Classical Music Work of the Week - Oct. 10, 2005

As it so happened, I came across Frederic Chopin's Prelude no. 15 "Raindrop" in D flat Major last week. I love this prelude (as it is one of my favorites). It's been several months since I last listened to this piece. For those of you who listen to classical music on a day to day basis, do you notice that you listen to classical music in cycles? (I do anyway.) I listen to several pieces of music almost non-stop for a few weeks, then I get hooked on some other piece. I listen to that for a few weeks, forgetting about the music I was listening to weeks before. When I come across the older pieces again, it's like a pleasant surprise - I forget how much I like them.

Frederic Chopin's Prelude no. 15 "Raindrop", as you can tell from it's nickname, is an extremely tranquil piece of music. It's repeating pitter-patter pattern (try saying that three times fast) on the same note subtly resembles falling raindrops. The piece opens very calmly, reminding us of a warm, calm spring day. However, it doesn't stay calm - often rain is accompanied by a thunderstorm. Chopin portrays the thunderstorm by moving to a c-sharp minor key, slowly building up chords in the low octave, while still repeating 8th notes on the same key. Finally after the storm reaches it's climax, Chopin masterfully resolves back to the piece's original key, leaving us listeners, happy and content.

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