Twelve Preludes

Twelve preludes for piano solo, composed in 1953. Concise, uncompromising, and direct, they represent Ustvolskaya's first fully characteristic voice: extremely sparse textures, percussive attack, sudden silences, and a refusal of the ornamental or the merely pleasing. Each prelude is short — some lasting barely a minute — and they range in character from violent and dissonant to quietly austere. They are often cited as an ideal introduction to Ustvolskaya's musical world: all her essential qualities are already present, concentrated into miniature form.