Chopin: Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E Minor
Piano Sheet Music to Download and Print or to View in Mobile Devices
ID:263 Frédéric Chopin - Preludes :Prelude, Op. 28 No. 4 |
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| Key: E Minor | Year: 1834 | |
| Level: 5 | Period: Early Romantic | |
 Piano score: PS Instructive - all parts (184 kB) | ||
| Piano score: PS Urtext (46 kB) | ||
| Piano score: Scholtz edition (395 kB) | ||
 Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 - FREE SAMPLE (mp3 file) | ||
Farewell music?
Perhaps the most well-known of Chopin's preludes is this prelude in E minor. Chopin requested that it should be played at his funeral, and even a casual listener can see why. It's a very sad, mournful piece that sounds not unlike a funeral dirge. With its minor key, descending chords and the fact that it's intended to "die away" as per Chopin's notation, it conveys an almost overwhelming sense of despair. It's a short, depressing yet beautiful piece that sounds like it was all but meant for a funeral.Chopin's set of 24 preludes were first published in 1839 and dedicated to the composer Joseph Christoph Kessler. They received quite some criticism for their brief length and lack of any traditional structure; they were seen as more like sketches or brief notes as opposed to fully-formed ideas. However, there were also some, more forward-looking contemporaries, among them Robert Schumann, who admired them intensely.
