Romantic · 1839
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4
F. ChopinOp. 28 No. 4
- Key
- Em
- Time
- 2/2
- Tempo
- ♩=50
- AO focus
- AO3
Incipit
Form
Largo — 25 bars. RH single line of long, sighing notes; LH descending chromatic chord progression provides the entire interest. Played at Chopin's own funeral.
Teaching points
- LH chromatic descent — every chord changes on every beat, voice-leading half-step at a time
- RH single line — phrase as if the right hand were a singer; long-breathed, mournful
- AO3: how does Chopin sustain a 4-minute piece on essentially one melodic gesture?
Full score ↓Public domain
Score: IMSLP (Paderewski + Henle urtext, public domain).