The Mystery of Chopin’s Préludes by Anatole Leikin (review)

Before Frédéric Chopin’s groundbreaking collection of twenty-four preludes redefined the genre, preludes served an introductory purpose. Noting the seismic shift from ancillary utilitarian introduction to quintessential romantic character piece, Franz Liszt noted, “Chopin’s Preludes are compositions of an order entirely apart; they are not merely, as the title would indicate, introductions to other morceaux” (p. 6). Robert Schumann described the mysterious preludes as “strange pieces, sketches, ruins” (p. 1).

In The Mystery of Chopin’s “Préludes”, Anatole Leikin argues that strewn among the rubble of all twenty-four ruins are recognizable fragments—musical fragments of the Dies Irae chant. Containing 124 bibliographic references and Alphonse de Lamartine’s Les préludes in French alongside an English translation, the well-researched book is a pleasure to read and appropriate for any musician or listener wishing to learn more about Chopin’s preludes.

In chapter 1, “The Traditions, the Innovations, and the Predicaments,” Leikin examines three clues: the various preludes in opus 28 contain widely varying numbers of measures; Chopin performed them in groups; and Franz Liszt described them as “‘poetic preludes similar to those of a great contemporary poet’ clearly alluding to Alphonse de Lamartine’s poem entitled Les Préludes” (p. 11).

In chapter 2, “Lamartine’s Les Préludes: The Lyrics and the Milieu,” Leikin examines the eleven cantos of Les préludes and observes their various lengths, paired groupings, and references to the Gothic, which emphasizes death, nighttime, the supernatural, apparitions, old ruined castles, and monasteries. For example, Leikin describes as Gothic the eleven repeated sf bass notes in the A-flat Major Prelude, which according to Chopin represented “the sound of an old clock in the castle which strikes the eleventh hour” (p. 16). Leikin concludes the chapter with the tantalizing, “In Mallorca, as Chopin was working on his Opus 28, he lived a Gothic tale” (p. 21).

In chapter 3, “The Mallorca Factor,” Leikin describes Chopin’s “Gothic tale” by drawing upon his experience in the Carthusian Monastery of Valldemossa, an intriguing photo of which appears on the book jacket. In Valldemossa, Chopin described his cell as being coffin shaped and experienced frightening hallucinations. Leikin’s time in Valldemossa confirmed his intuition about the aesthetic of death enshrouding the preludes and helped him to illustrate successfully how composers’ life experiences can influence their musical choices.

Chapter 4, “Lamartine’s Les Préludes and Chopin’s Les Préludes,” along with chapter 5, “Deciphering the Préludes,” form the core of the book. Leikin examines Chopin’s words to better understand the composer’s approach to extramusical meaning. For example, after repeating the clock-in-the-castle anecdote, incorrectly labeled D-flat Major, Leikin quotes Chopin, who stated about his different pieces, “final chords sweep away cohorts of ghosts; a little shepherd takes refuge in a peaceful grotto from an approaching storm; a tyrant commands then someone asks for mercy” (p. 43). Furthermore, on a score Chopin wrote “After a representation of the tragedy of Hamlet,” but crossed it out, stating, “Let them guess for themselves” (p. 44). Most significantly, Chopin told his student, “I indicate; it’s up to the listener to complete the picture” (p. 44). These important quotes not only challenge the narrative that Chopin composed purely “absolute music,” meaning that music lacks the ability to refer beyond itself, but also establish Chopin’s preference for indicating general moods rather than depicting vivid details. Furthermore, Chopin’s words let Leikin “interpret Chopin’s Préludes as a series of tone-painting reflections of Lamartine’s poem Les Préludes” (p. 44). Leikin attributes to Slavic folk music the alternating major–minor prelude pairing or “relative major-minor fluctuating mode,” which appears in Cyrillic, unfortunately without transliteration (p. 47). Here Leikin properly illustrates Slavic influences in Chopin’s music, yet minimizes them in favor of Western European influences...