Rachmaninov Preludes

[sharonlovespiano]

Hi colleague pianists

I'm looking for some historical background information about Rachmaninov Preludes op. 23 and op. 32. Does anyone of you have some? If yes, could you post it on this forum or send it in a PM?
Thank you!!

Sharon

[visitor]

ABOUT
RECORDINGS
ALBUMS
Musicology:
10 Preludes, Op.23
Key: Gb
Year: 1903
Genre: Prelude / Fugue
Pr. Instrument: Piano
No.1 in F#-
No.2 in Bb
No.3 in D-
No.4 in D
No.5 in G-
No.6 in Eb
No.7 in C-
No.8 in Ab
No.9 in Eb-
No.10 in Gb
These are the first works beyond the Prélude Opus 3 #2 that have a regular place in the standard piano repertoire. Somewhat sparer in texture and less ostentatiously virtuosic than the Moments Musicaux, Opus 16, these Préludes, although nominally in the Chopin tradition, have more in common with Chopin's Études. The majority of them exhibit a simple three-part structure (ABA). #1, f-sharp minor. A slow and haunting melody is sustained above a chromatic left-hand accompaniment. This Prélude shows more of Chopin's influence than most of Rachmaninov's mature pieces. #2, B-flat major. This brilliant, but somewhat bombastic work is an Etude utilizing a wide variety of technical devices. A sonorous right-hand chordal melody is accompanied by sweeping left-hand arpeggios. The lyrical central section reverses the hands' roles by placing the melody in the left hand while the right hand plays rapid broken-chord figurations. An exciting transition leads to the reprise and final fortissimo peroration. #3, d minor. Although marked as a "Tempo di minuetto," this Prélude is more of a march in character. Fairly complex contrapuntally, the piece is enlivened by Rachmaninov's typical rhythmic drive. It makes both subtle and effective use of a variety of articulations. #4, D major. Slow and lyrical, this famous Prélude is something of a Nocturne in character. It rises to a large central climax before the elaborated reprise, and demonstrates Rachmaninov's melodic gift at its best. #5, g minor. This single Prélude dates from two years earlier, 1901, and is probably the most famous of the set. It is a brilliant and exhilarating march, with a beautiful and melancholy lyrical middle section. Technically, the repeated chords can be taxing, especially while maintaining the necessary rhythmic thrust. #6, E-flat major. This is another Nocturne-like work, with the melody in octaves over an expressive sixteenth-note accompaniment. Lyrical and sentimental, this Prélude is a trifle cloying if not left understated by the pianist. #7, c minor. This Prélude is a brilliant and exciting Etude featuring rapid figuration propelling a slow moving melody divided between the hands. The sudden ending in C major is as surprising as it is effective. #8, A-flat major. Reminiscent of Chopin's Prélude Opus 28 #19, this Prélude is a study in broken-chord figurations. In spite of the extreme technical difficulty, the overall mood is one of relaxed lyricism. #9, e-flat minor. Another Etude: this time a study in double-note technique. Chromatic, propulsive, and extraordinarily difficult, it is probably the least valuable, musically, of the set. #10, G-flat major. The final Prélude is the shortest and simplest. It is a stately Elegy; beautifully melodic and subtle, lacking the usual climactic passage that at this point has become almost a mannerism of Rachmaninov's style.



© All Music Guide

Prelude for piano No.6 in G-, Op.23, No.5

This richly resonant piano work is comprised of two contrasting moods. The first of these is a minor-key march of a Spanish or Italian marching band variety. The melody, built mostly on broken chords, is clearly heard in the bass register surrounded by quick "ta-ta-dah" brass rhythmic figures played on full, repeated chords. The end of the first melodic phrase scatters into wonderfully syncopated and angular figures.

Up to this point, the general dynamic has been that of a greatly held-back intensity (at "piano" level). Suddenly, powerful major harmonies ascend in the "ta-ta-dah" rhythm, propelled on the fourth beat by quick, scale-wise octaves leading into the next chord. This thrilling passage builds from forte to fortissimo and concludes with a concerto-like crescendo of repeated chords over a deep bass pedal point, followed by an electrifying cascade of octaves leading back into the first subject now played with fortissimo energy.

The theme gradually subsides by a series of chromatic chords and single notes over a single pedal point to a bare whisper. This segues directly into the second mood which is that of a Romantic melody in octaves played over sweeping waves of arpeggios. This lyrical strain recalls a greatly emotional, perhaps nostalgic, experience although the context remains programmatically non-specific providing no clues as to the cause of this feeling. The tempo here is somewhat elastic and rubato. The only element from the march section worked into this mood is the simple figure of two quick sixteenths used to bridge parts of that theme.

The initial mood begins to re-establish itself (at a pianississimo level) and ascends through chromatics back to the initial key, and then continues even further to reach the subdominant key (C minor). Even then the chromatic alterations do not stop until the tension has built up to the point of return of the crashing, ascending major chords of the initial bridge. This proceeds in the original key to the quickly descending octave cascade and the final recapitulation of the march theme at a fortissimo dynamic.

Rachmaninov continues his wonderfully coloristic chromatic alterations of the original chords into the diminishing coda which ends the piece with teasing variations on the "ta-ta-dah" rhythm concluding in a final flurry of arpeggios which ascends to the high treble.

Composed two years earlier than the other preludes in Opus 23, the G Minor Prelude has become a popular work and a standard on piano recitals.

© "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Rovi

Prelude for piano No.5 in D, Op.23, No.4

Of the ten preludes in the Op. 23 set, this is one of the most serene and lovely. Like the G flat major (No. 11 overall, but the tenth in Op. 23), it reflects the composer's happy personal circumstances at the time: Rachmaninov had married his cousin Natalia Satina in May 1902 and they were expecting their first child the following May. He had also scored a great success the previous year with the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 2, lifting him from a major depression and loss of confidence in his abilities that had plagued him since 1897. This prelude opens with a soothing, running accompaniment over which a lovely theme is played whose ascending trajectory immediately imparts a celestial warmth. Soon, the music builds up, but as it swells, it reveals little tension, promising only radiance and ecstasy. The listener experiences a sense of both here, but Rachmaninov works the music up to a second, even more climactic episode, after which the music revels for a time in ecstatic outpourings, then slowly fades in utter contentment. This prelude typically has a duration of nearly five minutes.

© Robert Cummings, Rovi

No.1 in F#-

The 1892 Prelude No. 2 in C sharp minor (from Morceaux de Fantasie, Op. 3) was the first prelude Rachmaninov composed. Though tagged as No. 1 in Op. 23, this Prelude in F sharp minor was not the first in this set composed, that distinction falls to the popular G minor (No. 5), which dates to 1901. It was two years later that Rachmaninov then produced this F sharp minor effort, as well as the B flat major (No. 2). The other seven came later that same year. Although the Prelude in G minor has been the most popular work in the set, No. 1 here has also attracted its share of attention. It is one of those brooding, passionate works that Rachmaninov was so famous for. The piece opens with a typically forlorn accompaniment and a soft, repetitive figure in the middle register over which a lovely, gloomy theme is played an octave or so higher. The accompaniment suggests constant agitation, while the theme seems to console, or does it cry? The middle section turns tense and anxious, but a mild climactic episode does not resolve—much less banish—the underlying turmoil and melancholy. This work typically has a duration of three-and-a-half minutes.

© All Music Guide

No.2 in Bb

This B flat major prelude, Op. 23/2, is the third of the 24 preludes Rachmaninov composed. The first, the well-known C sharp minor, is an orphan of sorts, serving as No. 2 in the Morceaux de Fantasie, a set of five pieces of varying types. This Prelude in B flat major is one of the brighter of the ten that comprise its set. The collection is not necessarily beset with constant melancholy but, as in much of Rachmaninov's music, it tends toward the gloomy or unsettling, or at least divulges agitation or yearning. This prelude is hardly free of anxiety in its rapid tempos and brilliant piano writing, but is nevertheless sunlit and effervescent in its excitement. In the outer sections, the left hand busily provides a nearly constant running accompaniment, while the right plays a buoyant but nervous theme, the whole sounding like glittering cascades of notes from up and down the keyboard. Roles are reversed in the middle section, the left hand playing a lovely, passionate melody to gentle but busy accompaniment by the right. The music builds up to herald the return of the main theme and the piece closes in triumphant style. This prelude has a duration of about three-and-a-half minutes.

© All Music Guide

No.6 in Eb

If Rachmaninov tended to be gloomy and obsessed with dark symbols in his music—he quoted the Dies Irae theme in countless major works—he also could express the most ecstatic happiness or the most serene sense of peace. The Op. 23 set of ten preludes contains a few gloomy works to be sure, but also features some of his most radiant and lovely pieces, largely devoid of conflict and tension but still able to touchingly convey their beauty. This prelude, No. 6 in a set of seven, as well as Nos. 4 (D major) and 10 (G flat major) share these characteristics and are among the composer's most joyous creations. This Prelude in E flat major opens with a running figure in the left hand, over which the right plays a lovely theme whose hints at passion and desire never suggest a sense of yearning or discontent. The melody is gentle in its short, arched lines and its mood is expectant, the music budding and building as it seems to be working toward some ecstasy. There is one climactic moment nearly midway through its four-minute length, after which the music turns gentle again, content to revel in the quiet intimacies of its beauties.

© All Music Guide

No.7 in C-

It is known that Rachmaninov favored composing in minor keys, but in his preludes, he alternated between major and minor in order to produce 24 for each key. They came in three different collections: the Morceaux (5) de Fantasie, Op. 3, which contains the popular C sharp minor prelude; Preludes (10), Op. 23; and Preludes (13), Op. 32. This C minor prelude is the seventh in the Op. 23 set and is a restless creation full of tension and mystery and conflicted with brilliance and darkness. Its unsettling elements stand in contrast to other pieces in the set, like the serene and beautiful fourth and tenth. The C minor prelude opens with a nervous rippling theme in the upper register, which conveys a sense of agitation in its searching or wandering manner. Just when the anxious music seems to be arriving at a resolution as it turns softer and more intimate in the assuaging left-hand harmonies, its swirls turn into cascades of notes and the mood becomes fiery again. Still, the music vacillates between the anxious and gentle until the final emphatic chords close the piece with a sense of resolution, if an ambivalent one. This work typically lasts two-and-a half minutes.

© All Music Guide

No.10 in Gb

This piece was the last in the set of Preludes (10), comprising Rachmaninov's Op. 23. It is numbered his 11th prelude because the 1892 First, the famous C sharp minor, was placed in the Op. 3 group of five pieces, Morceaux de Fantasie. All of the preludes in the Op. 23 set were composed in 1903, except for No. 5 (in G minor), which dates to 1903. The G major prelude here was written at a time when Rachmaninov and his wife were awaiting the birth of their first child, which would take place in May 1903. The work is a gentle, lovely, and romantic outpouring, but for once not involving Rachmaninov's trademark passion, yearning, or other heart-on-sleeve manner. The main theme here first emerges in a relatively limited range on the middle of the keyboard, but still sings its loving, gentle song. It gradually expands and builds toward what seems will be an ecstatic outpouring, but the climax reached is restrained in its gentle warmth. The music thereafter is brighter in its upper-register sonorities and sense of serenity, and the ending features a slow fade, as if arriving at the most peaceful sleep. This work typically lasts four minutes in performance.

© All Music Guide
Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.

[visitor]

ABOUT
RECORDINGS
ALBUMS
Musicology:
13 Preludes, Op.32
Key: C
Year: 1910
Genre: Prelude / Fugue
Pr. Instrument: Piano
No.1 in C
No.2 in Bb-
No.3 in E
No.4 in E-
No.5 in G
No.6 in F-
No.7 in F
No.8 in A-
No.9 in A
No.10 in B-
No.11 in B
No.12 in G#-
No.13 in Db
At this point Rachmaninov decided to complete Chopin's model of a Prélude in each of the twenty-four major and minor keys. Including the 10 Préludes, Opus 23, and the Prélude Opus 3 #2, this set of thirteen completes the twenty-four. These pieces are representative of the more subtle and harmonically advanced style that Rachmaninov developed in his middle years. They are also somewhat more complex and original in their design than the earlier Préludes. #1, C major. This is introductory and brief, consisting of rapid triplet figuration in rising chromatic phrases. #2, b-flat minor. A dance-like dotted figure pervades this Prélude. It is increasingly ornamented by rapid figuration as it undergoes a number of tempo changes. There is a large central climax. #3, E major. Chord and octave technique figures heavily in this brilliant March. After a rousing climax, the Prélude ends quietly. #4, e minor. The longest and most complex of this set of Préludes, this piece is a series of passages propelled by a driving triplet figure. After a number of variants on the opening theme, it finally rises to a climax before subsiding to a quiet ending. The entire work is subtly organized and difficult to make cohesive in performance. #5, G major. A gentle and lyrical Nocturne, this Prélude sets a soaring melody above an arpeggiated accompaniment. There is a short cadenza before the dramatic change to the minor key just before the final statement of the main theme. #6, f minor. This is a fierce and aggressive Etude featuring rapid triplet passagework in both hands. #7, F major. This Prélude is a duet between left and right hands. The march-like accompaniment seems commonplace, but is used to original effect. #8, a minor. Another Etude-like work, this Prélude features Rachmaninov's typical rhythmic drive and sweeping figurations. #9, A major. A beautifully lyric rising melody is accompanied by throbbing figurations in this subtle Prélude. It rises to two climaxes, but the second is less effective than the first. The entire piece anticipates the style of the Fourth Piano Concerto. #10, b minor. The greatest of the Préludes. This is an epic and grand Elegy that rises to a huge climax featuring repeated triplet chords against a hammered melody. This is followed by a build-up to another climax, culminating in an effective cadenza. The ending is quiet and resigned. #11, B major. A subtle and charming dance featuring similar rhythms to those of number 3. Rachmaninov here makes effective use of syncopation and shifting accents. #12, g-sharp minor. In texture, this Prélude is similar to number 5, but in character is far more intense and driven. The apparent climax at the center of the Prélude is not the actual focal point of the piece, which occurs during the final reprise of the opening theme. The entire Prélude is infused with Rachmaninov's characteristic melancholy. #13, D-flat major. This is something of a pastiche arranged around quotations from several of the other Préludes of this set. Nevertheless, it is a magnificent and effective conclusion.



© All Music Guide

Prelude for piano No.23 in G#-, Op.32, No.12

This is the penultimate of the 13 preludes making up Rachmaninov's Op. 32 set. It is one of the more popular works in this or any of his large collections and often appears on recital programs and recordings apart from its siblings in the set. It is very typical of Rachmaninov in that it is yet another work that uses the Dies Irae theme. The composer had a special fondness for it, employing it in many compositions, like his Isle of the Dead, Symphonic Dances, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and even in his symphonies. In this Prelude, the Dies Irae appears in a variation form and serves as the main theme. Unsuspecting listeners familiar with the Dies Irae melody might not notice its thematic connection to Rachmaninov's melody at first. The piece, marked Allegro, opens with a swirling, agitated figure in the right hand over which a melancholy theme is played, which, unlike the Dies Irae, first rises before falling. In the middle section, the music grows more agitated until an eruption is provoked and the theme is played at a faster tempo, taking on the identical contour of the Dies Irae. The main theme then re-appears in its original form, but in a colorfully haunting version with its first notes played in the bass ranges. The piece ends quietly, but without resolution of its agitated manner. This Prelude lasts about two-and-a-half minutes in performance.

© Robert Cummings, Rovi

Prelude for piano No.21 in B-, Op.32, No.10

There are many among pianists and public alike who assert that this Prelude in B minor is the deepest and most substantive of the ten in the Op. 32 set and indeed, that it is perhaps the composer's finest from among the 24 he wrote. Stylistically, it embodies much of Rachmaninov's complex musical persona: brooding, dark, and stormy, it builds from a gentle, forlorn opening to a powerful, grandiose climax midway through and closes in a subdued, melancholy mood. Marked Lento, this prelude presents its main theme in gentle chords, the feeling at the outset seemingly one of consolation or of loss. The music gradually builds, the chords taking on greater muscle and accumulating tension. The mood is soon conflicted, the music exhibiting heroism but struggling in its cumbersome ascending gait. It collapses and the gentle melancholy from the opening soon returns, the main theme itself now struggling to express its somber tones. The music slowly fades at the close, leaving a desolate and listless impression. This prelude is, with No. 13 (D flat major), the longest in the Op. 32 set at around seven minutes.

© Robert Cummings, Rovi

No.5 in G

There are 13 preludes in Rachmaninov's Op. 32 set, and with the ten in his Op. 23 collection and the lone Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 10, the composer achieved his objective of covering all of the major and minor keys. This, then, is the fifth in Op. 32, and the 16th of the 24. Rachmaninov was known to be gloomy in his works, said to be more at home indulging this characteristic in minor, rather than major keys. This sweetly playful prelude might serve as evidence on the flip side of this assertion since it is bright and largely upbeat music in a major key. While there may be more than a grain of truth to the major/minor mood swings of Rachmaninov, he nevertheless could convincingly convey single or multiple emotions in either major or minor keys. This lovely Prelude in G major sounds a bit slower than its Moderato marking might suggest. Heard against a wavy, rocking figure in the left hand, the main theme floats along in the upper register with a tranquil, childlike innocence, but then playfully tumbles downward. The middle section turns somewhat tense, briefly bordering on the melancholy. But the mood from the opening returns and the piece quietly and soothingly ends. This prelude typically lasts three-and-a-half minutes in performance.

© All Music Guide

No.6 in F-

When Rachmaninov wrote the Op. 32 set of preludes, he was at the zenith of his creative powers as a composer and performing prowess as a pianist. He produced this brilliant collection of Preludes (13) which, with the Prelude in C sharp minor in Op. 3 and the ten in Op. 23, fill out a set of 24 and cover all of the keys. They would, of course, also become invaluable to him on his concert tours. At about a minute-and-a-half, this Prelude in F minor is, with the A minor (No. 8 in Op. 32), the shortest of the 24, but its brevity and agitated manner combine to produce one of his more thrilling keyboard efforts. The piece angrily begins with an emphatic motif in the bass register, from where an anxious, rippling theme emerges and eventually rises to the upper register, only to rapidly retreat downward. The churning, roiling manner of the music persists throughout, notes rushing about half-manic, half-playful. After the opening motif re-appears midway through, the music seems to be winding down, but it gradually works into a near-frenzied manner again before the bass motif dramatically ends the work .

© All Music Guide
Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.

[visitor]

[sharonlovespiano]

Thank you!

[goldentone]

Rachmaninov's Op. 32, 10 is one of his greatest works, soul-complex and deep, especially to those who find such music irresistibly attractive, despite the journey of bare acridness and desolation through which it takes one.  The piece begins with the most mournful calling chords that know they will only be heard by silence.  Thus the piece calls back its now faded love-reddened days that would reappear for a sweet time until a powerful descent into the incredibly moving and will-wrought stirrring individuation and conquering of two lovers in their respective isolated time.  There seems to be a return of solace, peace, and consolation amidst the ever-present cry.  For such poetry to be written in the view of its suffocating-like lament is an achievement of its own.  Rachmaninov ends this soul epic most bitterly, but I would impart that such a self-assertion is unreal despite its reception, if I may prune branches that appeared but never were; lying ashes, that would purport to compete with the real truth of the hidden, sunlit rays smiling in the shadows, like a memory from eternity.  

[goldentone]

Rachmaninov's Op. 23, 5 is one of his most famous works for piano.  Composed in ternary form, the opening energizing, pulsating chords enliven the music palate with a strong nationalism, Mother Russia brooding, as if to preserve the origins that are wandering perilosuly outside her borders into a heightened consciousness heretofore untasted.  The continuous chordal theme suggests almost an omnipotence whereupon no imposter at the helm could permanently carve before being reigned in by her fathers.  The theme that would assert its dominion almost from the outset fades seemingly by its own will and submits to the second section.  Now outside the correcting currents, we find ourselves in the bosom of nostalgia, on the sea of romance.  Note that in the placid waves the ardor of the first theme is not lost, but preserved, mysteriously still itself in character, yet indivisible with the second theme.  Indeed, no foxy thrift nor fawning would seem to be able to resist.  A rich bass melody emerges in a both complementary and independent fashion.  Then, as if from the past, from the cream of the sea, the national surge begins again, slowly, increasingly, and overtakes the errant direction of the implication of the piece.  The hiding compass solidly points at its destiny.  Powerful Mother Russia in concert with her true principles warmly receives the truth and embarks on the fulfilling journey in recapitulation and restoration.  

[erick86]

Rachmaninov's Op. 32, 10 is one of his greatest works, soul-complex and deep, especially to those who find such music irresistibly attractive, despite the journey of bare acridness and desolation through which it takes one.  The piece begins with the most mournful calling chords that know they will only be heard by silence.  Thus the piece calls back its now faded love-reddened days that would reappear for a sweet time until a powerful descent into the incredibly moving and will-wrought stirrring individuation and conquering of two lovers in their respective isolated time.  There seems to be a return of solace, peace, and consolation amidst the ever-present cry.  For such poetry to be written in the view of its suffocating-like lament is an achievement of its own.  Rachmaninov ends this soul epic most bitterly, but I would impart that such a self-assertion is unreal despite its reception, if I may prune branches that appeared but never were; lying ashes, that would purport to compete with the real truth of the hidden, sunlit rays smiling in the shadows, like a memory from eternity.  

Damn, yeah, that.  I'm studying this piece right now, and can really relate to pretty much every word you wrote.


Eric

[goldentone]

I'm glad my thoughts echo with yours, Erick.  See you 'round the forum. 

[goldentone]

Completed by 1910, Rachmaninov's second set of preludes, the Op. 32, is a touchstone in the repertoire, demanding much of the pianist technically, as well as rapt attention to its intricacies.  For Rachmaninov composed these preludes for himself, being quite able to execute these swiftly as needed in his mature pianistic stature, the deep regal redwood that he was.  By 1916 the Russian government was in shambles, and the next year Rachmaninov and his family fled Russia.  Rachmaninov eventually moved to the United States and did become a genuine U.S. citizen.  The Op. 32, 9 is one of the best from the set.  It opens somewhat enigmatically, as if something beginning yet known that it would transpire, uncloyingly inexorable.  Techncially, those "terrorist" ties must be held down while the rest of the fingers attend to the other parts.  The bass rumbles and meanders below in support as part of the burgeoning yet controlled flow.  It is a grand august piece, foreshadow of such unflagging days to come. The piece supplies a burnished rhythmic drive, feeding in peace and excitement from its own glory.  It strikes one as perfectly conceived and beautifully well-rounded--a perfect life.  

[goldentone]

Rachmaninov's inaugural performance of his Preludes Op. 23 was for the "Prison Concerts" charity at the Moscow Nobility Hall, orchestrated by Princess Lieven.  The opener in the set is one of Rachmaninov's more memorable outings.  In Tempo Largo, the prelude wanders as one lost in a bleakness.  The homophonic paces almost agonizingly unflesh any possibility of deliverance from the bleak, soul-orphaned scenery.  Indeed, there is no rest from the outset for one who has needlessly been mortgaged to such relegation.  The piece reaches an emotional apex in the middle where some manner of resolution and repose is found to the preceding long unblushing arch.  We're immediately transported to the original undenizen state of the piece.  The conception of the prelude strikes as two parallel branches.  The listless left hand reveals the inner vacancy of the mysterious wayfarer, while the right hand melody tolls from a higher vantage, as in step, and yet out of, time.  The solitary cry has lost hope to breach any outer consciousness, and has certainly resigned in that dichotomy.

It has been said that Rachmaninov's complete set of 24 Preludes reveal an organic unity of composition, though Rachmaninov never performed the complete set in public.  History shall record what wisdom shall prevail in the complete unveiling of these gems of the repertoire.         

[visitor]

...

It has been said that Rachmaninov's complete set of 24 Preludes reveal an organic unity of composition, though Rachmaninov never performed the complete set in public.  History shall record what wisdom shall prevail in the complete unveiling of these gems of the repertoire.         

they're like good soup, just needs to simmer a bit more on low heat

[goldentone]

It can be said that the wondrously enchanting Op. 23, 10 is the most beautiful of Rachmaninov's pieces the ear could conceive.  With the most glorious unassertive ease it shimmers the moment it touches the soul.  From the unmatched opening chords, the piece naturally grows in its own liberty, free from any strict ideological impositions.  The mature individuated love is fully free in an august independence, like two lovers finding each other later in life.  The poignant period after the opening does not linger, for the music flows on forgivingly in its journey.  It is as if Life itself emerges in the exalted ascent as the piece nears conclusion.  Much is said in this short prelude.