Lessons with Antoine

The next work in the series is by Chopin, and encompasses his entire set of 24 Preludes Op. 28. Cycling through all the major and minor keys within the circle of fifths, Chopin structured the collection by presenting each prelude beside its equal opposite or relative minor. For example, the opening prelude in C Major is followed by its relative minor in A and so on.

Out of this specific ordering, the music flows forward seamlessly. Tiny pieces of remarkable individuality and intensity, and bound together by the moments of silence between them, Chopin’s writing caused ‘a single instrument…to speak a language of infinity’. Considered to be amongst Chopin’s finest poetic writing, these exquisite preludes are an expression ‘of the deepest and fullest feelings and emotions that ever existed…’ (George Sand, 1854) and considered to be the equivalent of works by the greatest poets.