Chopin Preludes, Op. 28
24 preludes, free to read, hear and print, in the composer's own order.
Open the sheet music libraryTwenty-four preludes, one in every major and minor key, finished in the winter of 1838 on Majorca and published in 1839. Chopin took the idea from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, which he played every day, but where Bach's preludes open the door to a fugue, Chopin's are complete in themselves: some last half a minute, some a single idea held from the first bar to the last.
They are in Chopin's order here, walking round the circle of fifths with each major key followed by its relative minor. Several are among the most approachable Chopin there is, especially No. 4 in E minor, No. 7 in A major and No. 20 in C minor; others, like No. 16 in B flat minor, are among his hardest.
About the pieces
Prelude in C major, Op. 28 No. 1
Chopin's 24 Preludes pass through every major and minor key, and like Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier the set starts in C major. This first one is a short, breathless agitato in 2/8, with a melody tucked into the rushing figures in the right hand.
Prelude in A minor, Op. 28 No. 2
The second of Chopin's 24 preludes is one of his strangest pieces: the left hand plays a slow, dissonant two-voice pattern while a bare melody wanders above. The key is unclear for most of the piece and only settles in A minor at the very end.
Prelude in E minor
Chopin wrote twenty-four preludes, one in every key, and this is the saddest of them. The melody barely moves: it is the left-hand chords underneath that sink, one semitone at a time, like something slowly giving way.
Prelude in D major, Op. 28 No. 5
From Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28.
Prelude in B minor, Op. 28 No. 6
In this prelude the tune sits in the left hand, like a cello, while the right hand repeats soft chords above it. It was one of the pieces played at Chopin's own funeral.
Prelude in E major, Op. 28 No. 9
Just twelve bars long, this prelude is a solemn processional of full chords with a dotted rhythm in the melody, like a slow hymn played on a grand organ.
Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 28 No. 10
Quick falling flourishes in the right hand are answered each time by a short, dancing phrase in mazurka rhythm. The whole prelude lasts less than a minute.
Prelude in E-flat minor, Op. 28 No. 14
One of the shortest of Chopin's 24 Preludes, lasting well under a minute. Both hands play in octave unison in a dark, stormy triplet line, often compared to the finale of his B-flat minor sonata.
Prelude in D flat major, Op. 28 No. 15 (Raindrop)
Chopin wrote the Op. 28 preludes in a freezing monastery cell at Valldemossa on Mallorca, where he had gone for his health and got worse.
Prelude in B-flat minor Op. 28 No. 16
The fastest of the twenty-four preludes, and the one pianists quietly dread: a single unbroken right-hand run over a hammering left hand.
Prelude in A-flat major, Op. 28 No. 17
One of the longest and warmest of Chopin's 24 Preludes, a song over pulsing repeated chords. Near the end the lowest A-flat is struck again and again, softly, like a distant bell under the fading tune.
Prelude Op. 28 No. 24
The last of the twenty-four preludes, which run through every major and minor key. It ends with three low Ds struck alone, the darkest ending in the set.