Prelude, Opus 34, No 14

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich (arr. H Robert Reynolds)

General Info

Year: 1933 / 1988
Duration: c. 2:15
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Cost: Score and Parts - Out of Print | Score Only - $7.50

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Crash Cymbals
Suspended Cymbal
Tam-tam

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Twenty-Four Preludes for Piano were composed in 1932-33, and the Prelude in E-flat minor, Opus 34, No. 14 was one of this set. Opening with a calm but strong chordal statement, the piece continues to build in a single direction to a grand climax of fff dynamics, after which it quickly returns to the quiet mood and material of the beginning. While only 36 measure long, one senses a much more expansive and lengthy composition than its first few short measures reveal.

- Program note by publisher

The Adagio E-flat minor Prelude is one of the two longest of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes, Op. 34 (1932-1933). More importantly, it is the most dramatic, the most tragic, and the most public. With its imitation tympani rolls, its rising fanfare-like figure, and its insistent drum beats, it seems to be striving for a symphonic stature, and it is no wonder that the conductor Leopold Stokowski rushed to orchestrate the piece. However, in its original form, the relentless despair and deep sorrow is much more real: one feels the music straining against the limitations of the keyboard, and this becomes an integral part of the expression and the meaning of the music. This is one of the very great preludes from the Opus 34 set and a piece worthy to stand beside the last act of Shostakovich’s contemporaneous opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

- Program Note from California State University, Long Beach, Wind Symphony concert program, 3 March 2016

Media

State Ratings

California: Grade V, Class A
Louisiana: Band 2011 Grade IV
Massachusetts: Grade IV
Texas: IV. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY.) Wind Ensemble (Mark Scatterday, conductor) - 13 November 2023
University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Wind Ensemble (Gary Hill, conductor) – 3 November 2023
California State University (Long Beach) Wind Symphony (Jermie Arnold, conductor) - 5 October 2023
Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Mallory Thompson, conductor; Stephen Lee, piano) - 27 January 2023
University of Indianapolis (Ind.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Jon Noworyta, conductor) - 30 October 2022
Oklahoma State University (Stillwater) Wind Ensemble (Bradley Genervo, conductor) - 15 September 2022
Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Chris Kaatz, conductor) - 1 February 2022
University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor) – 4 November 2021
University of South Alabama (Mobile) Symphony Band (Jason Rinehart, conductor) - 29 April 2021
Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.) Symphonic Band (Shauna Pickens, conductor) - 25 April 2021
University of British Columbia (Vancouver) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Adrian To, conductor) - 15 April 2021
Texas Christian University (Fort Worth) Wind Symphony (Bobby R. Francis, conductor) - 3 December 2020
Jackson (Miss.) State University Wind Ensemble (Lowell Hollinger, conductor) – 4 March 2020
Oklahoma State University (Stillwater) Symphonic Band (Douglas Henderson, conductor) – 25 February 2020
Ithaca (N.Y.) College Wind Ensemble (Christopher Hughes, conductor) – 15 October 2019
Grand Valley State University Wind Symphony (Kevin Tutt, conductor) – 13 October 2019
State University of New York, Fredonia, Concert Band (Ray Stewart, conductor) – 26 September 2019
World Adult Wind Orchestra Project (WAYOP) (Schladming, Austria) (Gary Hill, conductor) – 13 July 2019
Texas A&M University (Lubbock) Symphonic Winds (Travis Almany, conductor) – 28 April 2019
Northwest Missouri State University Wind Symphony (William Licop, conductor) – 18 April 2019
Arkansas Tech University (Russellville) Wind Ensemble (Daniel A. Belongia, conductor) – 10 March 2019
West Chester (Penn.) University Wind Ensemble (Andrew Yozviak, conductor) – 21 February 2019 (CBDNA 2019 National Conference, Tempe, Ariz.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Waltz No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (post 1956/2021)

All Wind Works

Allegro from "Symphony No. 10" (tr. Fisher) (1954/2010)
Ballet Suite #4 (arr. Pappajohn) (1953)
Batterie from "The Nose" (arr. Schaefer) (1928/1978)
Concertino (orch. Singleton) (1953/)
Dance I. See: Jazz Suite No. 2
Ein Volksfest (arr. Rembach) (1955/1995)
Ein Volksfest. See: Folk Festival
Excerpts from "Symphony No. 5" Finale (arr. Longfield) (1937/2007)
Festive Overture (arr. Frost) (1954/2016)
Festive Overture (tr. Hunsberger) (1954/1965)
Festive Overture (tr. Martin) (1954/2016?)
Festive Overture (tr. Patterson) (1954/)
Festive Overture (tr. Takahashi) (1954/1998)
The Fire of Eternal Glory (tr. Timothy Rhea) (1960/2011)
Fire of Eternal Glory (arr. Curnow) (1960/2011)
Folk Dances (tr. Reynolds) (1942/1979)
Folk Dances (arr. Erickson) (1942/1979)
Folk Dances (arr. Curnow) (1942/2000)
Folk Festival (tr. Hunsberger) (1955/1971)
Folk Festival. See also: Ein Volksfest
Fortinbras March from "Hamlet" (tr. Suchoff) (1932/1967)
The Gadfly (1955/)
The Gadfly (tr. Patterson) (1955/)
Galop (tr. Hunsberger) (1959/1971)
Galop (from "The Limpid Stream") (tr. Miller) (1935)
Hamlet Suite (tr. Suchoff) (1964/1975)
Intermezzo (arr. Cahn) (1928/1986/1994)
Jazz Suite No. 1 (1934)
Jazz Suite No. 2 (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- March (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Lyric Waltz (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1995)
- Dance I (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Dance II (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Waltz No. 2 (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Finale (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
March (arr. Curnow) (2014)
March (arr. de Meij). See: Jazz Suite No. 2
March of the Soviet Militia (ed. Iakubov) (1970/2006)
October, Op 131 (arr. Mitchell) (1967)
Overture on Russian and Kirg (arr. Janssen)
Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Folk Songs (tr. Duker) (1963/1989)
Overture to "The Gadfly" (arr. Geert Flik) (1955/2006)
Piano Concerto No 2 (tr. Pontini) (1957/2012)
Piano Concerto No 2 in F Major (arr. Bamonte)
Piano Trio No. 2 (arr. Graham)
Priest and His Servant Balda, The (1934)
Prelude, Op. 34, No. 14 (arr. Reynolds) (1988)
Prelude 21 and Fugue 1 (arr. McCullough) (1952/)
Prelude (Variations) from "Ballet Suite No. 4" (arr. Blankenship) (1953/)
Romance (arr. Peel) (1955/1985)
Spanish Dance from "The Gadfly" (arr. Curnow)
Suite for Jazz Orchestra no. 1. See: Jazz Suite No. 1
Symphony No. 1 (tr. Scarbrough) (1924-25)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt I (tr. Schaeffer)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt II (tr. Smith) (1937/1944)
Symphony No. 5: Finale (tr. Righter) (1937/1947)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt IV (tr. Rogers) (1937/2003)
Symphony No. 5, Mvmt IV (tr. Bocook) (1937/2005)
Symphony No. 9 (arr. Mertens and Suykerbuyk) (1945/1986)
Symphony No. 9 (tr. Schaefer) (1945/1976)
Symphony No. 10, Mvt. II (tr. Fisher) (tr. Fisher) (1954/2010)
Symphony No. 10, Mvmt II (tr. O'Brien) (1954)
Symphony No. 11: Second Movement Excerpts (arr. Daehn) (1957/1989)
Tahiti Trot (tr. Brubaker) (1927/2009)
Three Symphonic Preludes (arr. Reed)
Two Scarlatti Pieces (1928)
Waltz No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (post 1956/2021)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. Connery) (post 1956/1996)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. Curnow) (post 1956/2010)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. De Meij). See: Jazz Suite No. 2

Resources

Shostakovich, D.; Reynolds, H. (1988). Prelude, Op. 34, No. 14 [score]. Carl Fischer: New York.