24 Preludes, Op. 34
Twenty-four short preludes for solo piano composed in a concentrated burst between 30 December 1932 and 2 March 1933. Following the circle of fifths in pairs of major key and relative minor — C major, A minor, G major, E minor and so on to D minor — they form a cycle in all twelve major and minor keys. Each prelude is a tightly characterised miniature, ranging from the lyrical and poetic to the grotesque and machine-like. No. 14 in E♭ minor is the most famous, later orchestrated by Stokowski. Premiered by Shostakovich himself in Moscow, May 1933; published 1935. Total duration approximately 40 minutes.
Works in this Collection (24)
- Prelude in C major, Op. 34 No. 1 No. 1 Key C major Difficulty
- Prelude in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2 No. 2 Key A minor Difficulty
- Prelude in G major, Op. 34 No. 3 No. 3 Key G major Difficulty
- Prelude in E minor, Op. 34 No. 4 No. 4 Key E minor Difficulty
- Prelude in D major, Op. 34 No. 5 No. 5 Key D major Difficulty
- Prelude in B minor, Op. 34 No. 6 No. 6 Key B minor Difficulty
- Prelude in A major, Op. 34 No. 7 No. 7 Key A major Difficulty
- Prelude in F♯ minor, Op. 34 No. 8 No. 8 Key F♯ minor Difficulty
- Prelude in E major, Op. 34 No. 9 No. 9 Key E major Difficulty
- Prelude in C♯ minor, Op. 34 No. 10 No. 10 Key C♯ minor Difficulty
- Prelude in B major, Op. 34 No. 11 No. 11 Key B major Difficulty
- Prelude in G♯ minor, Op. 34 No. 12 No. 12 Key G♯ minor Difficulty
- Prelude in F♯ major, Op. 34 No. 13 No. 13 Key F♯ major Difficulty
- Prelude in E♭ minor, Op. 34 No. 14 No. 14 Key E♭ minor Difficulty
- Prelude in D♭ major, Op. 34 No. 15 No. 15 Key D♭ major Difficulty
- Prelude in B♭ minor, Op. 34 No. 16 No. 16 Key B♭ minor Difficulty
- Prelude in A♭ major, Op. 34 No. 17 No. 17 Key A♭ major Difficulty
- Prelude in F minor, Op. 34 No. 18 No. 18 Key F minor Difficulty
- Prelude in E♭ major, Op. 34 No. 19 No. 19 Key E♭ major Difficulty
- Prelude in C minor, Op. 34 No. 20 No. 20 Key C minor Difficulty
- Prelude in B♭ major, Op. 34 No. 21 No. 21 Key B♭ major Difficulty
- Prelude in G minor, Op. 34 No. 22 No. 22 Key G minor Difficulty
- Prelude in F major, Op. 34 No. 23 No. 23 Key F major Difficulty
- Prelude in D minor, Op. 34 No. 24 No. 24 Key D minor Difficulty