Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87

The Music/Background: As Jarrett said in 1991, "When I first saw these pieces in a music shop, I knew I wanted to play them. I recognised the language. But when I started playing them, they were so close to me that I knew I had to record them." He began including Shostakovich pieces in his recitals in 1985, alongside works by Beethoven, Scarlatti and Bach, and his Shostakovich recording followed his acclaimed account of the two books of The Well-Tempered Clavier. There was a musical-historical logic to the choice, as well: it had been a performance of Bach's "48" at a piano competition in Lepizig in 1950 that inspired Shostakovich to write his own cycle of preludes and fugues. "It didn't feel like I was playing someone else's music," said Jarrett of his first encounter with the Op 87. "[The pieces] are coming from some strange quirky place that I'm familiar with. They're not `pianistic' in the traditional way..." Wilfred Mellers sums up the merits of Opus 87 in the liner notes: "If there is a single work among his large output that assures us that Shostakovich is among the great composers nurtured by our bruised and battered century, this collection of Preludes and Fugues is it. One might go so far as to say that it places him among the supreme composers in any phase of Europe's history. Listen and you will hear."

 

Disc 1:
1. I. Prelude & Fugue in C Major	8:11
2. 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: II. Prelude & Fugue in A Minor	2:10
3. III. Prelude & Fugue in G Major	3:29
4. 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: IV. Prelude & Fugue in E Minor	7:24
5. V. Prelude & Fugue in D Major	4:05
6. VI. Prelude & Fugue in B Minor	5:22
7. VII. Prelude & Fugue in A Major	3:11
8. VIII. Prelude & Fugue In F-Sharp Minor	6:22
9. IX. Prelude & Fugue in E Major	3:48
10. X. Prelude & Fugue in C-Sharp Minor	6:19
11. XI. Prelude & Fugue in B Major	3:22
12. XII. Prelude & Fugue in G-Sharp Minor	6:52
Disc 2:
1. 24 Preludes And Fugues, Op. 87: XIII. Prelude & Fugue In F-Sharp Major	7:03
2. 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: XIV. Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Minor	7:03
3. XV. Prelude & Fugue in D-Flat Major	4:20
4. 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: XVI. Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Minor	8:59
5. 24 Preludes And Fugues, Op. 87: XVII. Prelude & Fugue In A-Flat Major	5:14
6. 24 Preludes And Fugues, Op. 87: XVIII. Prelude & Fugue In F Minor	4:35
7. XIX. Prelude & Fugue in E-Flat Major	4:17
8. 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: XX. Prelude & Fugue in C Minor	8:06
9. XXI. Prelude & Fugue in B-Flat Major	4:01
10. Xxii. Prelude & Fugue In G Minor	5:09
11. Xxiii. Prelude & Fugue In F Major	5:28
12. Xxiv. Prelude & Fugue In D Minor	10:24