Robert Schumann, a contemporary composer and critic, described Chopin's Préludes as "sketches, beginnings of études, or, so to speak, ruins, individual eagles' wings, all disorder and wild confusion," yet called Chopin "the boldest and proudest poetic spirit of our time."
Composition History
Bach's Inventions were originally written for his son Friedemann in 1722, intended as an introduction to both keyboard playing and composition.
Performer Biography
Dina Ugorskaja, the pianist, was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) into a Jewish artistic family and fled the Soviet Union for Germany in 1990 due to antisemitic threats.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Chopin's Préludes, inspired by Bach, redefine the 'prelude' not as an introduction to a larger work, but as a standalone piece akin to free fantasia or improvisation.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Both Bach's Inventions and Chopin's Préludes share an "encyclopaedic mission" to gather a wide range of musical influences, features, playing styles, and keys.
Compositional Technique
Bach's Inventions were designed to fit on two opposing pages to avoid page-turning, yet each piece demonstrates a unique compositional technique or theme.
Interpretation
Pianist Dina Ugorskaja describes the album's appeal as the tension between the "deceptive straightforwardness" of Bach's Inventions and the "simplicity required by the complexity" of Chopin's Préludes.
