Raindrop Prelude

Common and unsubstantiated nickname for FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN'S Prelude in D-flat major (op.28, no. 15, 1836-39).

Legend states that Chopin composed the prelude while waiting for George Sand and her children to return from a shopping trip on the island of Majorca, where they were living. A slow steady rain was falling, stimulating Chopin's OSTINATO on the dominant A♭ of the TONIC key. The A♭ changes enharmonically to G♯ in the piece's middle section.

Chopin specifically denied this story, which was circulating already during his lifetime, but picturesque sentimental tales are notoriously hard to kill.