Learners of how to play the piano are likely to pass the composition of J. S. Bach entitled Präludium in German and Prélude in French. Maybe that influences the approach to the piece of music. The title sounds different in each language. It is interesting to follow the Präludium Prélude throughout the history of composition. The pianist Jan Lisiecki has just recorded and released a disc with Deutsche Grammophon following the historic evolution of this genre. The rather easy-going beginnings by Bach (see below for extract of first motive) have turned out to become rather complex preludes with subsequent composers. We may ask ourselves at this occasion: a prelude to what? Your own associations are welcome. In international politics we can observe strategic movements of countries and their military equipment as a prelude of war, but also of peace. Small aggressions may turn into wars. In philosophy Nietzsche praised the dawn (Morgenröte) and focused a lot on new beginnings. Composers might be the best forecasters of what is to come in the following years. Certainly the preludes have foreshadowed some of their later work. Nowadays, many LLMS in AI build on algorithms that predict what is the next word to write or task to do. Even in composition AI is moving ahead fast. Hence, we e are likely to study preludes much more for several reasons now.
(Image: extract of first motive from J. S. Bach Präludium Nr 1) 