Prelude No.16 - Live Performance by Henry Ng

Hello there!

Here is the latest installment of preludes, no.16. This one deals with a lot of two voice counterpoint and a relentless ramble on one theme.

As a personal side note, these have been a lot of fun to write, and it's been great simultaneously writing a bunch at once. I had a sporadic burst of ideas when I started this one, and it lead to a lot of spread out writing. I guess what I'm SAYIN' is... more to come! :D

Thanks for listening and reading... any comments of any kind are welcome!

P.S. some of those tempo markings are to mimic rubato, dunno I suck as an editor

Edit: 🔥 @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu 🔥

Prelude No 16 - Score.pdf

Hallo @Thatguy v2.0,

this prelude is a piece I very loved and I wish I had composed it! 😀

It opens with a subject that – at the first glance – seems to be Baroque-like but introduces strong chromaticism in its second half, so that in mm. 5, when the second voice enters, it reminds me of Bach’s B minor fugue from the WTC I (BWV 869b).

But now, in mm. 9, comes the surprise. The mood changes to a more „romantic“ feeling with the arpeggios. And that unexpected change now reminds me at numerous preludes (or fugues) from Shostakovich’s op. 87.

I didn’t make an in-depth analysis, but I can see how you have constantly took benefit from using the initial thematic material, which for me emphasizes the effectiveness of counterpuntal technique. Even if I did not recognize more complete entries of the initial subject, I have the feeling that motifs from it recur, even sometimes in augmentation.

I enjoyed your effort on articulation, including the pedalling and the rubato, and also the key signature change to Bb minor (or is it Db major?).

All in all, a piece very much to my taste. Full of counterpoint, but not in the “Neo-Baroque” style, rather with contemporary harmonies and dissonances and a slight touch of Romanticism!

By the way, I’m very curious to know how you’re organizing your preludes (since this is No. 16). Is it a complete cycle based on 16 of the 24 keys? I’m really looking forward to hearing more of them—and have I perhaps already missed one?

Hey there Weiland!

Thanks for checking this out, it always means a lot to hear great feedback.

On 4/17/2026 at 4:44 PM, Wieland Handke said:

this prelude is a piece I very loved and I wish I had composed it!

❤️

On 4/17/2026 at 4:44 PM, Wieland Handke said:

All in all, a piece very much to my taste. Full of counterpoint, but not in the “Neo-Baroque” style, rather with contemporary harmonies and dissonances and a slight touch of Romanticism!

By the way, I’m very curious to know how you’re organizing your preludes (since this is No. 16). Is it a complete cycle based on 16 of the 24 keys? I’m really looking forward to hearing more of them—and have I perhaps already missed one?

Thank you, friend. I'm acutely aware of the style of each of these preludes, as I'm constantly thinking about the overall feel with each one, wanting them to possess their own unique character. One of my weaknesses as a composer has been counterpoint, or at least using it in the foreground versus just thinking about it with melody and harmony. I've posted the previous preludes on the forum (check the topics tab in my profile, I'm lucky enough to have @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu give his interpretations), and a style they lack was one that focused on a more contrapuntal foundation. Personal challenge accepted. 😄 I'll also say that it makes me bashful to hear you enjoyed the counterpoint, as your talent with it is drenched in the music I've heard of yours.

I wrote the first twelve a few years ago, with the intention of having each one focused on a different tonal center. The scales and approaches used varied a ton, at least that was the intention. There's blues, Chopinesque ones, soliloquys, video game character adaptations, etc. These next twelve started differently. I'm varying the tone centers, but maybe I repeat some here and there. Not sure yet, but the restriction this time is I'm limited to the 61 keys on the keyboard I'm using to brainstorm and workout things.

Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts, it means a lot!

A beautiful and thoughtful prelude of which the counterpoint and harmonies linger in your ear long after you listen to it!

Hello @Thatguy v2.0

What a lovely prelude you have here. :)

I am will now provide review:

1) At bar 5 and following you marked what pedal markings should be. But you do not need to mark them every time. Just show us once and then use sim. expression. That way, you show the performer what the pedal markings.

2) the counterpoint is spot on. I see no issue there.

On 4/20/2026 at 2:04 PM, luderart said:

A beautiful and thoughtful prelude of which the counterpoint and harmonies linger in your ear long after you listen to it!

Thanks for listening luderart, glad you enjoyed it :)

On 4/29/2026 at 3:20 PM, Kvothe said:

What a lovely prelude you have here. :)

I am will now provide review:

1) At bar 5 and following you marked what pedal markings should be. But you do not need to mark them every time. Just show us once and then use sim. expression. That way, you show the performer what the pedal markings.

2) the counterpoint is spot on. I see no issue there.

Hey Kvothe, thanks for listening! Regarding your point #1, yeah you're correct, it was more for playback. @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu was kind enough to record it, I could just write con pedale or something now 🙂

Hey Vince,

It’s a long time since I review anything so here’s the first one! (I’m still going on with the hiatus though since I’m revising my Clarinet Quintet, listening orchestral music and will write the Orchestral Variations on Peter’s theme tho.)

I like how you combine the dreamy dissonance with counterpoint technique here. I love b.3 of the subjects as it’s already containing two voices in a line and it kinds of reminds me the sighing motive of the Kyrie subject of Bach’s Mass in B minor.

Motivically you make use of all the motives from the subject for coherence and economy in episodes which of course come from Bach! My favourite spot of the piece comes in the D flat major passage, it definitely is your voice there, I love your harmony! Also, only by analysing in order to play your fugue did I notice a sneaky quasi subject augmentation in b.28 so I bring it out myself. I also love the ending myself, as it’s in F sharp minor which sadness kinds of reminds me my own F sharp minor fugue in the Sextet =.=

On 4/15/2026 at 10:19 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

P.S. some of those tempo markings are to mimic rubato, dunno I suck as an editor

I don’t follow all the pedals and dynamic instruction you tediously write, sorry for that 🤪, for example I add pedals in b.33 to make it more dreamy, b. 29 I probably played forte instead of mp since I thought I fell the passion there, etc.

Only one thing I would suggest on the scoring is that, I would use the same beam direction for a voice especially for subject entry. For example I would use an upward beam for the first F# in b.5 to indicate the subject, and turns the A and G# into a downward beam. In b.14 I would turn the D downward and C# upward, since it is the C# that’s in the subject, not D. But these are just nitpickies.

It’s fun to play this, and thx for sharing this!

Henry

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu As always, you performance is lovely to hear.

That makes sense now @Thatguy v2.0. I forget that programs are not smart enough to understand how we play the piano. :)