Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20 (Small-Hand Edition)-Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20, redesigned for pianists with smaller hands — Small-Hand Edition.

This is not a simplified or beginner arrangement. The goal is to preserve the original musical character, texture, and difficulty while redesigning selected physical hand-size barriers.

The 13-bar Largo is built almost entirely from slow chords in octave grips, and that stays as it is: the piece remains tiring for the hand. The notes follow the Paris first edition (Ad. Catelin, 1839). The three chords that stretch a ninth (14 semitones) are rolled and held with a short editorial pedal, and two accidentals taken from other early prints are footnoted. The musical character and texture are preserved while selected hand-size barriers — the stretches beyond a comfortable octave — are redesigned.

- Widest span one hand holds at once: 12 semitones (an octave); 14 semitones as printed in the first edition

- Chords wider than an octave: 3 (right hand, 14 semitones) — rolled from the lowest note, which is let go as the next note is struck

- Short editorial pedals: 3 (bar 2 beat 3, bar 6 beat 2, bar 10 beat 2)

- Accidentals: 2 (bars 8 and 12) — D-natural, following the Leipzig and London prints, footnoted

- 286 notes; none added, removed, moved to another octave or given to the other hand

- Every change is marked in the score

Designed for pianists who can handle the musical and technical demands of the original work, but are limited by selected stretches beyond a comfortable octave.

Source text prepared with the help of the Chopin Institute's first-edition encodings (NIFC, CC BY 4.0).

PLAYABLE PIANO

We don't make hard music easy.

We make it more playable for smaller hands.