[1] Pianist Vladimir de Pachmann noted this prelude as "The first one is in a style that reminds one very forcibly of Schumann.
"[1] Marked Agitato ("agitated") and in the key of C major, this prelude is in 28 time.
This prelude lasts from about 40 seconds to one minute and is a mere 34 bars (or measures) long.
From bars 16–20, a stretto is listed in the English and French first editions of the piece, which means increase the tempo in the piece, though this is not written in the Italian first edition.
[5] According to Marilyn Anne Meier, an Australian concert pianist, the prelude should be played "…by playing the semiquavers intensely legato, not articulated and separated.