Frédéric Chopin wrote his Preludes, Op. 28, between 1835 and 1839, the year when the set was published. The cycle consists of 24 pieces for solo piano, one in each of the 24 keys (much like Bach's Well Tempered Clavier), and organized according to the circle of fifths. Chopin's preludes are carefully planned, self-contained miniatures which avoided the improvisatory feeling associated with the 'prelude' name. This led some critics to consider them incomplete pieces. Liszt, however, saw them as innovative and poetic. Although each work can stand alone, some scholars have suggested that the collection is one large work with twenty-four pieces, citing motivic connections among the preludes, and even musical connections from the ends of some preludes to the beginnings of others. Chopin never played all twenty-four in a row in a public performance. In fact, he never played more than four in concert. Neither did he give them evocative names, like Schumann and Liszt did for some of their pieces that were of a similar character. Hans von Bülow suggested some names for the preludes like Reunion, Tolling Bells, The Polish Dancer, and Raindrop. The preludes were dedicated to Camille Pleyel and Joseph Christoph Kessler.
