Иван Вышнеградский - 24 прелюдии для двух четвертитоновых фортепиано - № 1, 3, 4

Описание: Performers:
Piano 1: Tan Jing Yi Joshua
Piano 2: Heng Si Kai (me)

Performed live at Arts & Culture Centre, Singapore Management University, Singapore
28 October 2022

Introduction: 0:00
I: 1:39 in "C"
III: 2:46 in "B"
IV: 5:02 in "F-half-flat" (coda composed by Heng Si Kai)

Ivan Wyschnegradsky's "Préludes dans tous les tons de l'échelle chromatique diatonisée à 13 sons" (Twenty-four Preludes in All the Tones of the Chromatic Scale Diatonicised with 13 Sounds) is a set of 24 preludes written for piano in 24-Tone Equal Temperament (24-TET). To achieve this, most performances utilise two regular 12-TET pianos, with piano 1 tuned regularly and piano 2 tuned a quartertone lower, as demonstrated in the first segment of this video.

Each prelude is written in what Wyschnegradsky's called a "diatonicised chromatic scale", a 13-note scale constructed by consecutively stacking 12 "major fourths" (semi-augmented fourths, or intervals equal to 11 quartertones each), similar to how the diatonic scale is constructed by consecutively stacking 6 perfect fifths. Since there is no major/minor modality in this system, Wsychnegradsky wrote 1 prelude for each of the 24 notes in 24-TET and arranged them in a sequence of ascending major fourths, with the first prelude in "C" (more accurately, the diatonicised chromatic scale beginning in C) and the last prelude in "G-half-flat".

In association with SMU Ivory Keys:    / @smuivorykeys