Eric Lu won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018, and he begins his exclusive contract with Warner Classic with this recital album. The Chinese-American pianist, born in 1997, offers a programme of 19th-century works including Chopin’s 24 Preludes, an Intermezzo by Brahms, and Schumann’s Ghost Variations.
BBC Music Magazine Choice
Featuring
Eric Lu
Frédéric Chopin
Johannes Brahms
Robert Schumann
Did you know?
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Composer's Artistic Vision
Chopin's 24 Préludes Op. 28 reflect his deep admiration for J.S. Bach, particularly Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, by encompassing all 24 major and minor keys.
Composition History
Frédéric Chopin completed his 24 Préludes Op. 28 during a disastrous trip to Majorca with his lover, George Sand, where he suffered from bleak lodgings, lack of a decent piano, and worsening tuberculosis.
Compositional Technique
The repeated notes in Chopin's D flat and B minor Préludes are said to represent the persistent rain falling on the lovers' abode in Valldemossa, a damp abandoned monastery.
Cultural Impact
Chopin's Prélude No. 20 provided the basis for variation sets by composers Busoni and Rachmaninov, and also for Barry Manilow's hit song "Could It Be Magic."
Compositional Technique
Unlike Bach's chromatic ascending scheme, Chopin organized his 24 Préludes Op. 28 using a different pattern based on the circle of fifths.
Composer Biography
Robert Schumann's Theme and Variations in E flat, also known as the "Geistervariationen" (Ghost Variations), was his last work before being admitted to a mental hospital, completed the day after a suicide attempt.
