21. Festivamente (non troppo allegro)

This prelude is marked "Festivamente." This means "in a festive mood, joyfully, humorously," etc. Following this is "non troppo allegro," an instruction not to rush. With this, you should already grasp the atmosphere of this piece. However, the composer has a strong particularity in this prelude: the time signature.

As you can see, the time signature changes rapidly. One might be tempted to think, "Why not just use 4/4 time and shift the accents?" However, it is important to respect the composer's intention and feel the time signature of each measure.

Furthermore, the melody line is remarkably simple, merely tracing a few diatonic notes of the B-flat major scale. This melody appears repeatedly; each time, ensure it is clearly audible. Key points are summarized below:

• The half notes in the melody line appearing in measures 4 and 6 tend to be cut short due to the crisp accompaniment. If possible, sustain them for their full half-note duration.
• In measures 11-15, use the first finger of the left hand to bring out the top note of the chords. This will be the melody line.
• In measure 16, play roughly, like a percussion instrument.
• In measure 17, a different character emerges. An interplay begins between this character and the original character that suddenly re-enters (e.g., the third beat of measure 20). Use dynamic changes to clearly differentiate between the characters.
• In measure 39, just before reaching the peak, there is a "meno forte" on the second beat. This "meno forte" means to temporarily reduce the dynamic in preparation for the peak in measure 42. Be careful not to become too soft, as this would break the tension.
• Since the piece itself is vibrant, pedaling can generally be changed every beat. There is no need to sustain the bass notes. If too much pedal is used, sustaining notes for more than one beat, the percussive character will be lost.