Harmonic
heights are reached on the second page--surely Wagner knew these
bars when he wrote "Tristan and Isolde"--while the ingenuity of
the figure and avoidance of a rhythmical monotone are evidences
of Chopin's feeling for the decorative. It is a masterly prelude.
Klindworth accents the first of the bass triplets, and makes an
unnecessary enharmonic change at the sixth and seventh lines.
There is a measure of grave content in the ninth prelude in E. It
is rather gnomic, and contains hints of both Brahms and
Beethoven. It has an ethical quality, but that may be because of
its churchly rhythm and color.
The C sharp minor prelude, No. 10, must be the "eagle wings" of
Schumann's critique. There is a flash of steel gray, deepening
into black, and then the vision vanishes as though some huge bird
aloft had plunged down through blazing sunlight, leaving a color-
echo in the void as it passed to its quarry. Or, to be less
figurative, this prelude is a study in arpeggio, with double
notes interspersed, and is too short to make more than a vivid
impression.
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