The gloom of the second prelude is readily dispelled by the rip-
pling grace of the next piece. The surface activity may superfi-
cially invoke the pace of the first prelude, but the underlying
harmonic language is much simpler, and, altogether, the sense of
urgency is absent. Actually, the rate of chord change--the har-
monic rhythm--is itself slow, which resembles more the manner
of the second prelude. Thus, among the three, surface and sub-
surface aspects are nicely shuffled to yield new results.

Two initial bars of accompaniment harmony present a chord
that remains under the following four measures of melody. The
underlying chord is the tonic, G; but its particular form of gestural
presentation introduces some central features of the piece. The
initial and ending skips (across G's, B's and D's) arpeggiate the
chord for us, and in between, these same notes form the goal
points of step motions. The exception to this is the most interest-
ing note in the shape, the E that is the high point and approximate
midpoint of the line. This note seems to overshoot the structurally

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