Prelude, Op. 28, No. 15 (Chopin)
Encyclopedia
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, known as the "Raindrop" prelude, is one of the 24 Chopin preludes. Usually performed between five and seven minutes in length, the sostenuto
Sostenuto
In music, sostenuto is a term from Italian which means "sustained." It occasionally implies a slowing of tempo, though more often it refers to a very legato style in which the notes are performed in a sustained manner beyond their normal values....
is also the longest of the preludes. The prelude is noted for its repeating A-flat, which appears throughout the piece and sounds like raindrops to many listeners.
Composition
Some, though not all, of Opus 28 was written during Chopin and George SandGeorge Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
's stay at a monastery in Valldemossa
Valldemossa
Valldemossa or Valldemosa is a village and municipality on the island of Majorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands....
, Majorca in 1838. In her Histoire de ma vie, Sand related how one evening she and her son Maurice, returning from Palma in a terrible rainstorm, found a distraught Chopin who exclaimed, "Ah! I knew well that you were dead." While playing his piano he had a dream in which
He saw himself drowned in a lake. Heavy drops of icy water fell in a regular rhythm on his breast, and when I made him listen to the sound of the drops of water indeed falling in rhythm on the roof, he denied having heard it. He was even angry that I should interpret this in terms of imitative sounds. He protested with all his might – and he was right to – against the childishness of such aural imitations. His genius was filled with the mysterious sounds of nature, but transformed into sublime equivalents in musical thought, and not through slavish imitation of the actual external sounds."
Sand did not say which prelude Chopin played for her on that occasion, but most music critics assume it to be no. 15, because of the repeating A flat, with its suggestion of the "gentle patter" of rain. Peter Dayan, however points out that Sand accepted Chopin's protests that the prelude was not an imitation of the sound of raindrops, but a translation of natures harmonies within Chopin's "génie". Frederick Niecks
Frederick Niecks
Frederick Niecks was a German musical scholar and author, who was resident in Scotland for the bulk of his life. He is best remembered now for his biographies of Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann.-Biography:...
says that the prelude "rises before one's mind the cloistered court of the monastery of Valdemosa, and a procession of monks chanting lugubrious prayers, and carrying in the dark hours of night their departed brother to his last resting-place.
Description
The prelude opens with a "serene" theme in D flat. It then changes to a "lugubrious interlude" in C sharp minor, "with the dominant pedal never ceasing, a basso ostinato". The repeating A flat, which has been heard throughout the first section, here becomes more insistent. Following this, the prelude ends with a repetition of the original theme. Niecks says, "This C sharp minor portion...affects one like an oppressive dream; the re-entrance of the opening D flat major, which dispels the dreadful nightmare, comes upon one with the smiling freshness of dear, familiar nature – only after these horrors of the imagination can its serene beauty be fully appreciated.Cultural legacy
- In the 1979 James Bond movie MoonrakerMoonraker (film)Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
, villain "Sir Hugo Drax" plays the Raindrop Prelude in his chateau on a grand piano when Bond comes to visit. - The raindrop prelude is also featured on the soundtrack of the 1996 Australian film ShineShine (film)Shine is a 1996 Australian film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris...
about the life of pianist David HelfgottDavid HelfgottDavid Helfgott is an Australian concert pianist. He is as well known for having schizoaffective disorder as he is for his piano playing. Helfgott's life inspired the Oscar-winning film Shine, in which he was played by Geoffrey Rush....
. - The prelude appears in the Crows section of Akira Kurosawa's film DreamsDreams (1990 film)is a 1990 magical realism film based on actual dreams of the film's director, Akira Kurosawa at different stages of his life. The film is more imagery than dialogue. The alternative titles are a translation of the opening line of Ten Nights of Dreams, by Natsume Sōseki, which begins:...
. - The prelude appears in the 1990 film "Captain America," as the title hero plays the song in order to stop Red Skull from detonating a bomb to destroy all of Southern Europe.
- The dramatic bridge of the prelude was used in a marketing program for Halo 3Halo 3Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
, a science fiction video game. - The piece appears in the John WooJohn WooJohn Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
film Face/OffFace/OffFace/Off is a 1997 action thriller film directed by John Woo, starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. The two both play an FBI agent and a terrorist, sworn enemies who assume the physical appearance of one another....
in a seduction scene between Castor Troy and Eve Archer. - The prelude appears in the fantasy video game Eternal SonataEternal Sonatais an original role-playing video game created by Tri-Crescendo. The Xbox 360 version of the game was released on June 14, 2007 in Japan, September 17, 2007 in North America, and October 19, 2007 in Europe...
, where Chopin's music plays a major part. - The piece is studied as a 'Set Work' in the English exam board EdexcelEdexcelEdexcel, a UK company, is one of England, Wales and Northern Ireland's five main examination boards, and is wholly owned by the private-sector Pearson PLC, a UK-based media and publishing conglomerate. Its name is a portmanteau word derived from the words "educational" and "excellence"...
's GCSE in Music. - The piece is used in the film Margin CallMargin CallMargin Call is a 2011 American independent drama film, written and directed by J.C. Chandor. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, and Penn Badgley...
, as Kevin SpaceyKevin SpaceyKevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
sleeps in his office but is then woken up by the prelude's climax.
External links
- Prelude No. 15 on YouTube, performed by Martha ArgerichMartha ArgerichMartha Argerich is an Argentine pianist.-Early life:Argerich was born in Buenos Aires and started playing the piano at age three...
- Prelude No. 15 on YouTube, performed by Valentina IgoshinaValentina IgoshinaValentina Igoshina is a Russian classical pianist.-Biography:Valentina Igoshina began studying piano with her mother, and first took lessons at home at the age of four...