Preludes for Piano (John Ireland)

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Preludes for Piano is a set of four short pieces for piano solo composed by John Ireland between 1913 and 1915. They were published in 1915. [1] [2] [3]

The pieces, with typical timings, are:

  1. The Undertone (3 minutes) [4]
  2. Obsession (3 minutes) [5]
  3. The Holy Boy (composed on Christmas Day 1913; subtitled A Carol of the Nativity; 4 minutes) [6]
  4. Fire of Spring (2 minutes) [7]

The Undertone, written in January 2014, is in 5/8 meter throughout. Edwin Evans described it as consisting of "a two bar phrase treated as an ostinato with great harmonic variety but consistently in one definite mood. In its way it is a miniature tour de force." [8]

Obsession, it has been suggested, reflects Ireland's anger at the waste of war. [9] Alan Rowlands detects the influence of Richard Strauss in "the strange bitonal discord Eb/C major, which haunts Elektra ." [10] It is marked Allegro con moto.

The Holy Boy is one of Ireland's best-known works, along with his setting of the hymn "My Song Is Love Unknown". It has been arranged for a variety of forces. One version is the Christmas carol "Lowly, laid in a manger / With oxen brooding nigh" with words by Herbert S. Brown. [11]

Fire of Spring was described by Evans as "a rhapsodical outburst." [8]

References

  1. ↑ "List of works - N to P". The John Ireland Trust. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  2. ↑ John Ireland: Preludes, pieces (4) for piano at AllMusic . Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Preludes for Piano (John Ireland) : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  4. ↑ John Ireland: The Undertone, for piano (from Preludes (4)) at AllMusic . Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  5. ↑ John Ireland: Obsession, for piano (from Preludes (4)) at AllMusic . Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  6. ↑ John Ireland: The Holy Boy, prelude for piano (from Preludes (4)) at AllMusic . Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  7. ↑ John Ireland: Fire of Spring, for piano (from Preludes (4)) at AllMusic . Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  8. 1 2 Edwin Evans. 'John Ireland', in The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 2 (April 1919), pp. 213-220
  9. ↑ Barbara Docherty. 'The Murdered Self: John Ireland and English Song 1903-13', in Tempo No. 171 (December 1989), p. 18
  10. ↑ Andrew Thomson: review of The John Ireland Companion, in The Musical Times, Vol. 153, No. 1919 (Summer 2012), p. 112
  11. ↑ "The Holy Boy: a Carol of the Nativity". recmusic.org. Retrieved 1 May 2015.


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