Overview
Introduction
Liebesleid, Liebesfreud, and Caprice viennois may well be the most widely known and dearly beloved of Fritz Kreisler's many short pieces for violin and piano, but of all those pieces, it is without a doubt Praeludium and Allegro that an aspiring young student violinist will most ardently desire to sink his or her teeth into. Praeludium and Allegro is one of those Kreisler works originally attributed to eighteenth century composers when first published in 1905 (in this case, the obscure Italian violinist/composer Gaetano Pugnani); these works have come to be collectively described as pieces "in the style of...," though even that can be somewhat misleading, as Kreisler's original intent, in 1905, was to convince people that he had found a bunch of old, unknown manuscripts and arranged them freely in his own style -- the result is a true stylistic hodgepodge.
Praeludium and Allegro is, as its title indicates, a piece in two sections. The first is a firm declaration, in quarter notes, whose stern manner softens just a little as the section progresses but reasserts itself at the dramatic close. The second is a quick-paced affair in 16th notes, eventually building up to a flash-and-dazzle quasi-cadenza, over a rumbling dominant pedal-point in the bass register of the piano, and a strong-willed, double-stop-ridden final issue of the theme.
