Keiko Kitagishi Piano Recital

A prelude, as expressed in its Japanese translation "prelude," refers to "a piece of music played before something. However, the prelude we are performing today does not have a main piece that follows. It is up to the composer to decide what intention he or she has in composing and putting together a collection of pieces consisting only of preludes. And how to make them sound is also left to the performers. I leave it to you to decide how you will feel about today's "World of Preludes," centering on Chopin's "24 Preludes, Op.28," and I hope you will join me in asking "What is a prelude? I would be happy if you could think about it with me. Chopin's "24 Preludes, Op.28" is said to have been inspired by J.S. Bach's "Mean Clavier Collection. The Mean Law Clavier Collection consists of variations and fugues in 24 different keys, major and minor, using the mean law, which divides one octave (twice the frequency) into 12 equal semitones, and has two volumes, Volume 1 and Volume 2. Chopin's 24 Preludes do not have fugues, but are also written in 24 different keys. While Bach's Mean Rule is complete with each Prelude and Fugue and can be listened to and played in one piece alone, Chopin's Preludes are so short that even if all of them were played, they would take about 40 minutes.
This year's program pays homage to Bach's Mean Clavier cycle, which inspired Chopin, and features Gounod's "Ave Maria," based on the Prelude from Book 1, No. 1, as well as preludes by Gershwin, Palmgren, and Debussy, all composers from very different countries. Some of the pieces are rarely performed, but we hope you will enjoy listening to them as if they were short stories, poems, haiku, or tanka poems.