Op. 28 No. 4. A plain, sighing melody over left-hand chords that sink by half steps, bar after bar. It was played at Chopin’s own funeral.
The story
Chopin finished his 24 Preludes in the winter of 1838 to 39, in a cold former monastery on Majorca, where he had gone with George Sand hoping the climate would help his lungs. It rained for weeks and he fell seriously ill.
The E minor prelude is one of the simplest pieces he ever wrote: a melody that hardly moves, and chords that slide down one note at a time beneath it. At his funeral in Paris in 1849 it was played on the organ.
Two things to know
- The right hand spends most of the piece on just two notes, B and C.
- There is one prelude in every major and minor key, like Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, which Chopin played every day.
How to play it
Keep the left-hand chords very soft and even, so each tiny change of harmony can be heard under the melody.