Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin,was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as one of the leading musicians of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw, and grew up in Warsaw, which after 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his musical education and composed many of his works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising.

Frédéric Chopin wrote a number of preludes for piano solo. His cycle of 24 Preludes, Op. 28, covers all major and minor keys. In addition, Chopin wrote three other preludes: a prelude in C? minor, Op. 45; a piece in A? major from 1834; and an unfinished piece in E? minor. These are sometimes referred to as Nos. 25, 26, and 27, respectively.

Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, are a set of short pieces for the piano, one in each of the twenty-four keys, originally published in 1839. Chopin wrote them between 1835 and 1839, mostly in Paris, but partially at Valldemossa, Mallorca, where he spent the winter of 1838–39 and where he, George Sand, and her children went to escape the damp Paris weather. In Majorca, Chopin had a copy of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, and as in each of Bach's two sets of preludes and fugues, his Op. 28 set comprises a complete cycle of the major and minor keys, albeit with a different ordering. Most of his préludes were already finished before setting foot on Majorca, however, he did finalize them there, as referenced by him in his letters to Pleyel: "I have finished my préludes here on your little piano...".

The Prélude in C Minor (Op. 28 No. 20) Largo, takes only twelve Largo measures to make its eloquent statement. An opening fortissimo declaration dissolves to piano, and the repetition of this phrase is entirely subdued. The harmonic structure is of great beauty. It's often called the "Chord" prelude. Brief, with large slow quarter-note chords in the right hand predominating, against quarter-note octaves in the left. It was originally written in two sections of four measures, although Chopin later added a repeat of the last four measures at a softer level, with an expressive swell before the final cadence..

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preludes_(Chopin)).

Although composed for solo piano, I created this Interpretation of the Prélude in C Minor (Op. 28 No. 20) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).