Description
Widely spaced broken chords spread from first bar to last in this, the lightest piece of the set's closing stretch. The nineteenth of the 24 Preludes, Op. 28, it is marked vivace and is gone in a little over a minute, in one breath.
Across its E-flat major triple time, both hands play continuous broken chords with the melody emerging at the top of each figure. It is not written as an independent voice but embedded in the continuous motion. The span exceeds five octaves and there are over 1,200 notes.
Moving fast with the hands held open is taxing, intermediate rating notwithstanding. Any excess effort exhausts them within half a minute: keep the distance between thumb and fifth finger and let the whole arm carry the position. Sound the broken chords evenly while lifting only the topmost note with finger weight, and the melody rises out of the mist.
A set of 24 short pieces Chopin composed in 1838-39, covering all 24 keys, each with its own distinct character — a poetic cycle for piano.
Browse all songs in 24 Preludes Op.28 →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Frederic Chopin was born in Poland and made his career in Paris, remaining unusual among great composers for writing almost exclusively for piano. He poured his longing for his homeland into mazurkas and polonaises, while his ballades and etudes combine poetic melody with harmonic innovation. This site includes the "Revolutionary" and other etudes, Ballades No. 1 and No. 4, nocturnes, and the Preludes, Op. 28.
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