Chopin - Preludes, Op. 28

Chopin - Preludes, Op. 28

Alessandra Amara performs Chopin's complete Preludes, Op. 28. Chopin wrote the 24 preludes between 1835 and 1839, partly at Valldemossa, Mallorca, where he spent the winter of 1838–39 and where he had fled with George Sand to escape Paris. Chopin brought a copy of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier with him to Mallorca and just like Bach's work, Chopin's set of preludes contains a complete cycle of all major and minor keys. Whereas Bach arranged his preludes and fugues according to keys separated by semitones, Chopin choose a circle of fifths, with major keys being followed by their relative minors. The term prelude had been used to describe an introductory piece; however, Chopin's pieces stand as self-contained units.