Prelude may refer to:

Music

* Prelude (music), a musical form * Prelude (band), an English-based folk band * Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label * Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale as its basis

Albums and songs

* ''Prelude'' (Jack McDuff album), a 1963 album by jazz organist Brother Jack McDuff * ''Prelude'' (Deodato album), a 1973 album by Eumir Deodato * ''Prelude'' (The Moody Blues album), a 1987 album by The Moody Blues * ''Prelude'' (EP), a 2017 EP by April *''Prelude'', a 2021 EP by Lauren Jauregui *"Prelude", a song by Flobots from '' Flobots Present... Platypus'' *"Prelude", a song by Hieroglyphics from '' Full Circle'' *"Prelude", an instrumental by Kate Bush from '' Aerial'' *"Prelude", a song by Killswitch Engage from ''Killswitch Engage'' (2000 album) *"Prelude", a song by the Oh Hellos from '' Dear Wormwood'' *"Prelude", a song by Pete Townshend from '' All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes'' *"Prelude", a song by the Sword from '' Used Future''

'Prelude' is a very common term as a title of a musical piece, both classical and popular. Some specific preludes are: *'' Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune'', a popular orchestral piece by Debussy * Prelude in C-sharp minor (Rachmaninoff), an 1892 piano work by Sergei Rachmaninoff * Preludes (Chopin), a set of 24 piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin, written between 1835 and 1839 * ''Préludes'' (Debussy), two books of piano pieces by Claude Debussy written between 1909 and 1913 * Preludes (Kabalevsky), a set of 24 piano pieces, each based in a folk song * ''Preludes'' (musical), a 2015 musical by Dave Malloy *'' Les préludes'', a symphonic poem by Franz Liszt

*'' The Prelude'', an epic poem by William Wordsworth * "Prelude" (short story), a short story by New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield *'' Prelude to Foundation'', a 1988 novel in Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series * ''Preludes'' (Dragonlance series), two trilogies comprising a series of novels set in the Dragonlance world * "Preludes" (poem), a poem by T. S. Eliot

* "Prelude" (''Alias'' episode), in the TV spy drama series * ''Prelude'' (yacht), a trailer sailer designed by Ian Proctor * Prelude FLNG, the world's largest floating liquefied natural gas platform * Prelude SIEM (Intrusion Detection System), an open source a security information and event management system *Haskell Prelude, a standard module imported by default into Haskell programs; see Haskell features * Honda Prelude, an automobile manufactured by Honda * Sheaffer Prelude, a series of pens by the Sheaffer Pen company *''The preludes'', videos released on YouTube by Swedish band iamamiwhoami * Preludes (film series), shorts commissioned by the 2000 Toronto Film Festival * Christmas Prelude, annual festival in Maine, U.S. {{disambiguation