Chopin preludes

[birba]

I was surprised to find here a while back, "sub-titles" for almost every chopin prelude. ( And i could almost hear chopin rolling in his grave "Oh nooooo...!"). But it fascinated me and i want to know if there is someone who knows what they are.

[j_menz]

There are a number of different lists. The most famous ones would be von Bulow's and Cortot's.

Von Bulow:

1.C major - Agitato (Reunion)
2.A minor - Lento (Presentiment of Death)
3.G major - Vivace (Thou Art So Like a Flower)
4.E minor - Largo (Suffocation)
5.D major - Molto allegro (Uncertainty)
6.B minor - Lento assai (Tolling Bells)
7.A major - Andantino (The Polish Dancer)
8.F-sharp minor - Molto agitato (Desperation)
9.E major - Largo (Vision)
10.C-sharp minor - Molto allegro (The Night Moth)
11.B major - Vivace (The Dragonfly)
12.G-sharp minor - Presto (The Duel)
13.F-sharp major - Lento (Loss)
14.E-flat minor - Allegro (Fear)
15.D-flat major - Sostenuto (Raindrop)
16.B-flat minor - Presto con fuoco (Hades)
17.A-flat major - Allegretto (A Scene on the Place do Notre-Dame de Paris)
18.F minor - Molto allegro (Suicide)
19.E-flat major - Vivace (Heartfelt Happiness)
20.C minor - Largo (Funeral March)
21.B-flat major - Cantabile (Sunday)
22.G minor - Molto agitato (Impatience)
23.F major - Moderato (A Pleasure Boat)
24.D minor - Allegro appassionato (The Storm)

Cortot:

1-Attente fièvreuse de l'aimée (Fieverish awaiting of the beloved)
2-La mer déserte, au loin... (sad meditation, the lonely sea in the distance...)
3-Le chant du ruissau (the singing of the brook)
4-Sur une tombe (on a tombe)
5-L'arbre plein de chants (the tree full of songs)
6-Le mal du pays (homesickness)
7-Des souvenirs délicieux flottent comme un parfum à travers la mémoire (happy memories flow like a perfume through memory)
8-La neige tombe, le vent hurle, la tempête fait rage; mais  en mon triste coeur, l'orage est plus terrible encore (the snow is falling, the wind is howling, the storm is angry; but in my sad heart, the storm is even worse)
9-Finis Polonice (End of Poland)
10-Fusées qui retombent (Rockets falling down)
11-Désir de jeune fille (young maiden's wish)
12-Chévauchée dans la nuit (hellride trough the night)
13-Sur le sol étranger, par une nuit étoilée, et en pensant àla bien-aimée lointaine (on foreign ground, in a starlit night, thinking of the faraway beloved)
14-Mer orageuse (stormy seas)
15-...Mais la mort est là dans l'ombre... (...but death is overthere, in those shadows...)
16-La course à l'abîme (the ride to hell)
17-Elle m'a dit: "Je t'aime.." (I love thee)
18-Imprécations (reproaches)
19-Des ailes, des ailes pour m'enfuir vers vous, ô ma bien-aimée (wings, wings to fly to you, my beloved)
20-Funérailles (funeral)
21-Retour solitaire à l'endroit des aveux (lonely return to the place of where we once spoke our love)
22-Révolte (revolt)
23-NaÃŽades jouant (Najades playing)
24-Du sang, de la volupté, de la mort (blood, lust, death)

Somehow the accented characters got screwed up, but you probably have a better idea what they should be than I do.

I have my own list, but most of it is not fit for publication. 

[birba]

You're fantastico!  Ask and it shall be given unto you!  I, too, had my own ideas, but somehow are less romantic then these...thanks!

[pianoplunker]

There are a number of different lists. The most famous ones would be von Bulow's and Cortot's.

Von Bulow:

1.C major - Agitato (Reunion)
2.A minor - Lento (Presentiment of Death)
3.G major - Vivace (Thou Art So Like a Flower)
4.E minor - Largo (Suffocation)
5.D major - Molto allegro (Uncertainty)
6.B minor - Lento assai (Tolling Bells)
7.A major - Andantino (The Polish Dancer)
8.F-sharp minor - Molto agitato (Desperation)
9.E major - Largo (Vision)
10.C-sharp minor - Molto allegro (The Night Moth)
11.B major - Vivace (The Dragonfly)
12.G-sharp minor - Presto (The Duel)
13.F-sharp major - Lento (Loss)
14.E-flat minor - Allegro (Fear)
15.D-flat major - Sostenuto (Raindrop)
16.B-flat minor - Presto con fuoco (Hades)
17.A-flat major - Allegretto (A Scene on the Place do Notre-Dame de Paris)
18.F minor - Molto allegro (Suicide)
19.E-flat major - Vivace (Heartfelt Happiness)
20.C minor - Largo (Funeral March)
21.B-flat major - Cantabile (Sunday)
22.G minor - Molto agitato (Impatience)
23.F major - Moderato (A Pleasure Boat)
24.D minor - Allegro appassionato (The Storm)

Cortot:

1-Attente fièvreuse de l'aimée (Fieverish awaiting of the beloved)
2-La mer déserte, au loin... (sad meditation, the lonely sea in the distance...)
3-Le chant du ruissau (the singing of the brook)
4-Sur une tombe (on a tombe)
5-L'arbre plein de chants (the tree full of songs)
6-Le mal du pays (homesickness)
7-Des souvenirs délicieux flottent comme un parfum à travers la mémoire (happy memories flow like a perfume through memory)
8-La neige tombe, le vent hurle, la tempête fait rage; mais  en mon triste coeur, l'orage est plus terrible encore (the snow is falling, the wind is howling, the storm is angry; but in my sad heart, the storm is even worse)
9-Finis Polonice (End of Poland)
10-Fusées qui retombent (Rockets falling down)
11-Désir de jeune fille (young maiden's wish)
12-Chévauchée dans la nuit (hellride trough the night)
13-Sur le sol étranger, par une nuit étoilée, et en pensant àla bien-aimée lointaine (on foreign ground, in a starlit night, thinking of the faraway beloved)
14-Mer orageuse (stormy seas)
15-...Mais la mort est là dans l'ombre... (...but death is overthere, in those shadows...)
16-La course à l'abîme (the ride to hell)
17-Elle m'a dit: "Je t'aime.." (I love thee)
18-Imprécations (reproaches)
19-Des ailes, des ailes pour m'enfuir vers vous, ô ma bien-aimée (wings, wings to fly to you, my beloved)
20-Funérailles (funeral)
21-Retour solitaire à l'endroit des aveux (lonely return to the place of where we once spoke our love)
22-Révolte (revolt)
23-NaÃŽades jouant (Najades playing)
24-Du sang, de la volupté, de la mort (blood, lust, death)

Somehow the accented characters got screwed up, but you probably have a better idea what they should be than I do.

I have my own list, but most of it is not fit for publication. 

this is very interesting. Was/is it a tradition of some form to give a piece a title based on ones own interpretation ?

[birba]

I think it's a very late romantic tendency which we sort of look down on now.  But i really think it's something we should give a little thought.  Every music should express an idea, a movement, a sentiment, something which you should be able to express in a verbal form.