In classical music, the combination of prelude and fugue is one with a long history. Many composers have written one or, usually, several such works. The use of this format is generally inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's two books of preludes and fugues — The Well-Tempered Clavier — completed in 1722 and 1742 respectively. Bach, however, was not the first to compose such a set: Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer wrote a 20-key cycle in his 1702 work Ariadne musica.
A number of composers wrote sets of pieces covering all 24 major and minor keys. Many of these have been sets of 24 preludes and fugues, or 24 preludes.
The following works employ, sometimes loosely, the prelude-and-fugue format.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, BachPrelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543, BachPrelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566, Bach24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, ShostakovichAriadne musica, FischerEight Short Preludes and Fugues, composer uncertainFantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos ad salutarem undam, LisztFantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, LisztLudus Tonalis, HindemithPrelude, Chorale and Fugue, FranckPrelude, Fugue, and Riffs, BernsteinThe composers listed below, who lived and composed in the 19th and 20th centuries, employed this format.
Mark Alburger, 12 Topical Preludes and FuguesAlgernon AshtonMario Castelnuovo-TedescoDavid Cope, 48 Preludes and FuguesDavid Diamond, 52 Preludes and FuguesHiroshi HaraHans HuberAlexander IakovtchoukDavid Johnson, 12 Preludes and FuguesA. A. KlengelTrygve Madsen, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, Op. 101Henry MartinFelix MendelssohnBruce Cameron MunsonFrank Tveor NordenstenCamille Saint-Saëns, 3 Preludes and Fugues, Opp. 99 & 109Dmitri Shostakovich, 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87, 1950–51Dmitri Kabalevsky, 6 Preludes and Fugues for piano, Op. 61, 1958–59Rodion Shchedrin, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, composed in 1964 and 1970Igor Rekhin (b. 1941 in Tambov, Russia), 24 Preludes and Fugues for solo Guitar, 1990Sergei Slonimsky, 24 Preludes and Fugues for piano, 1994Nikolai Kapustin, 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 82, 1997