All spellings of Prelude?

[AD43]

I was thinking of all the spellings of prelude and so far only have Preludium and praeambulum, is there more though?

[andijah]

Depends on the language you're using.
Prélude in French
Präludium in German (sometimes you can find Präambulum, too).
Preludio in Italian.
Forleikur in Icelandic ;-)

Are you looking for additional search terms for libraries?

[AD43]

Not doing this for anything properly serious, just a bit of fun and mind expansion.

[regeron]

Vorspiel is another German term. I know there are similar terms in other northern European languages, but not sure of their spellings.

"Vorspiel" is basically a literal translation of the Latin (praeludium), which would be translated into English as "foreplay" which usually carries other connotations !! ;-) ...and is therefore rarely used in church settings. O:-)

[andijah]

Sometimes one doesn't see the wood for the trees... my brain insisted on bringing an Icelandic word into the discussion but didn't think about Vorspiel at all :->

...and is therefore rarely used in church settings. O:-)

True. But also... the term "Orgelvorspiel" is widely used, meaning organ music being played at the start of the service. At the end of the service, there's the "Orgelnachspiel" (postlude).

[RogerM]

Same spelling as the Italian but preludio is also Spanish.

[Leisesturm]

Not knowing anything more about it, I assigned a different meaning entirely to 'Prelude' and 'Praeludium', not just a different spelling. The only examples I have are by Bach but it seems to me that Praeludium's are shorter (much) than Preludes. Are there variants of 'Prelude' that indicate a different musical form?

[regeron]

The various words, in their various spellings are somewhat specific, but exceptions can always be found. Particular titles tend to be associated with particular times and places. For example, "Praeambulum" makes me think North German, probably early Baroque.

In terms of length, there are long Preludes and there are short ones. Eg, the first and twelfth Preludes of JKF Fischer's "Ariadne Musica" are only 8 measures long; the tenth is only 7 measures long.

Many authors also consider the Prelude, Toccata and Fantasia to be somewhat interchangeable, especially when followed by a Fugue. They do have different connotations, but are all basically free works to contrast with the more controlled structure of a fugue. By 'free work' I mean that it is written at the whim of the composer who can choose whatever form or structure he/she wishes. Again, there are many exceptions.

[Dutchy]

Common Dutch terms: 'Prelude', 'Preludium', 'Praeludium' (old spelling) or 'Voorspel'.