Description
Over a left hand with no harmonic support, a right-hand melody wanders and keeps breaking off in this, the strangest piece in the collection. The second of the 24 Preludes, Op. 28, it follows directly on the bright C major No. 1 and cancels that brightness at once. It has often been discussed on its own.
Nominally in A minor and common time, the bare, impassively repeated figure below and the fragmentary line above never settle on a shared key, so where the music stands remains unclear to the end. An A minor chord finally arrives, less as a resolution than as an exhaustion.
With around 340 notes and no fast motion, the difficulty is to play the ambiguity as ambiguity. Give the left hand expression and the music settles, taking the unease with it. Keep the left hand impassive and let the right speak. How the final chord is placed decides what the listener is left with.
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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