Frédéric Chopin
Prelude
in C Minor, Op. 28 No. 20
This prelude, nicknamed "Funeral March", opens with a tragic fortissimo statement and then gets softer and softer, like mourners slowly departing into the distance.
Year: 1834
Period: Early Romantic
Piano score: PS Urtext 
Audiovisual Study Tool
Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 - FREE SAMPLE (mp3 file) 
Funeral March
The prelude in c minor from Op. 28 has been described as a portrayal of a funeral procession, the tragic opening and subsequent diminishment of the dynamics likened to the mourners slowly departing into the distance. Its solemn, mournful beauty and lack of significant technical challenges make it highly accessible both to listeners and students from the early intermediate level and above – though, as with all the Preludes, there is plenty to explore with regards to tone color, chord voicing and phrasing for the pianist wishing to create a truly masterful rendition.Background
Chopin's set of 24 preludes was first published in 1839 and dedicated to the composer Joseph Christoph Kessler. Some of them were composed in Mallorca during his disastrous visit there with his lover, George Sand. They initially 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. Today, they are widely admired for their compositional economy, poetic beauty, and imaginative use of the piano’s resources, and are often performed as the complete set, though Chopin himself only played a maximum of four of the preludes at any single public performance.Forum posts about this piece:
Chopin Prelude No. 20 in C minor: C major or C minor in beat 4 of bar 3? by johnlink
I found several threads that discussed the issue of the final chord in bar 3 of Prelude No. 20, and it seems that there are plenty of players who do it each way. C major sounds right to me, not only because of...
Chopin's Prelude in C minor by dorjuanhoop
I have a question about measure three of Chopin's Prelude in C minor. My book has an editorial comment that Chopin is supposed to have added a flat sign before the last E (G, C, E) in a copy belonging...
Chopin Prelude 28/20 question by orlandopiano
I've been teaching this piece for years now, and I still have not been able to give a definative answer to my students on what the chord in m.3 beat 4 is. Is it C major or C minor? I've seen both in...
Chopin Prelude in Cm, Op. 28/20 by kawaigs40
I've searched this forum before asking this question and only found one post, which didn't discuss it in any detail. I have several editions of Chopin Op. 28/20. My question is in...
chopin prelude by nixo1000
Can you guys listen to this and critique my interpretation.
Requesting some Chopin help. by Chopinisque
First: How do I play the ornament in the middle of Chopin's prelude no. 20? It appears between two notes and has a double sharp under it. I've never encountered something like...
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Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 in C Minor, by the early romantic composer Frédéric Chopin. This piano piece was initially published in the year 1834 and is included in Preludes by Chopin.