14. Prestissimo Possibile

Regarding this particular prelude, I believe there can be various approaches. It is probably the most technically challenging piece among these 24 preludes, and how one resolves the technical difficulties will be the key point.

The tempo marking is "prestissimo possibile," a daunting indication to play as fast as possible. The tempo of this prelude is thus determined by how one interprets that "as fast as possible." When I first mentioned "various approaches are acceptable," I was referring to this tempo.

One-third of the score is written on a single staff. The sixteenth notes arranged on this single staff have their flags divided upwards and downwards, with the downward flags assigned to the left hand and the upward flags to the right hand. Of course, this is not an absolute rule, and I believe one can change the assignments as convenient. However, the allocation written here is remarkably appropriate and can be considered an ingenious device for ease of performance. Let's assume we play by assigning the left and right hands exactly as indicated in the score.

As you will find when playing, a time loss occurs due to the hands switching. However, when played at prestissimo, certain aspects are clearly sacrificed. For example, the note D is repeated twice between measures 3 and 4; the first is played by the left hand, and the second by the right hand. While this might be acceptable at an allegro tempo, at prestissimo, these two D notes become very difficult to hear, or one might have to improvise due to the inability to execute a rapid repetition.

This is just one example. Especially when considering the issue of evenness, achieving perfect evenness when playing at prestissimo is almost a dream, an impossibility. Therefore, I would like to leave it to your judgment whether it is better to play fast according to the marking, even if it's a bit rough, or to play a bit more carefully even if the tempo is slightly reduced. In fact, I have heard both of these extreme examples, and my honest answer is that neither is definitively better. Even if one takes a middle ground, the issue of evenness will not be easily resolved.

Many foreign artists do not inherently concern themselves with such minute details. I imagine Kabalevsky himself might not have expected such precise execution. What is important is the expression of the unique world that this prelude creates. Making that the top priority, a faster tempo would be desirable, and personally, I believe it is acceptable as long as one can feel the three-beat pulse, rather than focusing on the perfect evenness of individual notes.