Nikolai Kapustin: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op 82
Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin (1937-2020) was an Ukranian composer. In his oeuvre, he merged classical forms with jazz music in a unique way. For the last day of Piano Music Week, I decided to write about the Preludes and Fugues op. 82, which were published in 1997. I love how preludes an fugues are meaningful to composers of all eras, and never fail to reflect on the actual musical inventions these very different times.
Unlike Bach and Shostakovich, Kapustin chose a different order for the pieces of this cycle. Every prelude and fugue in a major tonality is followed by one in a minor tonality (so far, this is true for the composers mentioned before), and the major and minor pieces follow two paralel sequences. The pieces in major tonality are descending from C major to G major descending on the circle of fifths. The minor tonality pieces follow the same rule, but starting from g sharp minor and ending on e flat minor.
The only thing common with Bach’s music is the polyphonic structure which is hidden beneath jazz harmonies. It is an interesting thing to hear how the freedom of jazz music fits the improvisatory character of the preludes. Contrary to this, Kapustin manages to mix the strict form of the fugue with jazz, keeping the traditional ways of voice leading and imitations but still sounding like an improvisation.
We are lucky to have a recording of Kapustin himself playing this cycle, because he was a brilliant pianist as well.
Noémi Baki-Szmaler, guest editor, @une-barque-sur-l-ocean
