Composer

:

Vsevolod Zaderatsky

Genre

:

Keyboard

Compose Date

:

1937-1939

Average_duration

:

7:15

Movement_count

:

2

Movement ....

Vsevolod Zaderatsky's Prelude and Fugue No. 17 for piano in A flat major was composed in 1951 while the composer was serving a 10-year sentence in a Soviet labor camp. The piece was premiered in 1956, five years after Zaderatsky's release from the labor camp. The Prelude and Fugue No. 17 is a two-movement work that showcases Zaderatsky's mastery of counterpoint and his ability to create complex textures with a limited number of voices. The Prelude is marked "Andante con moto" and begins with a lyrical melody in the right hand accompanied by a simple arpeggiated figure in the left hand. The melody is then repeated in the left hand while the right hand takes on a more virtuosic role, playing rapid runs and arpeggios. The middle section of the Prelude features a series of descending chromatic lines that build in intensity before returning to the opening melody. The Fugue is marked "Allegro moderato" and begins with a subject that is introduced in the right hand and then imitated in the left hand. The subject is then developed through a series of episodes that feature a variety of contrapuntal techniques, including inversion, augmentation, and diminution. The Fugue reaches its climax with a stretto section in which the subject is overlapped and repeated at increasingly shorter intervals. The piece ends with a triumphant restatement of the subject in the original key. Overall, the Prelude and Fugue No. 17 is a testament to Zaderatsky's skill as a composer and his ability to create works of great beauty and complexity even under the most difficult circumstances. The piece is characterized by its intricate counterpoint, its use of chromaticism, and its virtuosic piano writing.

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