Aquila - Seven Preludes for Piano
Aquila - Seven Preludes for Piano
Seven Preludes for Piano by Carmen Jude Aquila
The piano prelude has a rich history stretching from J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier through Chopin's celebrated Op. 28 set and Debussy's two books of impressionistic miniatures. As a form, the prelude prizes concision and character — each piece a self-contained world, often built around a single mood, texture, or technical idea.
Carmen Jude Aquila is an internationally performed composer whose works have been heard on concert stages around the world. His Seven Preludes for Piano stand firmly in this tradition while bringing a distinctly contemporary voice: melodically inventive, harmonically clear, and texturally varied. The set offers a healthy technical challenge without sacrificing musical accessibility, making it equally rewarding to perform and to hear.
The seven preludes traverse a range of keys and characters:
- Prelude 1 in B♭ Major — "Little Waltz" — a charming, dance-inflected opener
- Prelude 2 in G Major
- Prelude 3 in E Major
- Prelude 4 in A Major
- Prelude 5 in D Minor
- Prelude 6 in F Major
- Prelude 7 in B♭ Major
Ideally suited for recitals, auditions, and performance competitions, these preludes demonstrate Aquila's mastery of the piano medium and his gift for creating compelling textural landscapes within compact forms.
About the Composer
Carmen Jude Aquila's music has been performed around the world, from Long Island to Beijing. World-renowned conductors JoAnn Falletta and Edwin London have brought his music to life with ensembles as prestigious as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony — most recently, Maestra Falletta and the BPO gave the world premiere performance of his Serenade for String Orchestra. Other distinguished performers of his music include Jacqueline Galluzzo, Emily Boyce, Holly Bewlay, Marilyn Shrude, Maria Sampen, and Bryan Eckenrode. His work has earned notable recognition, including the Cleveland Chamber Symphony's "Music by Emerging Composers" award (April 2000), for which his first orchestral work, Preamble, was premiered under the baton of Edwin London. His Scenes for Violin and Piano was selected for the finals of BGSU's 1999 concerto competition, and he was awarded the 1998 Victoria Bohlen Memorial Award for Composition. Aquila earned his BM in composition with honors from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1998, studying with Donald Bohlen, and his MM in composition with honors from Bowling Green State University in 2000, where he was apprenticed to Marilyn Shrude, Burton Beerman, and Mikel Kuehn.