Prelude

An instrumental composition intended to introduce a larger composition or a set of compositions. A short composition for piano. A composition which establishes the key for a composition that immediately follows.A movement or section of a work that comes before another movement or section of a work, although the word also has been used for short independent pieces that may stand alone, or even for more extended works, such as Debussy's prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune.