Shostakovich - 8 Preludes, Op. 2 (Catone)

Описание: Dmitri Shostakovich: 8 Preludes, Op. 2 (1919–1921)
Eugenio Catone, piano.

The Op. 2 set of preludes constitute some of Shostakovich's earliest musical output, written when he was between 13 and 15 years old. The Op. 2 was a part of a collaborative effort with two of Shostakovich's musical colleagues, Georgy Klements and Pavel Feldt, to write an entire cycle of 24 Preludes, but this was never finished. Five of these preludes were contained in that collection, which contained 18 total. My understanding is that those five preludes were eventually published separately (e.g. by Sikorski; now available on IMSLP at https://imslp.tw/uploads/PMLASIA00820..., but the three remaining ones were not published until the complete DSCH edition in 2018. This video uses this most recent publication, although regrettably my scan of it is not of very high quality.

There are very few traces of the mature Shostakovich at this stage, or even of his more experimental early output from his soon-to-follow Conservatory years. The 8 Preludes have strong influences from composers like Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov (the latter of which was a firm advocate for Shostakovich in his early years). I think there's a certain charm to the fact that these early pieces, despite being still quite accomplished, aren't perfect—Shostakovich was still figuring things out as a teenage composer. The 1st prelude is dedicated to the painter Boris Kustodiev, a friend of the Shostakovich family; the 2nd through 5th to his sister Mariya; and the 6th through 8th to his early romantic interest Natalia Kube.

Sources:
Fay, Laurel. Shostakovich: A Life. Oxford UP, 2000.
Shostakovich, Dmitri. "Piano Compositions," edited by Victor Ekimovsky. Vol. 109. DSCH Publishers, 2018. (https://www.shostakovich.ru/376ru)

0:00 - No. 1. Agitato
1:23 - No. 2. Andante
2:38 - No. 3. Allegro non troppo e furioso
3:38 - No. 4. Allegretto
4:21 - No. 5. Allegro molto
5:10 - No. 6. Andante
6:29 - No. 7. Moderato
7:49 - No. 8. Allegretto

This video is made solely for educational and promotional purposes, and all rights are reserved by the original holders.