Szymanowski was regarded as the most important Polish composer of the 20th century. His creative life could be divided into three periods, and his compositional skills were deeply influenced by Chopin, Scriabin, Wagner, Stravinsky, the Impressionists and the National School of Music. Preludes, op.1 was one of Szymanowski¡¦s earlier works, which the creative music style was influenced by Chopin, Wagner and the late German Romanticism. The historical background of ¡§prelude¡¨ is with a kind of special interest, because it expressed the important characteristics of keyboard music in the earlier period. The ¡§prelude¡¨ originated from the unattached prelude in the 16th century, then graduately developed to evolve the attached prelude, becoming the main type in the Baroque period. The type of independent prelude was lately established by Chopin in the Romantic period. All the nine preludes are essays. The composition technique is often based on a single motivation or a subject, and expresses the music through the graceful melody. Furthermore, Szymanowski was skillful in using the complex harmony, adding dissonances and non-chord tones to expand the texture of music. He also employed the major and minor keys in turn to create a kind of indecisive tones. Therefore, the tonal structure became more clear only at the end of the music. The music style of Szymanowski is very characteristic and with diversity. He adapted different composing techniques to combine various characteristic sensations, moods and perspectives brilliantly, and produced the nine pleasant preludes consequently.

Character pieces prevailed in the 19th century. Chopin was one of the most important composers during the period. Preludes Opus 28 of Chopin is characteristic of 19th century style. This thesis is concentrated on the historical background, the composition techniques, and the interpretation of Frédéric Chopin¡¦s Preludes Op. 28. Other then introduction, this thesis is divided into four chapters and an appendix. The first chapter tries to make a survey of the historical background of preludes, including the definition and the development, then the historical background of F. Chopin Preludes, Op. 28. The second chapter discusses the composition techniques and musical styles. The third chapter goes into the performance practice. The fourth chapter sums up the results of the study. Preludes originated from the unattached prelude of the 16th century, then evolved into the Baroque period which the main type in this period was the attached prelude. The type of independent prelude was lately established in the Romantic era. Chopin worked on these 24 preludes sporadically between 1836 and 1839. Each piece varies in length, texture and style. Chopin used varied composition techniques within them. The tonal plan pairs each major key with its relative minor key through the circle of fifths. The style of preludes can categorize into etude, nocturne, mazurka, funeral march, scherzo, perpetuum mobile, songlike, fantasy, and impromptu etc. The performance practice issues such as dynamics, ornamentation, phrasing, pedal, and tempo rubato are discussed. The opinions of scholars, such as T. Higgins, J. Eigeldinger and J. P. Dunn, are represented to help appropriate interpretation. To sum up, Chopin established the prelude as an independent character piece, he also influenced composers of late Romantic era and early 20th century. Therefore, the important contribution of Chopin to the development of preludes is not replaceable.

Scriabin composed the piano work ¡§Prelude¡¨ Op.11 during 1886 to 1889. This set of 24 preludes is regarded as the essential early work of Scriabin. The composition is influenced by Chopin¡¦s work ¡§Prelude¡¨ Op.28. The first part of the thesis are discussed the life of Scriabin, then, the definition and the development of preludes. The second part generalize the early style of Scriabin and compare the relationship between Scriabin¡¦s ¡§Prelude¡¨ Op.11 and Chopin¡¦s ¡§Prelude¡¨ Op.28. Finally, the focus would be on analyzing difficult skills of the Scriabin¡¦s ¡§Prelude¡¨ Op.11 and explaining the practicing process. The main purpose of this research is to present the compositional technique and idea of Scriabin, so it will benefit the performers who are learning this piece.

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Nikolai Kapustin was born in 1937 and has been active as a composer since the late 1950s, though he has only become relatively well known in the West since around 2000. Despite the fact that he has spent his whole life in Russia, Kapustin was strongly influenced by American jazz and his compositional style has always been a combination of the formal elements of classical music and the stylistic elements of jazz. Critics have all commented on Kapustin's astute blend of classical form and jazz style, mentioning the influence of Russian composers Rachmaninov and Scriabin, while also noting echoes of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Chick Corea. The Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 53 were published in 1988 and follow the key sequence set forth by the Chopin Preludes, Op. 28. These preludes are as virtuosic and ambitious as those of Chopin, Scriabin, and Rachmaninov.A close examination of the score of the Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 53 reveals that Kapustin uses several methods of thematic organization, including variations of scoring, thematic transformation, and spinning out the germ of an idea in a more improvisatory way and that these techniques can be traced directly to the music of Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Liszt, and Beethoven. There are examples of ternary, rondo, and monothematic forms, and the ternary Preludes in particular contain elements similar to sonata-allegro form. Kapustin's musical language is infused with the harmonic and rhythmic elements of jazz, with ample use of added note chords in sophisticated voicings. The echoes of various jazz artists are represented by his skilled use of pianistic techniques like stride and walking bass along with a broad range of harmonic and rhythmic devices that span the stylistic range from Swing and Novelty piano, to Bebop and contemporary Jazz-rock. Though he is clearly familiar with standard jazz harmonic devices, he uses them sparingly, preferring instead to use modulation and developmental models that are grounded in classical music practice. From modern jazz, he takes quartal, pentatonic, and diminished harmony, along with highly chromatic two-voiced textures similar to those used by jazz artists from the 1960s onward, particularly Miles Davis.

Dmitry Shostakovich was an important Russia composer and pianist in the 20th century. In compare the quantity of his complete outputs, the numbers of the solo piano pieces was a small amount, but the use of the piano instrument occupies a major part within his compositions. For instance, Shostakovich employs piano in his symphonies, nos. 1, 5, and 7. Moreover, he also wrote many chamber music works with piano, and two piano concertos. The study of the lecture recital document focus on the discussion of Shostakovich early piano composition, Twenty-Four Preludes, op. 34, written between 1932 and 1933. In addition to the introduction, the discussion includes: the historical background of Russian music of early and middle twentieth century, the life of Shostakovich, the brief of the development of the prelude, the writing techniques, performance techniques, and the interpretation of Twenty-Four Preludes. Twenty-Four Preludes does not only present the previous traditions of stylistic features, but also permeated with the spirit of innovation.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Colorado, 1974. / Typescript. Appendix (leaves [125]-336) "includes all fifty keyboard chorales discussed in the body of the study." Includes bibliographical references (leaves [118]-124).

Thesis (D. Mus. Arts)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-110).

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