Kreisler, Fritz - Praeludium and Allegro - Violin and Piano - Book/Online Audio - Carl Fischer Edition

Praeludium and Allegro (In the Style of Pugnani)by Fritz KreislerLiebesleid, Liebesfreud, and Caprice Viennois may well be the most widely known of Fritz Kreisler's many short pieces for violin and piano, but it is Praeludium and Allegro that can be an aspiring violinists first solo performance piece. Praeludium and Allegro is one of those Kreisler works originally attributed to eighteenth century composers when first published in 1905; these works have come to be collectively described as pieces "in the style of...," though even that can be somewhat misleading, as Kreisler's original intent, in 1905, was to convince people that he had found a bunch of old, unknown manuscripts and arranged them freely in his own style.Praeludium and Allegro is, as its title indicates, a piece in two sections. The first is a firm declaration, in quarter notes, whose manner softens just a little as the section progresses but reasserts itself at the dramatic close. The second is a quick-paced theme of 16th notes, eventually building up to a quasi-cadenza over a pedal-point in the piano, and a final issue of the theme with double stops.