Keyboard preludes started appearing in the 17th century in France: unmeasured preludes, in which the duration of each note is left to the performer, were used as introductory movements in harpsichord suites. These were closely followed by freely composed preludes in an extemporary style for the lute and other Renaissance string instruments, which were originally used for warming up the fingers and checking the instrument's tuning and sound quality, as in a group of pieces by Joan Ambrosio Dalza published in 1508 under the heading tastar de corde (in Italian, literally, 'testing of the strings'). The first preludes to be notated were organ pieces that were played to introduce church music, the earliest surviving examples being five brief praeambula in the Ileborgh Tablature of 1448. The term may also refer to an overture, particularly to those seen in an opera or an oratorio. Stylistically, the prelude is improvisatory in nature. It generally features a small number of rhythmic and melodic motifs that recur through the piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that were usually longer and more complex, it may also have been a stand-alone piece of work during the Romantic era.

JSTOR ( November 2009) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī prelude ( German: Präludium or Vorspiel Latin: praeludium French: prélude Italian: preludio) is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

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Preludes & nocturnes neil gaiman