Johannes Brahms ： Eleven Chorale Preludes No.9 in a-moll Op.122

No. 9 from Brahms’s Eleven Chorale Preludes is an arrangement in which Busoni transfers the profound religious feeling of the original into the sonority of solo piano. Within the subdued shades of A minor, the chorale melody is interwoven with weighty movement in the inner voices and bass, while harmonic changes create a quiet sense of tension. The piece can be heard as a single, concentrated flow, with the passing of the melody and the overlapping voices providing key points of interest. In performance, it is important to clarify the role of each voice, carefully bring out the principal melody, keep the pedal from clouding the texture, and balance resonant depth with restrained expression.