The Twelve Preludes (Chicago, 1952-53) show with vivid clarity the many-sided expressive genius of their composer. Each prelude is a musical entity, each has its own 'raison d'être', its own musical message. Taken as a whole, the twelve form a work with an exhaustive range of expression running the complete gamut of musical ideas; ideas which are, in the words of Alfred Frankenstein referring to these pieces, pungent, lyrical and musico-philosophic. All of the preludes are built in various compo...