Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich ： 24 Preludes and Fugues No.4 in e-moll Op.87-4

This piece presents a finely balanced contrast between prelude and fugue. In the prelude, the melodic breath should be brought out carefully from the concise writing, with close attention to resonance and the space between phrases. In the fugue that follows, the music gradually gains density as the subject passes from one voice to another. A key point is to keep each contrapuntal line clear while shaping the whole as a single continuous flow. The inner voices should not be allowed to disappear, and the sound should be kept from becoming excessively heavy.