Prelude (or other movement) and Fugue / Piano music

The tradition of combining a prelude and a fugue to form a set of pieces can be traced back to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, particularly his two books of preludes and fugues, known as the Well Tempered Clavier. Although he was not the first composer to write cycles of preludes and fugues, his reputation and the elevated nature of his work helped establish the format, which would be reproduced by many composers in the classical and romantic periods.