It began as a kind of warm-up exercise—as a way for musicians to get their fingers limbered up, and their instrument in tune—and in some cases, pave the way for a rousing chorale in church.

But, as is so often the case, composers soon took it in completely new directions, and its original purpose gave way to a steady stream of standalone solo and orchestral works—most of them quite different from one another.

In this hour, the prelude—from Bach to Chopin, from Liszt to Debussy, to Gershwin.

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