Recording
- LargoIvan Ilić · October 2005, Paris1:50
Ivan Ilić plays the Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4, marked Largo. The melody moves very little over twenty-five bars, and the chords beneath it descend by semitones.
Listening notes · joins
- Melody on B, bars 1–4
The melody reaches B by an octave leap and stays there, touching C and returning to B. The left hand repeats its chords eight times a bar, and within them individual notes move down by semitones.
- Ivan Ilić, Berkeley and Paris
Ilić came to Paris with degrees in mathematics and music from Berkeley, then studied at the Paris Conservatoire and the École Normale. He made this recording in Paris in October 2005. Three years later he released a Debussy disc of that composer’s twenty-four preludes.
Joins
- The opening melody returns
A short right-hand flourish crosses the gap left by the accompaniment. At bar 13 the opening B returns over an E minor chord with G in the bass, and the left-hand quavers begin again. This second phrase breaks into stretto at bar 16 and presses forward towards the forte.
- The quavers stop
The marking smorzando directs the piano to die away. The left-hand quavers stop, a chord is held, and a rest carries a fermata. Three soft chords follow. The last two move from B7 to E minor, with the melody rising D♯–E above B–E in the bass.
Other performances
Historical and comparison recordings, outside the concert’s running order.
- LargoDorian Pâquet · 21 October 20191:55
Dorian Pâquet plays Chopin’s Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4, marked Largo, on a Chavanne piano made in 2006.
Listening notes · joins
- Opening bars, left-hand chords
The piano begins softly, espressivo. The first chord has G in the bass, with B and E above. The left hand repeats its chords while the notes within them gradually descend, and above them the melody holds B for three beats before moving to C.
- Chavanne piano, 2006
Pâquet plays a piano made by Chavanne. Vincent Chavanne began by making copies of old harpsichords in Toulouse, then turned to pianos and established his company in 1990. The piano on this recording dates from 2006.
- Stretto and forte, bars 16–19
At bar 16 Chopin marks stretto. The right hand rises above its earlier narrow range, and the left hand reaches down to a low bass before the forte chords at bar 17. Chopin then writes diminuendo, then piano.
Joins
- B returns over E minor
The left hand rests while the right hand plays a short flourish. B returns above an E minor chord with G in the bass, and the repeated quavers resume. The melody starts again from B, and at the written stretto it rises.
- Fermata before the final chords
Under smorzando the accompaniment fades out. Its repeated quavers turn into a held chord, followed by a silence lengthened by a fermata. The last three chords are marked pianissimo. B7 resolves to E minor, and the melody rises a semitone from D♯ to E.