Saturday 26th September 2026 1:45pm – 2:30pm
Luke Jones, Piano
Programme
Chopin 24 Préludes, Op.28
Notes
Chopin’s Préludes, Op.28 are short solo piano pieces written between 1834 and 1839 and intended as explorations of the characters of various keys, 12 major and 12 minor.
See below for information from Britannica.com. It’s interesting to see how people experience the music differently!
Biography
Luke Jones is a Welsh pianist from Wrexham, North Wales. He began playing the piano at the age of five and gave his first public recital at Oriel Wrecsam at the age of ten. Since then, Luke has performed across the UK in venues such as Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), St. David’s Hall (Cardiff), Symphony Hall (Birmingham), and internationally in France, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Japan and Spain.
Luke has been awarded prizes in several prominent piano competitions, including the 2nd Prize and Mompou Prize at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition and 1st Prize at the Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition. He also received the RNCM Gold Medal, the highest award for performance at the Royal Northern College of Music. His performances have been featured on BBC Wales Radio, S4C Television, and Radio Vaticana.
Luke has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Manchester Camerata. His early education included studies with Eva Warren and Andrew Wilde, before he attended Chetham’s School of Music, where he studied under Murray McLachlan. He later continued his training with Carlo Grante in Italy and Dina Parakhina at the RNCM, where he earned a First Class Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree with Distinction.
In addition to performing, Luke is passionate about education. He teaches at St. Ambrose Catholic College and Rossall School, and also runs a thriving private teaching practice.
Luke is a Kawai Artist and an honorary ambassador for the Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition.
Information from Britannica.com about the individual Préludes, with comments from Cortot and Von Bulow.
- Prelude No. 1 in C Major (Cortot: “Feverish anticipation of loved ones”; Bulow: “Reunion”)
- Prelude No. 2 in A Minor (Cortot: “Painful meditation, the distant deserted sea”; Bulow: “Presentiment of Death”)
- Prelude No. 3 in G Major (Cortot: “The singing of the sea”; Bulow: “Thou art so like a flower”)
- Prelude No. 4 in E Minor (Cortot: “Above a grave”; Bulow: “Suffocation”)
- Prelude No. 5 in D Major (Cortot: “Tree full of songs”; Bulow: “Uncertainty”)
- Prelude No. 6 in B Minor (Cortot: “Homesickness”; Bulow: “Tolling Bells”)
- Prelude No. 7 in A Major (Cortot: “Sensational memories float like perfume through my mind”; Bulow: The Polish dancer”)
- Prelude No. 8 F-sharp Minor (Cortot: “The snow falls, the wind screams, and the storm rages; yet in my sad heart, the tempest is the worst to behold”; Bulow: “Desperation”)
- Prelude No. 9 in E Major (Cortot: “Prophetic voices”; Bulow: “Vision”)
- Prelude No. 10 in C-sharp Minor (Cortot: “Rockets that fall back down to earth”; Bulow: “The night moth”)
- Prelude No. 11 in B Major (Cortot: “Desire of a young girl”; Bulow: “The dragonfly”)
- Prelude No. 12 in G-sharp Minor (Cortot: “Night ride”; Bulow: “The duel”)
- Prelude No. 13 in F-sharp Major (Cortot: “On foreign soil, under a night of stars, thinking of my beloved faraway”; Bulow: “Loss”)
- Prelude No. 14 in E-flat Minor (Cortot: “Fear”; Bulow: “Stormy sea”)
- Prelude no. 15 in D-flat Major, (Cortot: “But death is here, in the shadows”; Bulow: “Raindrop”)
- Prelude No. 16 in B-flat Minor (Cortot: “Descent into the abyss”; Bulow: “Hades”)
- Prelude No. 17 in A-flat Major (Cortot: “She told me, ‘I love you’”; Bulow: “A scene on the Place de Notre-Dame de Paris”)
- Prelude No. 18 in F Minor (Cortot: “Divine curses”; Bulow: “Suicide”)
- Prelude No. 19 in E-flat Major (Cortot: “Wings, wings, that I may flee to you, o my beloved”; Bulow: “Heartfelt happiness”)
- Prelude No. 20 in C Minor (Cortot: “Funerals”; Bulow: “Funeral march”)
- Prelude No. 21 in B-flat Major (Cortot: “Solitary return, to the place of confession”; Bulow: “Sunday”)
- Prelude No. 22 in G Minor (Cortot: “Rebellion”; Bulow: “Impatience”)
- Prelude No. 23 in F Major (Cortot: “Playing water faeries”; Bulow: “A pleasure boat”)
- Prelude No. 24 in D Minor (Cortot: “Of blood, of earthly pleasure, of death”; Bulow: “The storm”)
Next week’s recital – Sophie Iliafar, mezzo soprano and Tsukushi Mitsuda, piano
