The Prelude op 20 no 15, one of Chopin’s 24 Preludes in every major and minor key, is a miraculous example of Chopin’s amazing virtuosity in translating human emotions to piano music. It is better known as the Raindrop Prelude, due to the repeating A-flat that appears throughout the piece and sounds like raindrops to many listeners.
Within this rather short piece - even if it is one of the longest of the preludes - Chopin manages to build up two entirely different atmospheres, using the same obsessively repeated note. The C-sharp minor section begins rather suddenly in measure 28, and with it the piece changes from something peaceful and serene into something much darker. Listeners and music historians have likened it to a beautiful dream that turns into an oppressive nightmare, which is a very appropriate description for this work. The feeling of uneasiness present in the middle part is made even stronger by the serene calm and beauty of the first 27 measures. The first theme is reintroduced towards the end of the prelude, giving it a peaceful ending. The repeating A-flat (written as G-sharp in the middle, ominous section) never stops throughout the piece.
I think the Raindrop is the prelude op.28 n.15 do you agree with me? What recording would you suggest me of it? I have Horowitz's, Rubinstein's, Pollini's and Ashkenazy's. Do you have also suggestions on how to play it?
How should I play the 9th bar in Chopin's Prelude no. 15?
The left hand is stressed from low D to F. My hand is just not big enough for that. Should I play the F with my right hand? If so there is another problem of the inconsistancy of tone as the piece progresses.
Im just having a look through the Raindrop prelude, and Iv think Im up for giving it a try. Iv previously done preludes 4, 6 and 20, and have 9 and 7 work in progress.
Although its quite a bit longer than these others, nothing is phasing me yet. However, Im a little unsure about the fingering in the opening them. Is it meant that the RH plays just the melody, with the LH taking care of the rest?
Assistence would be much appreciated at this point, as Im think Im playing this in an unnecessarily tricky way!
Hi everyone. This is my second post here (I think ). I started piano last december, and began my weekly lessons in januari. I have been playing guitar for 9-something years and also have some drumming experience. Through coincidence my love for classical music fired up only a couple of months before starting the piano. I always enjoyed it (my sister studied among other things piano at a conservatory) but never really actively listened to it myself. I always thought the piano was a superiour instrument for playing classical considering the amount that was composed for it compared to classical guitar (only my humble opnion). So I finally started playing the instrument that I've been hearing my sis' play for many years. My teacher pushes my quite a bit regarding the level I'm at, and the level of the pieces he gives me. So after a couple of pieces I started the raindrop prelude. I've been playing it for some weeks now still improving, because there is still so much I can improve on in this piece. Anyways this is the progress I made so far. I know I still need to work on getting it cleaner and more lyrical a lot, but I would really like to hear some opnions and tips/criticism of the people here. Also I have no experience recording and it makes quite nervous (even when recording guitar I sometimes still do!) which I can really tell (short memory lapses, uncertainty in my playing). I hope I didn't butcher it for you . Hope hearing some replies!
just have a little problem understanding the 3rd bar with the long quads. do you play the left hand fingering 1,1, with the thumb of the left hand? or one with the left and one with the right. do the writers of the music write like this to show you that you play notes in the treble and notes in the bass keeping with the left hand. sorry if this is an ambiguous question. these note structures are a little confusing, common sense should tell me since they are in the bass clef but i just want to check. if i knew how to post the music i would show you what i mean but someone will know what i am asking thanks.
From my limited knowledge, to me it is a sad Chopin, sad that his wife and her child have gone for a walk and he misses them, and the raindrops are aggravating him as he composes. As he takes more notice of the raindrops, thunder starts to roll in the distance and it eventually overwhelmes the sound of the rain. Suddenly paranoia hits him: it's been a long time since his spouse and her child left for their walk and they haven't returned, and the storm outside ignites thoughts in his head that they might be in danger. Just as he realises he is deluding himself, they return, and now the rain means nothing to him: he takes no notice of it anymore. He finishes his composition happy that he can be with them again.
That is the story I envisage when I play this piece. I remember reading that he composed this piece when he was on the island (malaga maybe?) that he was sent to to help with his breathing difficulties (can't remember the illness he was diagnosed with), and the island had a lot of rainy weather, not sunny at all which is what he thought it would be like.
So back to the topic title and question: what does the raindrop prelude convey to you? Henrah Henrah
I recorded this yesterday. It is still not perfect, but I never could play this without any slip, I guess. Still, it ended up quite near my idea for this piece. I've began paying much more attention to tempo in these last times, after some opinions I received here and before posting here, so it is still a bit unsteady, but I think better anyway than what I used to do. Please, tell me everything you can think of to help me improve.
Hi, this is me playing Chopin Prelude No. 15 at my house. I started playing about one year ago. The playing isn't perfect, it has mistakes on 00:44, 3:27 and in 4:04 I played the notes too forte instead of piano and crescendo (though I still do the crescendo). Besides those mistakes, this is pretty much how I interpretate it. I don't know, I guess I get nervous about the camera. Please comment what do you think of it. Greetings
This recording was made in November, my exam was in March- so as you can imagine it's early stages, but it's all I have online atm. If you excuse the stilted introduction, your comments are appreciated
(Depressingly, I've lost that ring and that bracelet now )
Recorded this last week. With the exception of a couple of mistakes and some slight hesitation towards the end, I was pretty happy with this performance.
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Frédéric Chopin - Preludes :
Piano score: PS Urtext (83 kB) 
Prelude (Raindrop) Op. 28 No. 15 - FREE SAMPLE (mp3 file) 
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