The Power of Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4

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Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4, still captivates audiences, even 170 years after his death. Chopin’s set of preludes that cover all 24 major and minor keys are a great starting place to learn how to analyze his work, as it can be dense. An analysis of the Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4 is valuable for its brevity (it’s one page) and its harmonic and melodic richness.

It’s one of my favorites and grows so much more fascinating the more times you listen to it. It sounds simple at first, a simple melody in the right hand over block chords in the left hand, but it is this simplicity that showcases the complexity of Chopin’s work.

Dr. Benjamin Zander gave a TED Talk on the power of classical music, and he used this prelude to illustrate the magical quality of music. He also provides a short analysis for the novice, so I’ve embedded it here:

Analysis of the Melody in Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4

To sum up this part of the video for those who can’t watch it, Dr. Zander introduces this prelude to the audience and uses it as a tool to show that classical music can touch everyone.

He focuses on the melody, so simple when you look at it. It’s a B and a C alternating and then walking down toward E. He says, “the job of the C is to make the B sad.” These alternating scale steps 5 and 6 are traditionally associated with grief, coming from use of the Phrygian mode in the Renaissance. Not only does the melody sound sad in and of itself, it also references a tradition of somber music.

Zander then walks the melody down to F and asks the audience what comes next, and they sing an E!

But that’s not what Chopin does here. Chopin writes a stunning turn to bring us back up to B and starts the piece all over.

Chopin repeats the beginning verbatim until he adds a lot more fancy turns that wind their way back down to the F we got stuck on before, and then, Chopin finally allows us to hear the E, but it’s on the wrong chord! It’s a deceptive cadence, so we’re not satisfied yet.

Then, it goes back up to F to reset for another try on E, and that chord’s not right either. After a couple more “failed attempts” at finding the chord we want, we start to lose hope that we’re ever going to make it home.

But then, once we’ve gotten to that sense of hopelessness, Chopin gives us a perfect authentic cadence right where we want it. It ends in E minor in root position.

What I love about Zander’s analysis and performance of the Prelude in E Minor is that he explains the complexity of this piece in a way that everyone can understand. When he’s ready to play it in earnest, he asks the audience to think about someone they’ve recently lost. I’ve watched this video numerous times, and that part always leaves me in tears.

Harmony of Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4

If we look a little deeper at the chords underlying the melody, we uncover another layer of beauty in this piece, based upon Chopin’s clever use of inversions.

A rule of thumb in adding chords is to remember that the higher the inversion number, the more forward momentum a chord has. Root position chords tend to feel settled where they are. First and second inversions, however, want to move forward until they find a settled root position chord. A glance at the left hand shows there aren’t any root position chords until the end. There are a couple mixed in here and there, but the chords in these positions aren’t quite resting points either.

Additionally, the bass also descends throughout the course of each half of the piece; the entire work encompasses a sensation of falling. It just wants to find rest on E, but the left-hand harmony, built of inversions, can’t find rest either. It just wants to settle, but it can’t.

The piece is one page, but it’s one of the most stunning and heartwrenching pieces ever written. It seems simple enough, just a five note melody (for the most part) over a bunch of block chords, so it’s incredible that Chopin could create something so effective from this texture.

How do we tie this analysis of Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor, Op. 28 No. 4, into our music?

You may not be a composer, but you can still learn about performance or just music appreciation from this analysis of the Prelude in E Minor.

Simple can be effective.

The melody here may be so memorable because it is short, contains few notes, and repeats itself enough that it gets stuck in your head but not too many times as to be annoying.

Building tension can be as simple as refusing to use root position chords until the moment of truth. Then adding onto that, you can avoid the tonic in the melody as well.

Pieces don’t have to be long to be memorable. Just write a simple melody and see what you can do to make it mean something.

For performers looking for a more in-depth technical tutorial, Dr. Josh Wright has an excellent one that I recommend.

Here’s the free sample of that lesson:

And you can get the full version here. He covers “balance between the hands, melodic shaping, interpretation, long lines, techniques to help soften the left hand, and romantic stylistic elements to help you become as efficient as possible in your practice sessions. “

Want to learn more about music theory and analysis? Check out the resources page, where you can find other analyses of specific pieces and general resources to learn theory and analysis skills!