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By Way of Introduction: Preluding by 18th- and Early 19th-Century Pianists
Author(s): Valerie Woodring Goertzen

Source: The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Summer, 1996), pp. 299-337
Published by: University of California Press
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By Way of Introduction:
Preluding by 18th- and
Early 19th-Century Pianists
VALERIE WOODRING GOERTZEN
D Mozart
uringthefamouscontestbetween
and Clementi held at the court of Emperor Joseph II on Christmas
Eve 1781, each contestant improvised a prelude before embarking on
the larger piece he was to play-Clementi his Sonata in B Flat (later
published as Op. 24/2) and Mozart a set of variations.1 Reviews, let-
ters, and reminiscences refer to preludes improvised by Mendelssohn,
Clara Schumann, and other pianists of the first rank well into the 299
nineteenth century,2 as well as by performers whose names are no
longer remembered-for example, a Mr. Kellner of London, who in
Volume XIV * Number 3 * Summer 1996

The Journal of Musicology ? 1996 by the Regents of the University of California
1
Letter from Mozart to his father, dated Vienna 16 January 1782, in Mozart:
Briefe und Aufzeichnungen,ed. W. A. Bauer and 0. E. Deutsch, 7 vols. (Kassel, 1962-75),
III, 193. The competition, which also involved sight-reading and a duo improvisation
on a given theme (each performer alternately accompanying the other), is discussed in
several sources, among them Katalin Koml6s, "Mozart and Clementi: A Piano Com-
petition and Its Interpretation," HistoricalPerformanceIII (Spring 1989), 3-9. Clementi
also performed his Toccata in B Flat, Op. 11; Mozart's variation set may have been
improvised as well (Koml6s, 4-7).
Shorter versions of this essay were presented at the annual meeting of the Amer-
ican Musicological Society in October 1987, the AMS Midwest Chapter Meeting in
April 1985, Mt. Holyoke College in February 1987, and the University of Trondheim,
Norway in February 1989. I wish to thank Nicholas Temperley and Chris Goertzen for
suggestions offered at several stages in my work, and Jenny Raabe for checking trans-
lations.
2 References to Mendelssohn's
preluding in Rome and Munich in the early 183os
are found in Felix MendelssohnLetters,ed. G. Selden-Goth (New York, 1945), 11i; and
in Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Lettersfrom Italy and Switzerland, 3d ed., trans. Lady
Wallace (1865; rpt. Freeport, N.Y., 1970), 292, 303, and 313. See also Eduard Devrient,
My Recollectionsof Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and His Lettersto Me, trans. Natalia Mac-
farren (London: Richard Bentley, 1869), 140-41. Reports of Clara Schumann's pre-
luding in Berlin and Dresden later in that decade appear in the Allgemeinemusikalische
Zeitung XXXIX (April 19, 1837), 257, and in the Neue ZeitschriftffirMusik IX (December
21, 1838), 201.
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
1819 prefaced one of his own compositions in D major with what was
described as an "inappropriate introduction" in D-flat major.3 Pre-
ludes were also improvised as introductions to songs.4
Scholarly investigations of improvisational practices of the late
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have focused on cadenzas, lead-
ins (Eingainge),and ornamentation, but have devoted relatively little
attention to the question of preluding.5 And improvisation of pre-
ludes has generally not been a part even of "historical" performances
of music from this period. These circumstances owe partly to our
heavy reliance on notation in identifying issues of performance prac-
tice. The prelude precedes the piece as written and is not indicated in
the notation. And given our tendency to think of performances as
consisting of items that begin with the first notated measure and end
with the last, the absence of a prelude leaves no structural gap of the
sort that would result from an unsupplied cadenza. (Whether struc-
tural characteristics of individual pieces actually do call for the addi-
tion of a prelude must remain an open question for now.)
In addition, the incidence and circumstances of preluding are
not amply documented. Whereas the independent, more substantial
300 "free fantasy" constituted a separate number on a concert program
and was apt to draw the comments of a reviewer, improvised pre-
ludes were not indicated in printed programs as a rule; they were
mentioned in reviews only in an occasional passing remark or where
something truly worthy of comment was done. Written accounts of
improvisations rarely convey many details of musical content. How-
ever, evidence relating to the techniques used in preluding may be
drawn from notated music, and from instructional materials pub-
lished from around 1770 onwards for the use of a growing class of
amateur musicians. Method books by Hummel, Czerny, Kalkbren-
ner, and others provided guidelines for constructing preludes,6 and
3 AmZ XXII (February 2, 1820), 82.
4 AmZ VIII (April 2, 18o6), 427-28.
5 To cite one important example, Frederick Neumann's Ornamentationand Impro-
visation in Mozart (Princeton, N.J., 1986) does not address the issue of the composer's
improvised preludes. The fullest treatments of preluding during the period are found
in Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, "Twenty-four Preludes Op. 28: Genre, Structure, Signif-
icance," in Chopin Studies, ed. Jim Samson (Cambridge, 1988), 167-93; and in Robert
Wangerm6e, "L'Improvisation pianistique au debut du XIXe siecle," in Miscellanea
musicologicaFloris van der Mueren (Ghent, 1950), 227-53. Betty Bang Mather and David
Lasocki, The Art of Preluding 1700-1830: for Flutists, Oboists,Clarinettistsand OtherPer-
formers (New York, 1984), is a modern instruction manual that draws on historical
sources.
6 The first edition of Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Ausfiihrlichetheoretisch-practische
Anweisung zum Piano-Forte-Spiel (Vienna: Tobias Haslinger, [1828]), devoted only its
final page (p. 468) to improvisation; Hummel claimed here that a person could neither
give nor profit from instructions in this endeavor. (An English translation of Hummel's
GOERTZEN
dozens of collections of preludes in many or all the keys were offered

as models or simply to be memorized.7 This study draws on sources of
all of these types to establish the circumstances in which preluding was
done, the characteristics of preludes and their relationship to the
pieces they introduced, and changes in conventions of preluding over
the course of the nineteenth century.
remarks appeared in "Johann Nepomuk Hummel on Extemporaneous Performance,"

The Monthly Musical Record XI (November 1, 1881), 214-15; a reprint of a French
edition containing the one-page discussion of improvisation has been published as
Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Mithode complete theorique et pratique pour le piano-forte
(Paris: A. Farrenc, 1838; rpt. Geneva, 1981).) In the second German edition [1829?],
which bears the same publication number (Haslinger No. 5201), the section covering
improvisation was expanded to eight pages (pp. 461-68), apparently in response to
reviews in the QuarterlyMusical Magazine and Review X (1828), 368, and the AmZ XXXI
(March 18, 1829), 177, which expressed regret over the brief treatment of the subject
by so great a master as Hummel. In a review in the AmZ XXXI (September 2 and 9,
1829), 573-82 and 589-94, G. W. Fink claimed that the public's disappointment with
this portion of Hummel's treatise had inspired Carl Czerny's Systematische Anleitung zum
Fantasieren auf dem Pianoforte, Op. 200 (Vienna: A. Diabelli und Comp.; London:
Boosey; Paris: M. Schlesinger, [1829]), which constituted the first attempt to present a
comprehensive work on the subject to the public. A modern edition of Czerny's work
has been published as A SystematicIntroductionto Improvisationon the Pianoforte, Op. 200, 301
trans. and ed. Alice L. Mitchell (New York and London, 1983); Czerny also discussed
preluding in his CompleteTheoreticaland Practical Piano Forte School, Op. 500, 3 vols.
(London: R. Cocks and Co., 1839), III, 116-23.
Frederic Kalkbrenner's Traite d'harmoniedu pianiste, principesrationnelsde la modu-
lation pour apprendrea priluder et a improviser,Op. 185, appeared in 1849 (Paris: the
author; Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hirtel; rpt. Amsterdam: A.J. Heuwekemeyer, 1970).
Instructions concerning improvisation, including preluding, were also given in Part II
of C. P. E. Bach, Versuchiiber die wahreArt, das Clavierzu spielen (Berlin: George Ludewig
Winter, 1762; rpt. Leipzig, 1957), 325-41, and in Philip Anthony Corri, Original System
of Preluding (London: Chappel and Co., [1813?]). Other method books, e.g., Muzio
Clementi, Introductionto the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte (London: Clementi, Banger,
Hyde, Collard and Davis, [18o0]), contain preludes but no written instructions con-
cerning preluding.
7 The following is a list of principal collections of this type: Tomaso Giordani,
Preludes for the Harpsichord or Piano Forte in all the keysflat and sharp (London: for
Welcker, [177-]) (RISM G2329); J. N. Hummel, Vorspielevor Anfange eines Stiikes[sic] aus
allen 24 Dur und mol Tonartenzum niitzlichemGebrauchfuir Schiiler,in R'pertoirede musique
pour les dames ouvrage periodique et progressif (Vienna: Artaria, [c. 1814]), 11/9, later
editions through at least 1897); J. B. Cramer, Twenty-sixPreludesor ShortIntroductionsin
the Principal Major and Minor Keysfor the Piano Forte (London: Chappel [sic] and Co. and
Clementi and Co., [1818]; several German editions followed); Tobias Haslinger, XXX
Vorspielein den gebrdiuchlichsten
Dur und Moll Tonartenfiir das Piano=Forte (Vienna: S. A.
Steiner und Comp., [1818]); Ignaz Moscheles, 50 Preludes in the Major and Minor Keys,
intendedas shortintroductionsto any movementand as preparatoryexercisesto the authorsstudies,
for thepiano forte, Op. 73 (London: S. Chappell and J. B. Cramer, [1827], later editions
published in several countries through at least 1882); and Frederic Kalkbrenner,
Twenty-fourPreludesfor the Piano Forte, in all the Major and Minor Keys,being an Introduc-
tion to the Art of Preluding (London: Clementi and Co., [1827]). (A later edition [1836?]
appeared as Vingt-quatrePreludespour le piano forte dans tous les tons majeurs et mineurs
pouvant servir d'exemplepour apprendrea priluder, Op. 88 (Milan: F. Lucca, plate numbers
1028-1029).)
The practice of improvising at the start of a performance or pri-

vate music-makingsession is many centuries old. Aristotle'sRhetoric
(ca. 336 B.C.) referred to it in a description of the introduction or
proemof a speech:
The proem is the beginning of a speech, like a prologue in poetry
and a prelude in flute playing;for all these are beginnings,and pave
the way, as it were, for what follows. Indeed, the prelude is like the
proem of epideictic [speeches]; for as the flute players begin by
playing whatever they can execute skillfullyand connect it with the
keynote, so also should be, in epideictic speeches, the composition
[of the proem]; [one should] say at once whateverone likes, give the
keynote, and continue.8
Among prominent examples of a tradition of introductory move-

ments in the history of European music are the preludial pieces in
fifteenth- and sixteenth-century lute and keyboard tablatures, the un-
measured preludes of seventeenth-century French lute and harpsi-
chord music, and the preludes preceding fugues of the German Ba-
roque. Underlying all of these forms is an apparent sense of need for
302 a proper introductory gesture to prepare for or lead into a more
substantial work, either by accommodating specific circumstances of a
performance (e.g., testing the instrument, alerting listeners) or by
coordinating musical characteristics such as mood or character, or
pitch, mode, or key. The elements of spontaneity and creativity in
performance are fundamental to improvised preludes.9
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the word "prelude"
and its equivalents in other European languageslo were used to refer
to a variety of prefatory or introductory passages. In addition to
denoting an improvised introduction to a song or to a piece for piano,
harpsichord, lute, or other instrument, the term was applied to a
usually non-improvised piece played by an organist at the beginning
s Ars rhetorica,III, 1414b. The passage is given in Greek and translated by Warren
Kirkendale in "Ciceronians versus Aristotelians on the Ricercar as Exordium from
Bembo to Bach," Journal of the AmericanMusicological SocietyXXXII (1979), 3. Kirken-
dale's study examines the functions and characteristics of preludial pieces up to the
time of Bach.
9 Bruno Nettl, "Thoughts on Improvisation: A Comparative Approach," The Mu-
sical QuarterlyLX (1974), 1-19, examines traditional Western notions of improvisation
and composition as they relate to the creation of music in several cultures. This article
and Nettl's teachings have influenced my thinking on improvisation. A collection of
essays edited by Nettl, In the Courseof Performance:Studies in the Worldof Musical Impro-
visation, is in preparation. The standard book-length work on the subject is Ernst
Ferand, Die Improvisationin der Musik (Zurich, 1938).
0o In German sources Prdludium, Vorspiel,less commonly Praeambulum(or Prdam-
bulum), as a verb prdludiren,praeambulieren(or prdambulieren);in French prdlude,prdluder;
in Italian preludio, preludiare.
GOERTZEN
of a service, as well as to the organist's improvised introductions to

congregational songs or parts of the Mass." Passages played by indi-
viduals in an ensemble in order to tune and to warm up were called
preludes,12 as were composed introductory movements such as opera
overtures, ritornellos at the beginning of dramatic scenes or mono-
logues, and movements introducing suites, fugues, or fantasies.'3 The
French verb priluder and the German priiludiren meant "to play an
introduction," but were also used with the broader meaning "to im-
provise"; in this more general sense a prelude might be an improvised
piece having no introductory function.'4 Further, independent, com-
posed pieces embodying improvisatory style were called preludes.,5
" Pietro Lichtenthal, Dizionario e bibliografiadella mnusica,4 vols. (Milan: Antonio

Fontana, 1826), II, 133 (Preludio); Gustav Schilling, Encyclopddieder gesammtenmu.sikali-
schen Wissenschaften,6 vols. (Stuttgart: Franz Heinrich K6hler, 1841), V, 532-33 (Prae-
ludium); August Reissmann, MusikalischesConversations-Lexikon,11 vols. (Berlin: Robert
Oppenheim, 1877), VIII, 155-57 (Prdludiren, Prdludium).
12
James Grassineau, A Musical Dictionary (London: J. Wilcox, 1740), 183 (Pre-
lude); M. Castil-Blaze, Dictionnaire de mnusiquemoderne(Brussels: L'Academie de Mu-
sique, 1828), 192 (Prdlude).The verb prdludierenwas used in this sense in a report of a
Frankfurt concert in 1805 (AnZ VII [March 13, 1805], 392-93): "In closing, allow me
to reproach the orchestra for an unfortunate practice in which they engage in the local 303
concerts, one that was especially noticeable today: This is the loud tuning of everyone
at the same time, within the audience's hearing, and the uncivilized preluding. One
could tune very conveniently in an adjoining room (as always happens in the amateur
concerts), but probably this is not done because the instruments go out of tune easily
when they come out of the room into the warmer hall. Yet it is also true that not every
player can hear his pitch exactly and tune perfectly when everyone is tuning at the same
time and amidst the unbearable improvising and doodling, and in this way the instru-
ments as well as the listeners are put out of tune, and the music hindered in its effect."
("Beym Schlusse dieses sey es mir erlaubt einen Uebelstand des Orchesters bey den
hiesigen Konzerten, und der heute besonders auffallend war, zu rtigen: Es ist dieses
das laute Stimmen aller zugleich, vor den Ohren der Zuh6rer, und das ungesittete
Priludieren. Man k6nnte ganz bequem in einem Nebenzimmer stimmen (wie es bey
den Liebhaberkonzerten auch jedesmal geschieht) wahrscheinlich wird es aber deswe-
gen nicht gethan, weil sich die Instrumente, wenn sie aus dem Zimmer in den wirmern
Saal kommen, leicht verziehen; allein es ist doch auch gewiss, dass bey dem Stimmen
aller zugleich und wahrend dem unertraglichen Phantasieren und Dudeln nicht jeder
seinen Ton genau h6ren und ganz rein stimmen kann, und auf diese Weise die
Instrumente-nicht rein, und die Zuhbrer verstimmt werden, und die Musik an ihrer
Wirkung gehindert wird.") The reviewer refers to the similar sentiments expressed by
Rochlitz in AmZ II (October 23, 1799), 57-59-
13 J. J. Rousseau, Dictionnairede musique(Paris: la Veuve Duchesne, 1768), 382-83
(Prdlude, Prdluder); Grassineau, Musical Dictionary, 183; Reissmann, Conversations-
Lexikon,VIII, 157.
14 Rousseau, Dictionnaire, 383. Rousseau's definition appears in Castil-Blaze, Dic-
tionnaire, 192, and is cited also in Lichtenthal, Dizionario, II, 133. See also AmZ XXII
(March 28, 1820), 336. Reissmann, Conversations-Lexikon, VIII, 157, noted that in ev-
eryday parlance, the terms prdludirenand phantasirenwere often used interchangeably,
but ought to be kept separate. He described the prelude as a kind of fantasy, but one
having the specific purpose of introducing a piece of music.
15 For
example, Philipp Wschejansky's five-page Praeludiumfiir das Piano Forte,
Op. 5 (Vienna: K. K. pr. chemischen Druckerey, [c. 18oo]). Independent preludes were
Preluding gave the pianist an opportunity to try out an instru-

ment, warm up the fingers, and focus the mind before the actual
performance began. Such preparation was of particular value given
the variation in tone, touch, and state of repair among pianos then in
use. A prelude might serve as a kind of ritual announcement of the
beginning of a performance, a means of drawing the listeners' atten-
tion and giving them time to ready themselves for the following
piece. 6 Thus it played a structural role similar to that of an opening
symphony or overture in a public concert.17 A prelude might also
provide a transition between one composition and another. 8 It was
believed that an introductory gesture could heighten both the per-
former's ability to communicate and the listener's receptivity, as it
drew all of those involved into the musical world of the composition
to follow.'9
Like other forms of improvisation, preluding was a vehicle for
creative and technical display. In instances where a pianist performed
his or her own composition, an improvised introduction continued
the compositional process in accordance with the circumstances of
the specific occasion -the pianist's frame of mind, the make-up of the
304 audience, the other items on the program, the size and acoustical
properties of the hall, and so on.20 Improvised passages and other
discussed later in the century in Carl Richter, "Ueber selbstandige Clavierpraludien,
insbesondere Chopin's Op. 28 und Op. 45," Neue Zeitschriftfiir Musik LI (March 7,
1884), 113-16.
'6 On this point see Castil-Blaze, Dictionnaire, 192, and Carl Czerny, Systematic
Introduction,5-6.
17 The structure of public concerts in Vienna and the function of the opening
number are discussed in Mary Sue Morrow, ConcertLife in Haydn's Vienna: Aspectsof a
Developing Musical and Social Institution (Stuyvesant, N.Y., 1989), 142-44-
18 Clara Schumann was in the habit of
improvising transitions to connect short
pieces (AmZ XXXIX [April 19, 1837], 257, and AmZ XL [March 7, 1838], 165). Modu-
lating preludes of the sort composed by Mozart for his sister, Nannerl (Modulierendes
Prdiludium(F-e), K. deest, in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Neue Ausgabe sdmtlicherWerke
(Kassel, 1982), series 9, group 27, vol. II, pp. 4-5), seem also to have been intended as
bridges between two pieces. The purpose of preludes passing through many or all the
keys, for instance Beethoven's Zwei Prdludien durch alle Dur-Tonartenfiir das Pianoforte
oder die Orgel, Op. 39 (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hirtel, 1803), is less clear; a letter of
Mozart suggests that such preludes were suitable to any key, and that the player would
simply stop upon reaching the appropriate key (The Lettersof Mozart and His Family, 3d
ed., trans. and ed. Emily Anderson [New York and London, 1989], 589). These pre-
ludes may also have served as a means of checking the tuning of an instrument, or as
compositional exercises. See also Eigeldinger, "Twenty-four Preludes," 171n.
19 The importance of the prelude in this regard is discussed in the second edition
of Hummel, Anweisung zum Piano-Forte-Spiel,465 and 467.
20 Morrow notes that approximately one-fourth of the concertos mentioned in
surviving program announcements from Vienna in the 178os and 1790S are identified
as composed by the performer; just under half of the concertos are identified as works
of other composers. In the early nineteenth century, a greater proportion (though still
less than half) of the concertos mentioned in program announcements were composed
GOERTZEN
elaborations made on the spot were opportune venues for experi-

mentation and self-challenge; they also served as a means of person-
alizing and interpreting the music of others.
The notion of improvisation accorded well with the Romantic
fascination with the immediacy and intangibility of music. The spon-
taneous outpouring of an artist's inspiration afforded a glimpse of
genius in the very process of creating. The music existed only for the
moment and was shaped in accordance with circumstances of the
moment. For the performer, improvisation allowed complete immer-
sion in one's self and one's art. The figure of E. T. A. Hoffmann's
Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, striving to realize his inner visions
through improvisation, comes immediately to mind. Johann Nepo-
muk Hummel, who was renowned for his ability to improvise even
fugues and other elaborate pieces in strict style,21 maintained that
improvisation contributed to one's intellectual powers and well-being.
In his instruction book for piano, he wrote:
I close by recommendingfree improvisationin general and in every

respectableform to all those for whom [music]is not merely a matter
of entertainmentand practicalability,but rather principallyone of 305
inspiration and meaning in their art. This recommendation,to be
sure, has never been so urgent as now, because the number of peo-
ple whose interests belong to the former category and not to the
latter has never been so great. Even if a person plays with inspira-
tion, but always from a written score, he or she will be much less
nourished, broadened, and educated than through the frequent of-
fering of all of his or her powersin a free fantasypracticedin the full
awarenessof certain guidelines and directions,even if this improvi-
sation is only moderately successful.22
by the performer (ConcertLife, 159). Reports in the AmZ (e.g., VIII [June 4, 18o6], 570,
and XV [January 20, 1813], 49) complained about the tendency of some pianists and
other instrumentalists to rely too heavily on their own works, resulting in programs that
were monotonous or of low artistic quality.
21
Concerning Hummel's improvisations, see the entry for him in F. J. Fetis, Bio-
graphie universelledes musicienset bibliographiegneirale de la musique,2d ed. 8 vols. (Paris:
Didot Frbres, Fils et Cie, 1862), IV, 385-88; also Edward Holmes, A RambleAmong the
Musicians of Germany(London: Hunt and Clarke, 1828; rpt. New York, 1969), 260-64;
Henry F. Chorley, Modern GermanMusic (London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1854), 8-9;
and reviews in the AmZ: XXII (July 5, 1820), 463-66; XXV (July 9, 1820), 454;
XXXVI (May 7, 1834), 319-20; and XXXVI (December 17, 1834), 864. His stature in
German musical life of the first third of the nineteenth century is examined in Reinhold
Schmitt-Thomas, Die Entwicklungder deutschenKonzertkritikim Spiegel der LeipzigerAllge-
meinenMusikalischenZeitung (Frankfurt am Main, 1969), 341-43, 473-78, and 564-65-
F. J. Fetis and Ignaz Moscheles identified the best "modern" improvisers as Mozart and
Beethoven, and after them Hummel, Moscheles, and Chopin, MWthode des mithodesde
piano (Paris: Maurice Schlesinger, [1840], 73).
22 Hummel, Anweisung zum Piano-Forte-Spiel, 2d ed., 468: Ich schliesse mit einer
Empfehlung des freien Phantasirens fiberhaupt und in jeder achtbaren Form an Alle,
Hummel claimed that he felt freer and happier improvising even

before an audience of two to three thousand than he did executing a
written composition to which he was "more or less slavishly tied."23
It should be noted, however, that the practice of improvising
preludes before an audience was not admired by everyone. An anon-
ymous reviewer for the QuarterlyMusical Magazine and Review wrote in
1818:
We have often enquired why a Piano Forte player should be in-
dulged or should indulge himself with the liberty of running over
the instrument before his regular performance commences...
Were a singer to go up and down the scale, or to flit through a dozen
volatas, it would be thought mighty ridiculous, and yet the same
motive must be common to both, namely, a desire to bring the or-
gans into exercise before the real onset. In point of fact, such prep-
aration is most necessary to the singer, though the union of sense
with the sound of the human voice forbids it. [But] custom is all
powerful, and pianists must prelude.24
In what situations did pianists prelude? Comments on this point
in instruction books must be interpreted with some caution. As ma-
306 terials aimed toward amateurs and students, these works were not
likely to take into account the range of possibilities open to accom-
plished artists.25 Moreover, it is often not possible to know to what
extent an author sought to reflect prevailing custom, to correct what
he perceived as abuses, or to promote what he considered to be good
habits in the student. Some of the instructions found in Czerny's
SystematicIntroduction,for example, are obviously pedagogical strate-
gies designed to encourage self-discipline, creativity, and practice.
Indeed, his pronouncements occasionally contradict one another.
denen es nicht blos um Unterhaltung und um Geschicklichkeit im Praktischen, sondern
auch, ja vornehmlich, um den Geist und Sinn in ihrer Kunst zu thun ist: diese Empfeh-
lung aber ist nie so dringend gewesen, als jetzt, weil es deren, die nur jene, nicht diese
beabsichtigen, nie so Viele als jetzt gegeben hat. Selbst wenn man mit Geist immer-
wihrend nur Noten spielt, wird derselbe viel weniger genahrt, erweitert und ausgebil-
det, als durch 6fteres, wenn auch nur massig gelingendes, doch mit vollem Bewustsein,
Aufbietung aller Krafte, nach gewisser Richtung und Ordnung getibtes freies Phan-
tasiren.
23
Hummel, Anweisung zum Piano-Forte-Spiel,2d ed., 462.
24 QuarterlyMusical Magazine and Review I (1818), 394-
25 The music education of amateurs in nineteenth-century Europe is discussed in
Irmgard Keldany-Mohr, "Unterhaltungsmusik" als soziokulturellesPhiinomendes 19. Jahr-
hunderts (Regensburg, 1977), 43-51. In the early to middle part of the century, ama-
teurs with the financial means to do so could study in public institutions run by indi-
viduals or musical societies (later in the century by the city or state), or in general
departments of conservatories. More usual, however, was private study with a profes-
sional or amateur musician, either in individual lessons or in private "academies." As
a rule these forms of private instruction provided training in singing or playing an
instrument rather than a thorough education in the art.
GOERTZEN
Czerny's statement that "the performer should become accus-

tomed to improvising a prelude each time and before each piece that
he studies or plays" is one such bow to good habits.21 In an extensive
review of the SystematicIntroduction,G. W. Fink found fault with this
blanket recommendation.27 Even Czerny restricted his readers to "a
few chords and a brilliant run" if other instruments were also involved
and advised against preludes of any sort in public performances of
solo pieces with orchestra, especially[!] those beginning with a tutti.2'1
At least occasionally, however, preludes introduced concertos and
other orchestral works. A German music encyclopedia from 1841 tells
of "short introductory passages or chords which virtuosi still play
before their concert productions, in hyperartistic cadenzas or the like
(usually holding to the harmony of the final cadence in the appropri-
ate key), partly perhaps in order to prepare themselves to play, partly
to alert public and orchestra to them and to the start of their perfor-
mance."29 Czerny himself provided an introduction to the finale of
Ries's Concerto in E Flat in his Prtiludien, Cadenzeniund kleineFantasien
of 1824.30
Castil-Blaze claimed that it was only in private gatherings that
musicians preluded before performing a sonata or concerto.:' This is 307
clearly an oversimplification. But it does seem that preluding thrived
26
Czerny, SystematicIntroductioln,15. Czerny's Piano Forte School,III, i 16, similarly
states that "every Performer immediately before the piece which he is about to execute,
should play an introductory movement, which may be longer or shorter according to
circumstances." Essentially the same recommendation is given in P. A. Corri, Original
Systemof Preluding (quoted in the Gentleman ~ Magazine LXXXIV [January 1814], part i,
p. 6o).
27 AmZ XXXI (September 2, 1829), 577.
28 Czerny, SystematicIntroduction,6. In his PiatnoForte School,Czerny described the
proper manner of commencing a public performance of a piece beginning with or-
chestra: "After making the usual obeisances, first towards the principal boxes, then
towards the sides, and lastly towards the middle of the Theater; [the pianist] must take
his seat, depositing his dress hat, and drawing out his white handkerchief, he mnustthen
give the signal to the orchestra. In this case all preluding must be strictly avoided. The
player should take care, before he presents himself, to keep his fingers very warin and
flexible" (III, 87). No separate instructions were given to women performers.
29 Schilling, Encyclopdidie, V, 533: Einige sagen statt Praeludiuln auch Praearnbu-
lum und statt Priludiren (vorspielen, ein solches Vorspiel vortragen) wohl Prhamnbu-
liren. Indel versteht man unter Praeambulum (w6rtlich: Vorgang, was vorangeht)
gew6hnlich mehr jene kleineren Einleitungssitze oder Accorde, die Virtuosen bis-
weilen ihren Concert= Productionen in hyperartistischen Cadenzen oder dergl. (ge-
w6hnlich die Harmonie der eigentlichen Schlulcadenz enthaltend) vorangehen lassen,
um eines Theils vielleicht sich selbst zurn Spiel anzuschicken, andern Theils Publikum
und Orchester auf sich und den Anfang ihres Spiels aufmerksam zu machen.
30 Op. 61 (Vienna: A. Diabelli und Co., 1824). The contents of this collection are
itemized by Mitchell in her edition of Czerny's SystematicIntroduction, 25n. Chopin's
"Andante spianato" serves as an introduction to his "Grande Polonaise in E Flat" for
piano and orchestra (Paris: M Schlesinger, 1836).
31 Castil-Blaze. Dictionnaire, 192.
particularlyin the varietyof privategatheringsthat involvedmusic-

making--formalcourtconcerts,soireesin the salonsof aristocratsand
wealthy business families,and an array of domestic And
occasions.32
like otherformsof improvisation, preludingwasan activityfor one's
solitary hours.3s
In the late eighteenth century, preludes were improvised before
sonatas and other solo pieces. In 1777 Mozart tried out a clavichord
belongingto Princed'Oetting-Wallenstein by improvisingan intro-
ductory movement, then playingtwo sonatas.34 Ten yearslaterCle-
mentipublisheda set of preludesin the stylesof contemporarycom-
posers in which he seems to make reference to a sonataby Haydn
(in C major, Hoboken XVI, 35), and perhaps other works.s5A. F. C.
Kollmannprovided preludes to several sonatasin the 179os, as well as
one to Clementi's Toccata(see Example 3 below).36And Dussek pub-
lished sonatas with preludes in his ThreeSonatasand ThreePreludes,
32 For a discussion of private venues for music-making in Vienna from 1760 to ca.
i81o, see Morrow, ConcertLife, 1-33.
33
Cipriani Potter's account of overhearing one of Beethoven's private improvi-
308 sations is included in J.-G. Prod'homme, Beethoven racont6par ceux qui l'ont vu (Paris,
[1927]), 96-97. Hummel's remarks concerning the value of improvising in solitude
have already been discussed.
34 Mannheim, November 13, 1777, in The Lettersof Mozart, trans. Anderson, 368.
Wangermee's claim that Mozart "never failed to prelude" before a sonata or concerto
("L'improvisation pianistique," 228-29) is probably an exaggeration, notwithstanding
the numerous references to improvisation of various kinds in Mozart's letters. Mozart's
Fantasie in C minor, K. 475 constitutes a lengthy prelude to his Sonata, K. 457 and was
published as such. The title page for the first edition, "Fantaisie et Sonate pour le
'Forte-Piano ... Oeuvre XI" published by Artaria in 1785, is reproduced in Gertraut
Haberkamp, Die Erstdruckeder Werkevon Wolfgang AmadeusMozart (Tutzing, 1986), II,
199. See also Mozart, Neue Ausgabe sdmtlicherWerke(Kassel, 1986), series 9, group 25,
vol. II, pp. xiii-xv.
35 Muzio Clementi, Clementi'sMusical Characteristics,or a Collectionof Preludes and
Cadencesfor the Harpsichordor Piano Forte composedin the Styleof Haydn, Kozeluch,Mozart,
Sterkel, Vanhal, and the Author, Op. 19 (London: Printed for Longman and Broderip,
1787) (RISM C 2882). A facsimile edition of this curious work is included in Nicholas
Temperley, TheLondonPianoforteSchool, 20 vols. (New York and London, 1984-87), II,
115-43. The collection has been discussed by Alan Tyson in "Clementi as an Imitator
of Haydn and Mozart," The Haydn YearbookII (1963/64), 90-92, and more extensively
by Eva Badura-Skoda in "Clementi's 'Musical Characteristics' Opus 19," in Studies in
18th-CenturyMusic: A Tribute to Karl Geiringer on His 70th Birthday, ed. H. C. Robbins
Landon (London and New York, 1970), 53-67, and Leon Plantinga in Clementi:His Life
and Music (London and New York, 1977), 129-34. I question (as does Plantinga)
Badura-Skoda's assumption that Clementi's imitation of the pianists listed on the title
page necessarily indicates that he heard them play, and also her claim that the work was
meant to be a humorous parody. See also Temperley, The London Pianoforte School, II,
xii and xvi.
36
August Friedrich Christopher Kollman, An Introductionto the Art of Preluding
and Extemporizing,in Six Lessonsfor the Harpsichordor Harp, Op. 3 (London: Printed for
R. Wornum, [1792?]). The sonatas are identified in note 57. I am grateful to Jane Lohr
for providing me with a copy of this work.
GOERTZEN
Op. 31; one pair is examined later in this study.37 These examples
strengthen the association of preludes with private performance sit-
uations, since sonatas were far more likely to be performed privately
than publically in eighteenth-century Europe.38 Keyboard preludes
were improvised also before songs lacking a composed introduction.
C. P. E. Bach refers in his Versuchto preludes by accompanists; his
remarks would appear to apply to instrumental works as well as to
songs.39 The practice of improvising preludes to songs, in order to
give the singer the pitch, has endured to the present day, of course,
although it is not usual in formal performances of Western art music.
In the early nineteenth century, preludes were most apt to intro-
duce fashionable pieces, usually light in tone.40o Czerny found lengthy
improvised preludes especially appropriate for works of this kind
lacking introductions of their own (for example, a set of variations
beginning directly with the theme).41 A performance of this type
would conform in structure to the many published pieces by Cramer,
Moscheles, Steibelt, and others consisting of a slow and often rhap-
sodic introduction followed by a faster, more tuneful movement.
Works of this kind, bearing titles such as "Fantasy and Variations" or
"Introduction and Rondo," were an alternative to the more weighty 309
sonata.42
37 Jan Ladislav Dussek, ThreeSonataswith Scotchand GermanAirs and ThreePreludes,

for the Piano Forte, with or withoutAdditional Keys Being the Continuationof Op. 25. With
accompanimentsfor a Violin or Flute & Bass Ad Libitum,Op. 31 (London: Corri, Dussek
and Co., [c. 1795]) (RISM D 4115)-
38 This matter is discussed in William S. Newman, The Sonata in the ClassicEra, 3d
ed. (New York and London, 1983), 52-57. Morrow found no solo keyboard sonatas in
reports of public concerts in Vienna c. 1760-1810 (ConcertLife, 161), although she cites
a public performance of a sonata for two pianos in 1807 (p. 342). According to Schmitt-
Thomas, Die Entwicklungder deutschenKonzertkritik,567, Mendelssohn helped to bring
about a change in this situation through his public performances of Beethoven's So-
natas Op. 53 and Op. 27/2 in 1832. As late as 1840, a writer for the AmZ commented
on the rarity of sonatas (and here he apparently means sonatas for solo instrument with
piano accompaniment) in public concerts in Leipzig (AmZ XLII [February 5, 1840],
116). See also William S. Newman, The Sonata since Beethoven, 2d ed. (New York and
London, 1972), 54-55-
39 C. P. E. Bach, Versuch,
part II, 327. The practice of preluding before a song is
described as late as 1877 in Reissman, Conversations-Lexikon,VIII, 155. Walther Diirr
believes that Schubert expected preludes to be improvised to many of his songs lacking
introductions (Franz Schubert Neue Ausgabe stimtlicherWerke, Series 4: Lieder, 7 vols.
[Kassel, 1970], Ia-IIa-IIIa-IVa-Va, xiv and VI-VII, xii).
40 The developing distinction between serious and non-serious music and the
shaping of a canon of masterworks is discussed in William Weber, "Mass Culture and
the Reshaping of European Musical Taste, 1770-1870," International Review of the
Aestheticsand Sociologyof Music VIII (1977), 5-22.
41 Czerny, SystematicIntroduction,17.
42 See Nicholas Temperley, The London Pianoforte School, I, xix.
As the above discussion has indicated, the characteristics of im-

provised preludes varied a great deal according to circumstances and
from one performer to the next. F6tis and Moscheles, in their method
book for piano of 1840, stressed the importance of individuality and
of boldness, which they deemed capable of balancing the inevitable
shortcomings of improvisations:
To improvise,that is, to compose without erasing, and without hav-
ing taken time to regulate through reflection the more or less for-
tunate ideas which come to the artist through sudden inspiration,
would be an impossibleart if its productswere to be judged with the
rigor that applies to the appreciation of written compositions. No
matter how great the talent of the improviser,there will alwaysbe
some disorder, some redundancyin the prematurefruit of his mind,
and sometimeshis sleepy imaginationwillallowhim to wanderin the
indefinite; but these defects will be redeemed by a certain boldness
of creationthat taste will disapproveof, perhaps,but which gains its
power precisely from its unusual attraction.This boldness is pre-
cisely the characteristicmark of improvisation;for I do not bestow
this term on the HUNDREDSof banal phrases put together in an
indifferent manner on a given theme.43
310
Other writings also acknowledge a stylistic distinction between impro-
visations and notated compositions. Rousseau's definition of priluder
(i.e., "to improvise") appearing in his Dictionnaire de musiqueof 1768
and later incorporated into Castil-Blaze's dictionary (1828, with a sub-
stitution of "piano" for "clavecin") characterized the improvisatory
mode as follows:
It is in improvisingthat the great musicians,freed from that extreme

bondage to rules that the eyes of the criticsimpose on writtenworks,
realize the bold and masterful transitionsthat so delight the audi-
ence. Here it is not enough to be a good composer, nor to possess
a thorough knowledge of the piano, nor to have a good and well-
practiced hand. One must also possess that verve, that touch of
43 F6tis and Moscheles, Mgthodedes mithodesde piano, 73: Improviser, c'est a dire,
composer sans rature, et sans avoir pris le temps de rigler par la reflexion ce que de
soudaines inspirations apportent d'iddes plus ou moins heureuses l'artiste, serait un
art impossible, si ses produits devaient etre jug6s avec la rigueur qui s'attache Y l'ap-
pr6ciation des compositions 6crites. De quelque talent que soit doue l'improvisateur, il
y aura toujours quelque d6sordre, quelques redites dans le fruit pr6mature de sa
pens6e, et parfois son imagination somnolente le laissera errer dans le vague; mais ces
d6fauts seront rachetes par une certaine audace de creation que le gout reprouverait
peut etre, mais qui tire precisement sa puissance de son allure inusit6e. Cette audace est
precisement le signe caracteristique de l'improvisation; carje n'appelle point de ce nom
ces CENTONS de phrases banales assemblies tant bien que mal, a propos d'un theme
donne.
GOERTZEN
genius, and that inventive spirit that immediatelyfinds and treats

subjectsthat are most favorableto the harmonyand most pleasing to
the ear. .44
..
Of course, even compositions that have been fixed to a great extent

through notation, repeated performance, or both require some mea-
sure of improvisation in performance. But musical works that take
shape largely during the act of performance particularly invite atten-
tion to the processes by which ideas develop and connect with one
another.
Efforts to characterize the improvisatory mode of expression
from a listener's perspective have been made in recent writings in
aesthetics using the analogy of speech.45 When one listens to a pre-
pared speech, especially a read or fully memorized speech, one ex-
pects greater elegance of expression and coherence of ideas than one
does from remarks made "off the cuff." In situations where a person
is finding words to express ideas that are forming as he or she speaks,
a listener makes allowances for changes of mind in mid-course, words
substituted after the fact, and inconsistencies in grammar or expres-
sion-in short, one listens past the "mistakes" in an effort to grasp the 311
speaker's intent. One may find much to admire along the way-
striking turns of phrase, word choices, and manner of delivery. And
the fact that all has not been worked out ahead of time may give this
speech added freshness and capacity to engage. But, particularly in
matters of formal structure and conciseness, one would not expect the
products of such speech to compare with written, or otherwise care-
fully prepared, prose.
Similarly, a listener makes allowances for false starts and "mis-
takes" in improvisations because of the degree of experimentation
involved and the performer's limited opportunity for reflection as he
or she plays out ideas. One can reshape what has been played only by
developing or transforming it, or perhaps by overshadowing it in a
later part of the improvisation. Thus the processes by which ideas lead
from one to another (or cancel one another out), in accordance with
44 Rousseau, Dictionnaire,383 (appears also in the 1781 edition): C'est sur-tout en
priludant, que les grands Musiciens, exempts de cet extreme asservissement aux regles
que l'ceil des critiques leur impose sur le papier, font briller ces Transitions savantes qui
ravissent les Auditeurs. C'est-lh qu'il ne suffit pas d'etre bon Compositeur ni de bien
poss'der son Clavier ni d'avoir la main bonne & bien exerc~e, mais qu'il faut encore
abonder de ce feu de genie & de cet esprit inventif qui font trouver & traiter sur le
champ les sujets les plus favorables ail'Harmonie & les plus flatteurs a l'oreille.
45 Philip Alperson, "On Musical Improvisation," Journal of Aesthetics and Art
CriticismXLIII (1984), 23-27, drawing on Francis Sparshott, The Theory of the Arts
(Princeton, 1982). My discussion of this analogy reworks and extends the ideas pre-
sented by Alperson.
the overriding intentions of the artist are likely to command greater

attention than the structure of the finished improvisation. The lis-
tener may judge the quality of an improvisation according to criteria
used in assessing more formal compositions--originality of material
and ingenuity and complexity of development, for example. But ul-
timately the evaluation has meaning only in the context of that which
has proved possible within the realm of improvisation.
The speech-music analogy can be extended by considering the
role that listeners play in music performance. Improvisation may con-
sist not merely of speaking, but of conversation, and a listener's ac-
tions (e.g., verbal responses, body movements, and facial expressions)
are capable of influencing the performer's frame of mind and his or
her decisions about the course that an improvisation takes. Where a
performer is concerned with public image or financial success, inter-
action of this kind must be extremely important. Hummel noted that
the ability to judge the taste and desires of one's audience, to fashion
an improvisation that would please everyone present, was a mark of
a master improviser. He described a period of experimentation dur-
ing which he improvised before small audiences possessing varying
312 degrees of musical expertise in order to develop approaches that
would satisfy all; only then did he venture to improvise in public.46
Czerny described three categories of preludes in

his SystematicIntroduction:the short prelude; the more extended, elab-
orate prelude; and the very free, recitative-like prelude.47 The short
prelude allowed the performer to try out the instrument briefly and
to set the key and perhaps also the overall tone of the piece to follow.
Such preludes might be quite unpretentious, even consisting of little
more than tonic and dominant harmonies embellished by figuration.
Czerny's Piano Forte School designated a succession of two chords,
dominant and tonic, as the "shortest possible prelude" and stressed
the importance of playing memorized preludes in such a way that
they would appear unstudied.48
Mendelssohn's Fantasie ilber ein irldndischesLied, Op. 1549 illUS-
trates how even a single chord might bring an opening melody into
relief (Example 1). Here the juxtaposition of the slowly arpeggiated
46Hummel, Anweisung zum Piano-Forte-Spiel,2d ed., 462.

47The first two types are exemplified in reports of Beethoven's preluding cited in
Wangermde, "L'improvisation pianistique," 239-40.
48
Czerny, Piano Forte School, III, 117 and 123-
49 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Fantasie fiberein irldndischesLied "TheLast Rose,"
Op. 15 (Vienna: C. A. Spina, 1833).
GOERTZEN
EXAMPLE 1. Mendelssohn, "Fantasie iiber ein irliindischesLied," Op.

15, mm. 1-5. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Werke, ed.
Julius Rietz (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hirtel, 1874-77),
series 11, vol. 1, p. 64. First published Vienna: C. A.
Spina, 1833. Used by permission of Breitkopf & Hartel,
Wiesbaden.
Adagio).
rk 1 r -m
-- -.
313
E-minor chord with the E-major theme highlights the third scale de-
gree on the downbeat of measure 3 (on "last"of " 'Tis the last rose of
summer"), the following upward leap of a sixth, and the return to G
sharp on "summer." The modal contrast intensifies the perception of
consonance in the melody, and with it the sense of beauty and repose.
The arpeggiated chord that precedes the theme of this fantasy obvi-
ously reflects improvisatory practice. In 1874, the American pianist
Amy Fay described an instance in which her teacher, Ludwig Deppe,
recommended that a student add a single introductory chord in order
to improve the effect of the opening bars of a piece.50
Collections of preludes published for the use of amateurs serve as
a glossary of techniques for constructing short preludes. Typically
these collections contain a prelude two to three lines in length in each
of the twenty-four keys, or in the keys most frequently used. Johann
Baptist Cramer's Twenty-sixPreludes or ShortIntroductionsin the Princi-
pal Major and Minor Keysfor the Piano Forte was praised as especially
effective in "leading the mind to extemporaneous playing."51 Like all
50 Mrs. Fay Peirce, ed., Music Studyin Germany,

from the Home Correspondence
of Amy
Fay, 17th ed. (New York, 1897), 325. Josef Hofmann preceded most of the pieces
played on his Golden Jubilee Concert with a single chord that set the key (November
28, 1937, released on Columbia KL 4929)-
5' Anonymous review, QuarterlyMusical Magazine & Review I (1818), 394-96. The
full citation for Cramer's set is given in note 7.
the preludes in the set, number six in B flat (Example 2) is notated

without bar lines; a sense of meter prevails only occasionally. The
scale and arpeggio figures are typicalof the genre, as is the fragmen-
tary character. Cramer presents a series of ideas, none of which un-
dergoes any real development. Tonic and dominant harmonies ac-
count for most of the prelude; the entire third line constitutes a
dramatic cadential passage. Although examples in published collec-
tions invariablybegin and end on the tonic, Czerny noted that an
improvised prelude might begin in a different key and employ re-
mote modulations in the course of a few measures.52
P. A. Corri'sOriginalSystemof Preludingincluded instructionsre-
lating to the performance of preludes that would seem applicableto
preludes such as the one in Example 2:
The style for playingpreludesshouldbe bold and energetic;the
runningpassagesexecutedwithbrilliancyand velocity;the chords
thatarelong,andwhichconcludethe prelude,shouldnotbe struck
together,but by a long-extendedappogiando [sic].Appogiandosig-
nifiesplayinga chordin a leaningor slantingdirection,so thatthe
notesare heardsuccessively. Thosechordswhichbeginanyrun or
314 passageshouldhaveemphasis,andshouldbe playedmoretogether,
and with morefirmness.Whenthere are severalchordstogether,
they shouldbe playedalmosttogether,and not appogiando.The
arpeggios,and passages,whereinboth hands combine,and that
arelinkedwithties,&c.mustbe playedperfectlyregularand legato,
keepingas manynotes down as possible.In the performanceof
preludes,all formalityor precisionof time mustbe avoided:they
mustappear to be the birthof the moment,the effusionof the fancy:
for this reason it may be observed, that the measure or time is not
alwaysmarked at preludes.53
Moscheles's collection of Fifty Preludes, published in 1827 "as

short introductionsto any movement and as preparatoryexercises to
the author's studies,"54shows the range of approaches possible in
constructingeven short, generic introductions. Some of the preludes
(e.g., Number i in C major) consist of a series of scale and arpeggio
figures and resemble in their general outlines the Cramer example
above. Nearly half are unmeasured, either entirely or in part. Some
resemble short etudes in that they afford practice in a particular
technique or figure. And a few, most of them in distant or minor keys,
52
Czerny supplied examples of this in his SystematicIntroduction,11-15. Concern-
ing the modulating prelude, see note 18.
53 Corri, Original System of Preluding, 1-4. Quoted in the Gentleman'sMagazine
LXXXIV (January 1814), part 1, 6o.
54 See note 7.
GOERTZEN
EXAMPLE2. Prelude Number 6 from Cramer, XXVI Preludes dans

les modes majeurs et mineurs les plus usitis (Berlin: F. S.
Lischke, [1827]). First published London: Chappel and
Co. and Clementi and Co., [1818].
;aB._(oa r-j
ItR
i 11Tr
315
have the character of independent miniatures. The F-minor prelude
(Nr. 42), marked "Andante espressivo" (Example 3), features a
melody and accompaniment texture-the first half is in "nocturne
texture." In this prelude the technique of sequence, a mainstay of
improvised music, is used to construct a sensitive, lyrical melody
which, although still fragmentary in character, conforms to the four-
bar phrase pattern typical of notated compositions; the melody is
answered in the first five measures by an inner voice. The pedal,
besides connecting the arpeggios in the left hand, creates an atmo-
spheric haze that helps to remove this prelude from the realm of the
ordinary.
Kollman's An Introductionto the Art of Preluding and Extemporizing55
illustrates how a short prelude might incorporate one or more ideas
from a given piece. His prelude to Clementi's Toccata, Op. 1156 (Ex-
ample 4a), is a sampling of the principal components of its companion
piece (Example 4b). The first four measures of the prelude present an
extended version of the Toccata's opening parallel thirds; mm. 5-8
are a transposition to the tonic of mm. 16-19 (there in the dominant);
55 See note 36.

56Tyson identifies the first authentic edition as A Sonatafor the Piano-Forteand a
Famous Toccatafor the Harpsichordor Piano-Forte,Op. 11 (London: John Kerpen, [17841)
(Alan Tyson, ThematicCatalogue of the Worksof Muzio Clementi[Tutzing, 1967], 47).
EXAMPLE3. Prelude Number 42 from Moscheles, CelebratedPreludes

in the VariousMajor and Minor Modes, Op. 73, ed. A. R.
Parsons (New York: G. Schirmer, 1882). First pub-
lished London: S. Chappell and J. B. Cramer, [1827].
Andanteespressivo. -
t44-
_a' -
,
u,..v, ,I .
j~~i
1 -1"-11- 4i-
"Li ,1 • X_ I I
'I
"li - --___. _,-
316 %a -I, RIFIz

---+
, I
bF
,-- - -
. .---
_ _r _ .
w
?F w O
.O Ili
and the last five measures are a shortened version of the last seven
measures of Clementi's piece. To an even greater extent than the
Toccata, the prelude employs a technique for which Clementi was
famous-playing in parallel thirds. The remaining preludes in the set
also draw on material from their corresponding pieces, as Kollman
noted, "with more or less liberty."57
Further examples of short preludes for specific pieces were no-
tated by Clara Schumann in 1895. According to a note by her daugh-
ter, Marie, Schumann attempted to write out versions of preludes she
57 He identified the other five preludes as belonging to Burney's Sonata IV, Op.
i; Hiissler's Grand Sonata for Three Hands, Op. 12; Haydn's Sonata II, Op. 58; Horn's
Sonata I, Op. i; and Hulmandel's Sonata III, Op. 4.
GOERTZEN
I b.
'. 4.
(-s
I
4
0-.
-S..
so
0
g-
00~
He.
' ii
Vt 317
'-4
Vf
E l
| [a
[I
I•-.
ry
oo
EXAMPLE4. (b) Clementi, Toccata,Op. 11 (London: J. Dale, 1792). First published
S4S j
931343 2
Prestifsimo 121 41 1 1 6"1
F PO
n-
AL-AL-
UP F L1
CLMI
EXAMPLE4. (b) (continued)
4 4,
I
--I
1' 4s
last 7 measures
"
I I'• • LI LE IEP IF 'I I,
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A II Sy
O"L -••: VA-.- III
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Cu
had improvised in public concerts and on other occasions.58 Among

them are preludes to "Aufschwung" and "Des Abends" from Robert
Schumann's Fantasiestiicke,Op. 12, to "Schlummerlied" from his Al-
bumbliitter,Op. 124, and to the slow movement of his F-Minor Sonata.
These preludes are evidence of Clara Schumann's careful handling
of her husband's compositions, which were regarded as difficult by
audiences accustomed to brilliant concert fantasies, variation sets,
and the like.59 Each of her introductions presents one or more themes
from its companion piece and elaborates on motives from these
themes principally through the use of sequence; arpeggios and other
figuration characteristic of preludes are also employed. The prelude
to "Des Abends," a piece which she performed on numerous occa-
sions from 1844 onwards,6o will illustrate her general approach (Ex-
ample 5).
In this introduction, Schumann presents the opening of the
theme using a simple chordal accompaniment, then continues with a
sequence on this melodic idea. A three-note pattern derived from it is
made over as arpeggiated triads that lead to a climax on tonic six-four.
A cascade landing on a low dominant then leads to a final reminis-
320 cence of the principal theme over tonic harmony; the prelude ends
with a plagal cadence. The introduction resembles preludes published
for the use of nineteenth-century amateurs in its brevity, fragmentary
quality, expansion by means of sequential figures and progressions,
emphasis on dominant harmony in the last section, and exploration of
more distant harmonies in the middle. But at the same time, the
prelude is entirely derived from Robert Schumann's piece. The ap-
poggiatura g-flat resolving to f in the first measure of "Des Abends"
58 Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Mus. ms. autogr. 9. A fair copy of the preludes in

another hand and an autograph of four of the preludes are in the Archive of the
Robert-Schumann-Haus, Zwickau (MS Nr. 7486,5 and MS Nr. 11514-A1). See also
Berthold Litzmann, Clara Schumann:Ein Kiinstlerlebennach Tagebilchernund Briefen, 2d
ed., 3 vols. (Leipzig, 1903-9), III, 6ol. I wish to thank Nancy Reich for bringing the
collection to my attention, Wolfgang Goldhan for providing me with a microfilm of
the Berlin manuscript, and Gerd Nauhaus for providing me with photocopies of the
Zwickau manuscripts and allowing me to work with them in the Archive. My study of
Schumann's preludes is forthcoming in In the Courseof Performance:Studiesin the World
of Musical Improvisation,ed. Bruno Nettl.
59 Schumann's careful programming of her husband's music is discussed in Nancy
Reich, Clara Schumann:theArtistand the Woman(Ithaca and London, 1985), 265-75 and
in Martin Schoppe, "Schumann-Interpretation Clara Schumanns (Tageskritik und
Konzertbericht), in 3. Schumann-Tagedes BezirkesKarl-Marx-Stadt,1978 (Zwickau, 1978),
17-24.
6o The earliest performance of "Des Abends" and "Traumeswirren" documented
in Die grofie Programm-SammlungClara Schumanns (eigene Konzerte) (Zwickau, Robert-
Schumann-Haus, Nr. 10463, 1-A3, C3) is in a concert played in Dorpat on February
11, 1844.
GOERTZEN
EXAMPLE5. (a) Clara Schumann, Prelude to "Des Abends," based

on the autograph in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and
a copy in the Archive of the Robert-Schumann-Haus
Zwickau. Used by permission of the Staatsbibliothek zu
Berlin PreuBischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung, and
of the Robert-Schumann-Haus Zwickau.
'
A% 0- 69n,. H .. I. "-, -• ..
_-
-- - -- -
ii.
13 K. o
5P
321
ppI
-. - -
V VI
Iy I
.
"-I T: - •
•, _-
A I
(and in the first measure of the prelude) is reiterated in the prelude's

cascade over tonic six-four, in the final reference to the theme, and in
the closing plagal cadence, a progression that creates an immediate
harmonic context for the opening of the character piece. With this
preparation, contemporary listeners were in a better position to deal
with the rhythmic and textural intricacies of "Des Abends."
EXAMPLE5. (b) Robert Schumann, "Des Abends," Op. 12, no. 1,

mm. 1-16. Robert Schumann's Werke, ed. Clara Schu-
mann (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hartel, 1879), series 7,
vol. 2, p. 82. First published Leipzig: Breitkopf und
Hairtel, 1838. Used by permission of Breitkopf & Har-
tel, Wiesbaden.
Sehr innig zUapieleii.
-•
ui
rJ
-?
P-
W--N_.. _F E#
. y
:rr-tke-
3•'
i',d? .t•'-
-
ie77
IoP-
322
Pianists might adapt a prelude taken from a published collection

to suit a specific piece by incorporating borrowed melodies or other
materials; the result might be similar in general outline to the pre-
ludes of Kollman or Schumann. But there prevailed also a belief in
the ability of the key to bind the two components together.61 Review-
ers of preludes commented on the degree to which the composers
succeeded in capturing the inherent qualities of individual keys,62 the
assumption being that respect for these characteristics would result in
preludes that would be compatible with more formal pieces in emo-
tional character, dynamic profile, types of figuration employed, and
61 The properties attributed to keys are examined in Rita Steblin, A Historyof Key
Characteristicsin the Eighteenthand Early NineteenthCenturies,Studies in Musicology no. 67
(Ann Arbor, MI, 1983). Concerning key characteristics and choices in the nineteenth
century, see Hugh MacDonald, "9/8 G-flat," 19th-CenturyMusic XI (1988), 221-37.
62 For
example, the anonymous review of Book I of Kalkbrenner's Twenty-four
Preludes in the Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review IX (1827), 248-50. Czerny's
statement that the student must transpose sample preludes into all the keys (Systematic
Introduction,1i) was meant to encourage development of technical and creative facility
at the keyboard; it should not be understood to mean that a given prelude would serve
equally well in any key.
GOERTZEN
perhaps even rhythmic and melodic construction. Indeed, one ob-

serves some similarities among preludes in a given key by different
authors. In early collections of preludes for piano (some still specify
harpsichord as well), keys considered to be more remote (i.e., farther
around the circle of fifths starting with C major) were sometimes not
included, since they were seldom used.63 In later collections, these
keys and even less remote minor keys were often treated especially
creatively, with less reliance on scale and arpeggio formulae. This
probably reflects the extraordinary expressive potential that these
keys were believed to have, as well as the absence of well-worn con-
ventions of playing and thinking in these keys.64
Preludes belonging to Czerny's second category, the longer, more
elaborate preludes, took the shape of improvised fantasies. In the
kinds of figuration employed, the extension of ideas through repeti-
tion and sequence, and the overriding sense of rhythmic freedom,
they resembled the short prelude. But in a larger format it was pos-
sible to give greater attention to the development of motives and
themes and to the building of a structure involving contrasts, tensions,
and releases. An extended prelude might explore several keys, and
usually ended on the dominant or dominant seventh rather than the 323
tonic, in order to maintain momentum through to the beginning of
the piece. It also afforded greater opportunity for virtuosic display.
Dussek's Three Sonatas and Three Preludes, Op. 3 165 contains ex-
amples of longer preludes composed for individual sonatas. Each of
the preludes is sectional, at least partly notated without bar lines, and
involves contrasts in dynamics and tempos. There is extensive use of
scale and arpeggio figures and frequent use of diminished seventh
chords; the materials of the prelude correspond only generally to the
themes of the sonata. For example, the D-major prelude foreshadows
the triadic construction of the first theme of the sonata in that key
(Example 6). It also hints at the neighbor motion of the transition
(beginning in the latter half of m. 16), and its ending resembles the
close of the movement. But none of the themes is quoted directly and,
given the fact that the prelude stays well within the conventional
vocabulary of preluding, it would seem equally well suited to other
D-major works.
63 For example, Giordani's Preludes

for the Harpsichordor Piano Forte in all the keys
flat and sharp, published in the 177os, includes only 14 keys, in this order: C major and
minor, D major and minor, E major and minor, F major and minor, G major and
minor, A major and minor, B-flat, and E-flat.
64 See MacDonald,
"9/8 G-flat."
65 See note
37.
EXAMPLE6. Prelude and opening measures of the Sonata in D Ma-

jor from Dussek, Three Sonatas with Scotch and German
Airs and ThreePreludes, Op. 31 (London: Corri, Dussek
and Co., [c.
1795]).
non Presto
c
rf_ • man_, _
cfn irldiiiiiia
324 A
1F
_11
ME_
Eiim
"i esto FiG= e
GOERTZEN
EXAMPLE6. (continued)
Allegro, non tauto
" ,,
'?,, "E I
a- I"Aiw2-1 ad ,i mP-A-
i Jta
Ti AM -Ii
/ti ... "
1*
,
325
Hummel, in his Ausfiihrliche theoretisch-practische Anweisung zum

outlined
Piano-Forte-Spiel,66 two methods by which an amateur pianist
or finished artist might design an extended prelude to introduce a
great and fiery bravura piece. According to the first method, which he
claimed was favored by J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, Handel, Scarlatti,
and Mozart, one would begin with soft broken chords or slow arpeg-
gios outlining the tonic harmony. (Dussek's D-major prelude begins
this way.) Following a gradual acceleration, and incorporation of
more distantly related harmonies and more unusual figuration, the
principal theme of the piece would emerge and be developed in ways
otherthan those employed by the composer. The prelude would then
dissolve gradually into less specific figuration, dying away on a fer-
mata, the dominant of the piece. Hummel's second method, which
he identified with Beethoven and claimed was the more common one
in his own time, resembled the first method in general outline, but
incorporated a lyrical, endearing melody from the piece to follow
66
Hummel, Anweisung zum Piano-Forte-Spiel,2d ed., 466-68.
instead of its principal theme. In this way, the composition was pre-
pared by means of contrast rather than through the foreshadowing of
its primary character.
Czerny's description of the elaborate attached prelude agreed
with Hummel's on a number of main points.67 The pianist was to
begin softly, continue by alternating bits of passagework with lyrical
sections, employ modulations, and end on dominant harmony (al-
though Czerny specified the dominant seventh instead of the simple
triad). Czerny also made explicit the connection between improvised
preludes--particularly of the attached type-and notated introduc-
tions, claiming that every well-written introduction could serve as a
model for improvising preludes. Although the tradition of written-
out introductions extended back hundreds of years, the proliferation
of pieces such as Czerny's Variationson God Save the King (which begins
with a bombastic introduction),68 Steibelt's Introduction and Spanish
Air,69 and Kalkbrenner's Rondo precidd d'une introduction7omust be
considered to some extent a result of forces that brought about the
increased writing out of cadenzas, variations, and ornamentation in
the early nineteenth century-namely the desire of composers to ex-
326 ercise greater control over their music, and the increasing involve-
ment in music-making of those not trained in music composition.
Czerny described preludes belonging to his third category, in
quasi-recitative style, as "completely unmeasured ... with some sec-
tions in chords sounding simultaneously and others with broken
chords, seemingly without a conscious plan, resembling wanderings
into unknown regions."7' This approach, which looked back to the
stylus phantasticus of J. S. and C. P. E. Bach, afforded an especially
flexible venue for expressiveness and striking harmonic changes.72
Extended preludes capable of standing alone were included in
Kalkbrenner's collection of twenty-four preludes in all the keys
(1827), the French edition of which carried the designation: pouvant
servir d'Exemple pour apprendre a prdluder.73 The contents of
this work range from a single-page exploration of the key of C Major
through scale and arpeggio figures to an elaborate, eleven-page
67
Czerny, SystematicIntroduction, 17-20.
"6 Op. 77 (Vienna: Diabelli und Co., [182-]).
69 (London: Goulding, D'Almaine, Potter and Co., [c. 1811-23]).
70 Op. 52 (London: Goulding, D'Almaine, Potter and Co., [c. 1811-231).
71
Czerny, SystematicIntroduction,23. He included a brief sample prelude in this
style.
72 Mozart's connection with this free style of improvisation is discussed in Katalin
Koml6s, "'Ich praeludirte und spielte Variazionen': Mozart the Fortepianist," in Per-
spectiveson Mozart Performance,ed. R. Larry Todd and Peter Williams (Cambridge and
New York, 1991), 28-29.
73 See note 7.
GOERTZEN
fantasy in three large sections (fast-slow-fast, i-v-i in B Minor), much

of it in a strictlyimitativestyle. In the case of this last piece, the French
verb priluderis probably best understood in the broad sense of "to
improvise";however the title page of the first, English edition used
the narrower"preluding."In severalof the items, Kalkbrennerseems
to have been combining features of the improvisatoryintroduction
and the composed characterpiece. The third number in D-flatMajor,
for example, is constructed of short motives that are extended by
means of repetition and sequence (Example 7). Although a strong
sense of meter prevails, the prelude is rhapsodic in its use of a series
of brieflyexplored ideas and in its surprisingharmonictwists.But the
two-page length, the movement awayfrom the tonic and back in each
half of the prelude, the degree of contrapuntalinterest, and the re-
currence of a distinctive octave leap motive lend enough substance
and formal structure to the prelude to make it capable of standing
alone. A reviewerwriting about the first twelve numbers of Kalkbren-
ner's collection noted that preluding had changed a great deal over
the years, and that preludes had come to have almost as many and
varied shades of character as actual pieces. He recommended Kalk-
brenner's preludes to students and amateurs as models for impro- 327
vised introductions and commended him for "retainingas much of
the original and legitimate style as would shield him from the charge
of an indifference to established principles, while ... [introducing]a
sufficient quantityof originalityto prevent [the preludes] being either
tedious or stale."74
Another effort to update the prelude wasJ. B. Cramer'sTrente-six
Preludesmelodiques, published around 1840.75In a review of this work,
Maurice Bourges observed that "under [Cramer's]pen, the prelude,
redressed with a melodic stamp, with rhythmic symmetry, with the
rich, expanded harmony of the moderns, [had] regained the impor-
tance that time had taken away from it" and further warned that
"henceforth, it will not be permitted for the amateur pianist to
present, in the guise of a prelude, the eternal formula of the perfect
cadence, more or less arpeggiated, embroidered, or laden with acces-
sory chords."76I will return to the question of the abilityof amateurs
74 QuarterlyMusical Magazine and Review IX (1827), 248-49-

75 I have found no copy of this publication. The review
by Bourges appeared in
the Revue et gazette musicaleVII (November 4, 184o), 523-25.
76 Revue et
gazette musicale VII (November 4, 1840), 524-25: Sous sa plume, le
prl1ude, revetu du sceau m'lodique, de la sym6trie rhytmique, de l'harmonie riche et
large des modernes, a regagne l'importance que le temps lui avait ravie.... Disormais
donc il ne sera plus permis Il'amateur-pianiste de s'en tenir, en guise de pr61ude, a
l'6ternelle formule de la cadence parfaite, plus ou moins arpegee, brodee ou chargde
d'accords accessoires.
EXAMPLE
7. PreludeNumber3 fromKalkbrenner, Pr4-
Vingt-quatre
ludespour le pianoforte, Op. 88 (Milan: F. Lucca,
[1836?]).FirstpublishedLondon:Clementiand Co.,
[1827]. Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek,Musiksam-
mlung,S.A.75.B.48.Used by permission.
(0.1 ff MnfIf rato _______
- --
- -h, ,
,,.'
7-r ~E~ - -t
To-
I
i 1
-
L. 4 I 1 now
I ! i4
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"
, IIi r __L1
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328
.
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GOERTZEN
EXAMPLE7. (continued)
X--,
CI v
oo F) legat is 04E
IM
S
+=i,--,- .. . . 55
I-L ___ .2 _
,,,,.4- -
-4-
L
- 4--,
132
329
i• +--
.,_r-z•,,, --t• L ..!-I._- • •
2.Z.:-: --
:-
- -
------
8
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S- =- -
t __ - 12
__L , ,.' pC'a rlE
_.L
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--
,,- ,+
-+-+"-1
to improvise preludes in 1840. For now it is important to note that the

style features of Cramer's collection that Bourges enumerated did not
cause him to question the preludes' suitability as introductions.
Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, stand apart from the collections
discussed thus far in their level of technical accomplishment and
artistry.77 The individuality of the Preludes prompted Robert Schu-
mann's colorful description of them as "sketches, beginnings of
Etudes, or, so to speak, ruins, solitary eagle's wings, a wild and col-
orful motley of pieces."78 Chopin's performance of several of them
elicited the following response from Franz Liszt:
Chopin'sPreludes are compositionsof an order entirelyapart; they

are not merely, as the title would indicate, introductions to other
morceaux-they are preludes instinct with poesy, analogous to those
of another great contemporarypoet, who cradles the soul in golden
dreams, and elevates it to the regions of the ideal. Admirable for
their variety, the labour and learning with which they abound are
appreciableonly by the aid of a scrupulousexamination;everything
seems fresh, elastic,created at the impulse of the moment, abound-
ing with that freedom of expression which is characteristicof works
330 of genius.79
The relationship of the Preludes to the practice of preluding in the

early nineteenth century has been addressed only rarely in the schol-
arly literature; the fullest treatment is a recent article by Jean-Jacques
Eigeldinger that seeks to demonstrate Chopin's debt to Bach and,
above all, the structural roots of Op. 28 in the tuning of the piano.so
77 Frederic Chopin, 24 Prdludes,Op. 28 (Paris: Catelin; Leipzig: Breitkopf und

Hirtel, 1839).
78 Neue Zeitschriftfiir Musik XI (November 19, 1839), 163: Es sind Skizzen, Etu-
denanfinge, oder will man, Ruinen, einzelne Adlerfittige, alles bunt und wild durch
einander.
79 Review of a concert by Chopin on April 26, 1841, Revue et gazettemusicaleVIII
(May 2, 1841), 246: Les Preludes de Chopin sont des compositions d'un ordre tout-ha-
fait 'a part. Ce ne sont pas seulement, ainsi que le titre pourrait le faire penser, des
morceaux destines 'aetrejoues en guise d'introduction 'ad'autres morceaux, ce sont des
preludes poetiques, analogues 'a ceux d'un grand poiete contemporain, qui bercent
l'ime en des songes dords, et l'dlevent jusqu'aux regions id'ales. Admirables par leur
diversite, le travail et le savoir qui s'y trouvent ne sont appreciables qu'a un scrupuleux
examen. Tout y semble de premier jet, d'elan, de soudaine venue. Ils ont la libre et
grande allure qui caracterise le oeuvres du genie. English translation from The Musical
World,June io, 1841, quoted in Fre'dric Chopin, Preludes, Op. 28, ed. Thomas Higgins
(New York, 1973), 91-92.
so Eigeldinger, "Twenty-four Preludes." The connection with preluding is treated
more briefly in Nicholas Temperley, "'Chopin,"in The New GroveDictionaryof Music and
Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, 20 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1980), IV, 305; in Wanger-
mee, "L'improvisation pianistique," 242; and in Herbert Westerby, The Historyof Piano-
forte Music (London, 1924), 233-
GOERTZEN
In comparing Chopin's set with seven collections of preludes pub-

lished in the first three decades of the century, he finds the only
significant relationship to be the ordering of the numbers by key
progressing around the circle of fifths-a scheme used twenty-five
years earlier by Hummel."l Yet for Chopin the practice of preluding
consisted of far more than a handful of collections designed for the
use of amateurs. He was a frequent visitor to the salons of Warsaw
and Paris, where improvisation was regular fare, and his own extraor-
dinary improvisational abilities were noted by many who heard him
play." The German edition of Op. 28 was dedicated to J. C. Kessler,
who owned a salon in Warsaw and had published a set of preludes
dedicated to Chopin in 1834."-
Chopin's preludes conform to the practice of improvised pre-
ludes in their diversity of material and variety of lengths (although as
Eigeldinger points out, they vary in length more than is usual for a
single collection of preludes). An improvisatory character is strongly
apparent in several of them (e.g., numbers 1 in C Major and 18 in F
Minor) and prevails across the work as a whole; there is obvious
attention to the qualities of individual keys. Many of the preludes are
short and possess, as Schumann noted, a sense of incompleteness or 331
need for something to follow. Although Chopin works with short
melodic and rhythmic figures, in many cases he holds to one idea
throughout the course of a prelude; this leads to greater development
of ideas and less fragmentation than is generally characteristic of
published preludes from the period. Although such an approach is
more typical of the etude, it is observable also in some of the preludes
of Kalkbrenner. Chopin's study of Bach surely left its mark on Op.
28.84 But the contemporary improvisational practice also served as an
inspiration and a basis for reinterpretation in this work, much as the
mazurkas and polonaises of his homeland did for his pieces in those
genres. All of these compositions are in the first instance works of art,
reflecting but not bound to function.
It is possible, however, that Chopin considered at least some of
the preludes to be suitable introductions. He seems usually to have
Si The collections-by Clementi, Hummel, Cramer, Szymanowska, Wtirfel, Kalk-

brenner, and Moscheles-are listed on p. 172. Eigeldinger does not cite evidence in
instruction books or eyewitness accounts of preludes performed, apart from Liszt's
review quoted above.
82 Remarks concerning his improvisations may be found, for example, in a review
by [Leon or Marie] Escudier in La France musicale IV (May 2, 1841), 156; and in
Bernard Gavoty, FredericChopin, trans. Martin Sokolinsky (New York, 1977), 271-72.
83
J. C. Kessler, Vingt QuatrePrdludes,Op. 31 (Breslau: Charles Cranz).
84 Eigeldinger treats this subject and cites some of the pertinent literature
("Twenty-four Preludes," 172-77).
played the preludes in groups.85 But on at least one occasion he

introduced a series of his pieces with what was described as a "mag-
nificent prelude."86 Concert reports indicate that other performers
treated the preludes as independent pieces, often combining one or
more of them with other short pieces to form a group. However, an
account of a Liverpool soiree in 1850 in which a Mr. Henry Rogers
began a performance of Chopin's Tarantella with "a clever and pecu-
liar, rather than interesting, prelude by the same composer"87 sug-
gests that pieces from Op. 28 may have been viewed by other pianists
as suitable introductions, perhaps especially to the larger pieces of
Chopin.
One finds fewer references to preluding in the
later nineteenth century. It is clear, however, that the practice con-
tinued, at least among German- and French-trained pianists. In 1872
Amy Fay, who was studying with Karl Tausig in Berlin, wrote: "I
compose little preludes to all my pieces now, and modulate from one
into the other." 88Her writings comment on preludes played by fellow
students in lessons with Tausig and Deppe, and praise Teresa Car-
332 refio's extemporizations between pieces in a Boston concert in the
1870os (following Carrefio's several years of study in Paris).89 Kate
Chopin's novel, The Awakening, set in New Orleans in the 189os, gives
an account of a private rendition of one of the Chopin Impromptus
preceded by an improvised prelude:
Mademoiselle [Reisz] played a soft interlude. It was an improvisa-
tion. She sat low at the instrument,and the lines of her body settled
into ungraceful curves and angles that gave it an appearance of
deformity. Graduallyand imperceptiblythe interlude melted into
the soft opening minor chords of the Chopin Impromptu.9o
85 See, for example, Liszt's review in the Revue et gazette musicale VIII (May 2,
1841), 246; and Gavoty, Chopin, 260, 309, 31o, and 332. On the back of a copy of the
Nocturnes Op. 9 presented to his student, Jane Stirling, Chopin prescribed two groups
of four preludes (see Eigeldinger, "Twenty-four Preludes," 17on).
86
Gavoty, Chopin, 271-72. This performance, before a group of close friends,
concluded with an extended improvisation. Following this Chopin did imitations of
fashionable pianists.
87
May lo, 1850, soiree of Mr. Percival at Mr. Robinson's house. TheMusical World
XXV (1850), 308 (report from the Courier).
88 Unpublished letter to her sister, Zina Fay Peirce, December 18, 1872. I am
grateful to S. Margaret W. McCarthy for supplying me with this information in a letter,
June 24, 1991.
89 Peirce, Music-Study in Germany,45-46 and 325; Margaret William McCarthy,
Amy Fay: America'sNotable Woman of Music (Warren, MI, 1995), 161.
9go(1899. Rpt. New York: Capricorn Books, 1964), 166. I wish to thank Neely
Bruce for bringing this passage to my attention.
GOERTZEN
Emil von Sauer, a student of Liszt and Deppe for a time, is said to
have improvised interludes between pieces in his concerts--evidently
into the twentieth century.9' And a recording of Josef Hofmann's
Golden Jubilee Concert in New York in 1937 includes a modulatory
transition between Chopin's "Minute" Waltz in D Flat and the
G-Minor Ballade.92 But improvised preludes have not been a usual
part of formal performances of Western art music in the last fifty
years or more.
It should be noted that even before the middle of the nineteenth
century, improvisation on the piano was described as belonging prop-
erly to an earlier era, one extending roughly from the 1770s to
around 1830. A review of a performance by Charles Halle in Frank-
furt in 1842, for example, reported:
His performance recalls the golden age, in which a Clementi,
Mozart,Field, Klengel, Ries, Cramer,or Hummel was still in vogue;
but he would have recalled that age even more had he also played a
free fantasy,as those kings of the piano did. Unfortunatelythis most
noble branch of piano playing, by which one used to recognize the
true pianist, has been lost for the most part, for every thunder god
or gymnast is now called master.93 333
As early as 1829, Czerny complained of performers who played vir-
tually the same prelude every time;94 twenty years later Friedrich
Kalkbrenner remarked in the introduction to his treatise on prelud-
ing and improvising:
How many of our best pianistscan make an even moderatelysatis-
factory prelude? And as for students there is not more than one in
a thousand who try to go beyond the perfect cadence in improvisa-
tions.95
9' Wangermee, "L'Improvisation pianistique," 238. Sauer (1862-1942) concert-

ized from 1882 to 1936, living in Vienna from 19go1.
92 Columbia KL 4929, recorded at the Metropolitan Opera House, November 28,
1937.
93 Review by C[arl] G[ollmick] in AmZ XLIV
(September 21, 1842), 747: Sein
Vortrag erinnert an die goldene Zeit, in der noch die Clementi, Mozart, Field, Klengel,
Ries, Cramer oder Hummel en vogue waren; aber er wiirde noch weit mehr daran
erinnert haben, wenn er auch, wiejene K6nige des Piano, frei fantasirt hitte. Leider ist
dieser edelste Zweig des Klavierspiels, an welchem man damals den achten Pianisten
erkannte, gr6sstentheils verloren gegangen, denn jeder Donnergott oder Equilibrist
heisst jetzt Meister.
94 Czerny, SystematicIntroduction,6 and 16.
95 Kalkbrenner, Traiti, p. [1]: Combien parmi nos meilleurs Pianistes en est-il, qui
puissent faire un prdlude tant soit peu satisfaisant? Et quant aux eleves on n'en voit pas
un sur mille qui, dans ses improvisations, essaie de depasser la cadence parfaite. A
similar criticism was made by Bourges in his review of Cramer's Trente-six Priludes
melodiques(see p. 327).
In the 1820os-40s the pursuit of virtuosity grew to overshadow the

exercise of creative ability through improvisation. The broader audi-
ence for music and the establishment of the public concert as the
principal performance venue encouraged showmanship and the cul-
tivation of spectacular technical feats that would find wide appeal.
Improvisation, though it might have a part in such concerts, was
bound increasingly to fashion. Whereas some performers, among
them Hummel, managed to reconcile their aesthetic ideals with the
wishes of their public, others had more difficulty with this. Men-
delssohn, in a letter to his father, expressed his misgivings about
extemporizing in a concert in Munich in 1831:
The King had given me the theme of "Non piu andrai,"on which I
was to improviser.My former opinion is now fully confirmed, that it
is an absurdityto extemporize in public. I have seldom felt so like a
fool as when I took my place at the piano, to present to the publicthe
fruits of my inspiration;but the audience were quite contented, and
there was no end of their applause. They called me forward again,
and the Queen said all that was courteous;but I was annoyed, for I
was far from being satisfied with myself, and I am resolved never
334 again to extemporize in public-it is both an abuse and an absur-
dity.96
Mendelssohn did continue to improvise free fantasies in public on

occasion, for example in Gewandhaus concerts in 1837, 1839, and
1843; the exceptional nature of these performances, both in their
quality and in the mere fact of their occurrence, was noted in re-
views.97 However, the musical world lost Mendelssohn in the later
forties (1847), along with several other leading improvisers: Chopin
and Kalkbrenner died in 1849, and Liszt turned away from concert-
izing in 1848. (Hummel had died in 1837.)
A few skilled improvisers continued to perform, among them
Clara Schumann, Anton Rubinstein, and Hans von Builow. But as
a canon of works centered on music of Beethoven, Chopin, Men-
delssohn, Schumann, and Bach took shape, the performer was
charged with the task of creating realizations of works that were true
to the composer's intentions, to the extent that these could be deter-
mined from the notated scores and the known conventions of per-
formance surrounding them. In 1837, thus well before the elevation
96 Mendelssohn, Letters,trans. Wallace, 303. Other letters of Mendelssohn express

similar sentiments.
97 AmZ XLI (February 27, 1839), 175, and XLV (October 11, 1843), 741-42.
According to the 1839 review, Mendelssohn had played a free fantasy in a concert two
years earlier and agreed to do so again in response to public demand.
GOERTZEN
of the masters to sainthood in the 185os-6os,s)" Liszt commented on

his handling of great works as compared with his performances of
them in earlier years:
I then frequently performed ... the works of Beethoven, Weber,

and Hummel, and I confess to my shame that in order to compel the
bravos of an audience alwaysslow to grasp beautiful things in their
august simplicity,I had no scruples against changing their tempos
and intentions; I even went so far as insolentlyto add to them a host
of passagesand cadenzas.... You wouldn'tbelieve ... how much I
[now] deplore these concessionsto bad taste, these sacrilegiousvio-
lations of the SPIRIT and LETTER, because in me the most abso-
lute respect for the masterpiecesof the great masters has replaced
the need for novelty and
individuality...
These words should not be taken to mean that Liszt bound himself
slavishly to the written score.',,, But the reverence accorded the no-
tated text did leave increasingly little place for ornamentation and
other improvised additions in the performance of serious music. Ev-
idence of this is found already in the instructions of Czerny
(1829), who thought it self-evident that an extended prelude would be 335
entirely unsuitable for a work on the order of Beethoven's Appassio-
Fink reinforced this point in his review, remarking that
nata.'?'
anyone who played an elaborate prelude before such an exalted
and masterful work would appear entirely devoid of taste ("abge-
schmackt").1o0 The increasingly wide historical span covered by the
repertoire also made it difficult for pianists to be educated sufficiently
in given styles to improvise successfully.
The diminishing interest in preluding among amateurs is re-
flected in the drop in the number of new collections of preludes in
many or all the keys published for piano after mid-century (though
publication of sets for organ continued to be strong). More common
were publications consisting of a small number of preludes, sets of
98 Weber, "Mass Culture," 5.

99 Quoted in Dennis Libby, "Improvisation, Western, after 18oo," in The Newv?
Grove Dictionaryof Music and Musicians, IX, 49-
100ooA review of his performance of Beethoven's E-flat Concerto in a Leipzig
concert in December 1841, for example, commented on Liszt's enhancement of the
piano part. The reviewer disapproved in principle of the alterations, but conceded that
they displayed good taste and true creative genius (AmZ XLIV [January 5, 1842],
18-19). A reviewer of Liszt's performance of Weber's Konzertstuckin 1840 admitted
that Liszt's alterations were impressive, but advised in general against such tampering,
warning of the potentially dangerous effect of Liszt's example on younger and less
accomplished pianists (AmZ XLII [April 1, 1840], 297).
o0, Czerny, SystematicIntroduction, 18.
102
Fink, "Systematische (?) Anleitung," 578.
heterogeneous pieces containing a prelude (often in first position),

preludes paired with fugues or other pieces, and single preludes.103
New editions of several earlier collections also appeared -Clementi's
Preludes and Exercisesthrough at least 188o, Herz's Exerciceset priludes
(in which the two types were not differentiated) through at least 186o,
and Moscheles's 50 Preludes, Op. 73, through at least 1882.104 The
alliance with the study in these three works (and in others, as well) is
significant. Published preludes, with their battery of scales, arpeggios,
and passagework, provided a body of short, moderately demanding
practice pieces for the amateur or student wishing to improve his or
her technique. They continued to be useful for this purpose long
after they ceased to be in demand as aids to improvisation. The
Schirmer edition of Moscheles's collection (preface dated 1882) no
longer carried the subtitle "intended as short introductions to any
movement and as preparatory exercises to the author[']s studies." The
editor, A. R. Parsons, now recommended the preludes as vehicles for
acquiring finish in playing and as an aid in tempering what he re-
garded as the "morbidly sentimental and one-sided tendency" prev-
alent in modern piano music; he made no mention of introductory
336 function.
In the published collections of preludes one also observes stages
in the transformation from introduction to independent piece. In-
dividual items in the collections of Kalkbrenner, Moscheles, and
Cramer (1840) are distinctive in their degree of melodic interest and
regular form, and seem capable (or nearly so) of standing on their
own or as part of a group of similar-sized pieces. These items show an
effort to bring features of contemporary style into published pre-
ludes, and must also have reflected changing improvisational styles.
But the tendency toward self-containment was also a natural result of
the transmission of conventions of preluding through discrete, no-
tated items that could be performed repeatedly in more or less the
same way. The prelude as a genre came to be defined less by its use
103 These observations are based on the listings in Carl Friedrich Whistling and
Friedrich Hofmeister, Handbuch der musikalischenLitteratur(1817, and lo supplements
1818-27; rpt. with an introduction by Neil Ratliff [New York and London, 1970]),
and in Hofmeister'smusikalisch-literarischerMonatsbericht(Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister,
1829-1942).
104 The collections of Clementi and Herz are cited in Hofmeister'smusikalisch-
literarischerMonatsberichtfor April 186o and November 188o, respectively. Clementi's
collection was originally published as an appendix to the fifth edition of his Introduction
to the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte (London: Clementi, Banger, Collard, Davis and
Collard, 18 11); see Tyson, ThematicCatalogueof the Worksof Muzio Clementi,84-86. The
Schirmer edition of Moscheles's Preludes is dated 1882.
GOERTZEN
in performance or by its creation through improvisation than by gen-

eral stylistic features--brevity and allusion to an improvisatory mode
of expression. Chopin's Op. 28, at once a cycle of miniatures and a
highly individual expression of an improvisational genre, further
solidified the prelude's association with the character piece, an asso-
ciation that continued in collections by Heller, Busoni, Skryabin, De-
bussy, and others. Although preluding lost its place in the perfor-
mance of serious music, its traces continued to be evident in notated
introductions, in studies, and in independent pieces that attempted to
capture the spirit of improvisation.
Universityof North Carolina, Greensboro
337

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By Way of Introduction: Preluding by 18th- and Early 19th-Century Pianists

Author(s): Valerie Woodring Goertzen

Volume XIV * Number 3 * Summer 1996

dozens of collections of preludes in many or all the keys were offered

remarks appeared in "Johann Nepomuk Hummel on Extemporaneous Performance,"

The practice of improvising at the start of a performance or pri-

Among prominent examples of a tradition of introductory move-

of a service, as well as to the organist's improvised introductions to

" Pietro Lichtenthal, Dizionario e bibliografiadella mnusica,4 vols. (Milan: Antonio

Preluding gave the pianist an opportunity to try out an instru-

elaborations made on the spot were opportune venues for experi-

I close by recommendingfree improvisationin general and in every

Hummel claimed that he felt freer and happier improvising even

Czerny's statement that "the performer should become accus-

particularlyin the varietyof privategatheringsthat involvedmusic-

37 Jan Ladislav Dussek, ThreeSonataswith Scotchand GermanAirs and ThreePreludes,

As the above discussion has indicated, the characteristics of im-

It is in improvisingthat the great musicians,freed from that extreme

genius, and that inventive spirit that immediatelyfinds and treats

Of course, even compositions that have been fixed to a great extent

the overriding intentions of the artist are likely to command greater

Czerny described three categories of preludes in

46Hummel, Anweisung zum Piano-Forte-Spiel,2d ed., 462.

EXAMPLE 1. Mendelssohn, "Fantasie iiber ein irliindischesLied," Op.

50 Mrs. Fay Peirce, ed., Music Studyin Germany,

the preludes in the set, number six in B flat (Example 2) is notated

Moscheles's collection of Fifty Preludes, published in 1827 "as

EXAMPLE2. Prelude Number 6 from Cramer, XXVI Preludes dans

55 See note 36.

EXAMPLE3. Prelude Number 42 from Moscheles, CelebratedPreludes

"li - --___. _,-

316 %a -I, RIFIz

EXAMPLE4. (b) Clementi, Toccata,Op. 11 (London: J. Dale, 1792). First published

Prestifsimo 121 41 1 1 6"1

had improvised in public concerts and on other occasions.58 Among

58 Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Mus. ms. autogr. 9. A fair copy of the preludes in

EXAMPLE5. (a) Clara Schumann, Prelude to "Des Abends," based

(and in the first measure of the prelude) is reiterated in the prelude's

EXAMPLE5. (b) Robert Schumann, "Des Abends," Op. 12, no. 1,

Pianists might adapt a prelude taken from a published collection

perhaps even rhythmic and melodic construction. Indeed, one ob-

63 For example, Giordani's Preludes

EXAMPLE6. Prelude and opening measures of the Sonata in D Ma-

Hummel, in his Ausfiihrliche theoretisch-practische Anweisung zum

fantasy in three large sections (fast-slow-fast, i-v-i in B Minor), much

74 QuarterlyMusical Magazine and Review IX (1827), 248-49-

0-+ P-- 40,+ . ++LI•- ?7 , - -

to improvise preludes in 1840. For now it is important to note that the

Chopin'sPreludes are compositionsof an order entirelyapart; they

The relationship of the Preludes to the practice of preluding in the

77 Frederic Chopin, 24 Prdludes,Op. 28 (Paris: Catelin; Leipzig: Breitkopf und

In comparing Chopin's set with seven collections of preludes pub-

Si The collections-by Clementi, Hummel, Cramer, Szymanowska, Wtirfel, Kalk-

played the preludes in groups.85 But on at least one occasion he

9' Wangermee, "L'Improvisation pianistique," 238. Sauer (1862-1942) concert-

In the 1820os-40s the pursuit of virtuosity grew to overshadow the

Mendelssohn did continue to improvise free fantasies in public on

96 Mendelssohn, Letters,trans. Wallace, 303. Other letters of Mendelssohn express