Give three reasons as to how Chopin's piano is different to the previous piano.
Both the sustain pedal (that holds notes on) and the soft pedal became more effective. The piano got bigger which meant it had a bigger dynamic range. The hammers were given a felt covering instead of leather, so the tone was made a lot softer.
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Where would this type of piece (a prelude) have been played?
A prelude would have been played in the home, small concert halls or in a recital room.
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Which keys are used in this piece?
Section A is in D flat major, whereas Section B is in C# minor (the enharmonic parallel key), and explores other keys such as G# minor and F# minor.
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Which notes are the "raindrop" notes in Section B?
The G#'s.
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How are both Sections similar?
Same tempo, metre (time signature), homophonic texture.
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What are the "raindrop" notes?
The dominant pedal notes. (In Section A these are the Ab's.)
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In which year was this prelude written?
1839.
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Which solo instrument is used?
Piano.
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Which period is this prelude from?
Romantic.
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What is the time signature of this song?
4/4.
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Which tempo markings are used?
Sostenuto and tempo rubato.
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What is the structure of this piece?
Ternary (ABA) with a coda, yet the Section lengths are not equal.
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What does the symbol which looks like "Ped." mean?
The performer has to use the sustain pedal. A star-like symbol (which looks like "*") is shown where the pedal needs to be lifted.
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Describe the texture in Section A.
This Section uses melody dominated homophony (melody and accompaniment) and is often quite thin. The melody is played with the right hand and consists of broken chords with a pedal note in the left hand.
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Describe the texture in Section B.
The texture is more chordal, and generally in a lower pitch. The pedal note is now in the right hand (an inverted pedal) whilst the left hand plays the melody.
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How is the texture thickened in louder sections?
Octave doubling is used in both hands.
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Which dynamic marking is used throughout Section A?
Piano (p).
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Which dynamic markings are used in Section B?
This Section starts marked "sotto voce" (in a quiet voice), and gradually builds to fortissimo (ff, very loud), and accents are used. The Section then continues to drop back to piano (p) and uses a crescendo to build back up.
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What is the difference in the dynamic markings in the return of Section A?
The Section starts in the same way as it did before, but now smorzando is used (meaning slowly dying away). The piece ends very quietly (pp, pianissimo).
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How does the piece sound slow and heavy at certain points?
Note augmentation is used, meaning notes are made longer (i.e. Crotchets become minims)
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What do "sostenuto" and "ritenuto" mean?
"Sostenuto" means "sustained" and "ritenuto" means "getting slower".
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Where would this type of piece (a prelude) have been played?
Back
A prelude would have been played in the home, small concert halls or in a recital room.
Card 3
Front
Which keys are used in this piece?
Back
Card 4
Front
Which notes are the "raindrop" notes in Section B?
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