Prelude XIII in F sharp/G flat major

My dear fellow composers, (exactly) a half year ago I presented my Fugue XIII in G flat/F sharp major.

Today is the right moment to post the corresponding prelude: The prelude againPraeludium-XIII-F-sharp-major-with-coversheet.pdf has the Ukrainian national anthem as its central thematic background (as it also appears in the fugue as additional „subject“, and – as a reference to the date - today is the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence).

Here in the prelude, however, the anthem appears in the lightest key of F sharp major with an optimistic character, light and playful in 3/8 time.

Some words about the structure or form of the piece:

00:00 (mm. 1-22)

Exposition of the „summer“ theme: A joyful, exuberant and perhaps dance-like theme, with accentuated rhythms and chords, although being composed as five-part voice leading.

01:01 (mm. 23-50)

The texture and rhythm of the „summer“ theme is continued, but somewhat more restrained in terms of dynamics. The second verse of the anthem is played in the upper voice.

01:43 (mm. 51-75)

The key signature changes to G-flat major, initially creating a peaceful atmosphere, much like that of a playground. However, this tranquility is suddenly disrupted by dissonances and tritone steps in the bass, symbolizing the horrors of war.

02:23 (mm. 76-94)

The fugue subject (“dona nobis pacem”) appears four times (tenor, mm. 76-79; bass, mm. 81-84; soprano, mm. 86-89 and alto, mm. 91-94), symbolizing hope and leading back to the key signature with sharps.

02:52 (mm. 95-114)

Recapitulation of the „summer“ theme, now in pianissimo and in the key of D sharp minor.

03:31 (mm. 115-140)

The repetition finally leads to the triumphant finale in the coda: The third verse of the anthem is sung, ending with a bright F sharp major chord after a minor plagal cadence, expressing confidence.

I hope, you'll enjoy it. Wieland

Hello,

What a wonderful piece. Obviously it's going to be a patriotic piece of music. I am assuming that you are Ukrainian and therefore, I am wishing your peoples the the very best during this very difficult situation for your country.

I am not too knowledgeable on fugues, so I can't speak to the counter point. I had a listen to the Ukrainian national anthem and I can clearly hear the inspiration behind your piece. I have some minor degree of interest in listening to different anthems in the world. Most anthems are a bit more bombastic and simple. I think you've taken something more simple and really made it something more, while retaining the original spirit of the theme!

Your explanations at the time stamps are very helpful. Overall the piece sounds very intricate to me. The sheet music is absolutely beautiful, you must have put a lot of effort into it!

at 2:47, there is a moment which reminded me of schubert...so much so that I just had to look it up. I believe that the notes are very similar (schubert repeats the E 3x, you repeat it 2x) @ 0:24 of the below youtube video:

Love the tremolo ending!

Bravo!

Hello @Grant Weep, thank you four your kind comments.

On 8/24/2026 at 9:18 PM, Grant Weep said:

What a wonderful piece. Obviously it's going to be a patriotic piece of music.

I wouldn't take it too patriotic – or perhaps not patriotic at all, since patriotism tends to focus on a specific country (usually one’s own). I rather would like to see both pieces, the fugue and the prelude, as a dedication to all people who suffer from war and repression in whatever country they live or, let’s say, as a „prayer“ for freedom, peace and humanity.

On 8/24/2026 at 9:18 PM, Grant Weep said:

I am assuming that you are Ukrainian and therefore, I am wishing your peoples the the very best during this very difficult situation for your country.

No, I’m from Berlin, Germany but that is – one the one hand – much closer to Ukraine as, for example, the United States or Canada, and indeed we had for about two years Ukrainian people (I do not like the word „refugee“ very much) in the house where I live in, before they fortunately could find an own apartment.

On the other hand, I spent my childhood and early youth in East Germany and East Berlin—that is, behind the “Iron Curtain.” And that is why I feel such deep gratitude for the freedom I have been able to enjoy since the fall of the Berlin Wall—and in fact, I was standing on that crowded bridge on that historic night of November 9, 1989. Much time has passed since then, and collective memory seems to be slowly fading, but for me, this historic event is all the more precious because no other people have had the chance to gain freedom since then, and I often wonder why the “terrible” Germans, of all people, were given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But now I'd like to set aside the political and historical considerations – otherwise it would get somewhat off-topic - and return to the music:

On 8/24/2026 at 9:18 PM, Grant Weep said:

Your explanations at the time stamps are very helpful. Overall the piece sounds very intricate to me. The sheet music is absolutely beautiful, you must have put a lot of effort into it!

Indeed, there was an amount of effort with the score – particularly in preparing the „ossia“ staves so that they wouldn’t detract too much from the overall impression. But moreover, I struggled somewhat with the 3/8 meter, which itself is beautiful and thriving, but always has the inherent danger from constantly listening as „hum-ta-taa, hum-ta-taa, hum-ta-taa“. There are a number of recordings of, for example, the opening choir and the choir „Herrscher des Himmels“ from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which suffer from that problem to be as rhythmically monotonous, regardless of the tempo. So, to mitigate this impression, I introduced some „micro-arpeggios“ and „micro-tempo changes“ to get the chords sounding a bit airier.

On 8/24/2026 at 9:18 PM, Grant Weep said:

at 2:47, there is a moment which reminded me of schubert...so much so that I just had to look it up. I believe that the notes are very similar (schubert repeats the E 3x, you repeat it 2x) @ 0:24 of the below youtube video

The moment at 2:47 you mentioned is (possibly) the fourth citation of the fugue subject in the soprano (mm. 86). And although the Schubert Impromptu is quite different – due to its faster runs – the moment is indeed somewhat similar, since it changes the mood from „darker“ to „brighter“ (by the way, when looking in the score (mm. 11-12), I don’t see an E but a threefold repeated F flat …).