Frédéric Chopin's 24 preludes are often compared to the preludes in J. S. Bach's Das wohltemperierte Klavier: character pieces in each of the 24 keys. Chopin wrote the preludes between 1835 and 1839, partly in Mallorca, where he took refuge from the Paris winter, and where he brought with him the '48' and other preludes and fugues by Bach. The Op. 28 set published in 1839 was received with ambivalence by contemporaries. Robert Schumann considered them unfinished sketches, but Liszt thought them contemporary, poetic creations.

The volume first published by EMB in 1974 contains two preludes in addition to the Op. 28 series, thus containing all completed preludes by the composer. It serves to this day as one of the first encounters that piano students have with Chopin and with Romantic music of greater complexity. This publication is recommended for intermediate pianists.