. The song starts tranquilly, with a constant series of A-flat eighth notes, but then all of a sudden during a resolution from an E-flat 7 chord, it not only changes mood but name as well: the A-flats become G-sharps as the piece enters the C-sharp storm. The G-sharps keep pattering away, while an ominous series of chords accumulate in the bass. These eventually resolve into bangs, symbolizing thunder. The storm continues to rage, featuring a strange resolution from G-sharp minor to B augmented and back to G-sharp minor again. After the thunder reaches a climax, the rest of the C-sharp minor part develops melody, perhaps symbolizing the rainstorm and finally calming down and going back to the tranquil part as the G-sharps become A-flats again. The piece naturally has to flip-flop from flats to sharps when it goes into minor; else we have a passage in C-sharp Major (rare) or in D-flat minor (impossible). But to me this transition from flats to sharps also symbolizes the subtle and sudden change of moods from happy to sullen and back again.

It is not too hard to learn; the main problem is that many of the chords have overlapping hands - the highest left hand note is higher than the lowest right hand one. This can cause a good deal of stumbling while playing it for the first few times. This prelude is a good one to put into a program such as Cakewalk - I would insert audio thunderclaps to coincide with the musical ones in the middle part. Although I have found stronger storms in Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony Number 6, in Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite, in Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps or in Andreas Vollenweider's recording from an actual thunderstorm in his album Behind the Garden, I regard this as one of the better preludes of this opus.