Lyadov Starter Pack – 5 Essential Preludes by a Late-Romantic Perfectionist

Anatoly Lyadov (1855–1914)
Five selected preludes for piano
PianoCurio, pf
Piano: Blüthner Model One (Pianoteq)

The Russian composer Anatoly Lyadov wrote some of the finest lesser-heard gems in the late-Romantic piano repertoire. They are not all obscure, as the first prelude of this set has rightly become one of his most famous melodies. To me, Lyadov represents a link between the pianism of Chopin and Rachmaninoff. His output was relatively small, some say due to laziness, others that his perfectionism hindered his productivity. Regardless, it is evident that Lyadov worked over every fine detail, crafting alluring melodies tinged with Russian flavor. Lyadov excelled in miniatures, exemplified by the numerous scattered preludes (two or three at a time) that he wrote over his career. Balanced in brevity and beauty, these preludes are the ideal entry point to discovering this composer.

My "essential" list of five preludes (in no particular order) is not an attempt to definitively pick the "best" ones, but to highlight five representative pieces, each of which articulates a different facet of Lyadov's style.

00:00 Prelude in B minor, Op. 11, No. 1 (1886)
It is easy to hear why this piece sits atop Lyadov's works as the finest gem of them all. Its melody sings of mysterious sadness, perhaps tragedy, with undulating harmonies beneath, wafting through the air like incense.

03:10 Prelude-Pastorale (1894)
This one is lesser known, but a sleeper favorite of mine. Lyadov captures the picturesque pastoral element in gently rocking open fifths and a breezy subject that appears just as quickly as it evaporates into a sweetly arpeggiated plagal cadence.

05:11 Prelude in Gb major, Op. 27, No. 3 (1891)
Lyadov's best ideas were often serene slower movements rather than virtuosic showcases, but he did write many pieces that required solid technique, even if not terribly difficult by Romantic standards. This one reminds me of a miniature etude, like an offspring of Chopin's, bubbling over with energetic charm and wit, and capped by a wink at the end.

06:48 Prelude in Db major, Op. 57, No. 1 (c. 1905)
The most Chopinesque of them all, we clearly hear the influence of Chopin's nocturnes in this gentle song that soon grows impassioned, almost desperate at one moment. It ends with a finely woven web of echoed counterpoint and an elegantly prepared final resolution over a pedal point.

08:59 Prelude in F# minor, Op. 39, No. 4 (1895)
Almost Rachmaninoff, but not quite. You can hear the proximity – Lyadov was a professor at the conservatory where Rachmaninoff studied – in the menacing octave passages and shadowy, shifting harmonies. Sources give a tempo of dotted quarter = 100bpm, but I push it a bit here because otherwise it sounds too casual, not urgent enough.