The melody of the quiet yet tense Prelude (Moderato non troppo, completed February 17, 1951) is dominated by a pulsating "iambic prime" divided into continuous two-note groups, and its monotone style could be described as etude-like. While the preceding Prelude in B-flat major, also prelude-like, featured shifts in mood due to changes in accompaniment patterns, this piece, despite exchanges between melody and accompaniment voices, is filled with a uniformly dim atmosphere throughout.

The Fugue (4 voices, Moderato, completed February 18, 1951), based on a simple and lyrical theme in triple meter, seems to have evoked Russian folk songs for Soviet audiences of the time. The counter-subject, consisting of eighth-note passages, appears to closely accompany the narrative-like theme, seemingly dedicated solely to an accompanying role.