The most often performed of the set, the No 5 in G minor, was completed as early as 1901. The Op 23 were composed at the same time as Rachmaninov’s substantial Variations on a Theme of Chopin Op 22, itself derived from Chopin’s C minor Prelude. It is no surprise, then, that Rachmaninov would take inspiration from Chopin’s precedent and begin composing a set of Preludes of his own.

With the addition of the later 13 Preludes Op 32, and the famous C sharp minor Prelude written when he was 19, Rachmaninov continued the tradition of Bach and Chopin by having written preludes in all 24 of the major and minor keys.