The arrival of the finale is stayed for a moment by the penultimate Prelude. But for that very reason, this finale affects us with such power and might. As the narrative unfolds, its agitation, termed appassionato in the score, increases, wanes and then grows once again. The key of D minor – evoking the atmosphere of Mozart's Requiem – brings to the work a hint of death. Also far from idyllic is the insistently repeated bass figure, energised by the continual holding of the final note. But if the kind of key and the gloominess of the overall palette remind us of the proximity of the aura of death, the character of the angrily led (melodic-rhythmic) narrative speaks at the same time of a protest and revolt against death. One might say that the D minor Prelude, with its highly distinctive gesture of closure to the cycle, brings an ultimate victory over that aura of death.Author: Mieczysław TomaszewskiA series of programmes entitled ‘Fryderyk Chopin's Complete Works’Polish Radio 2