Prelude
An event or action that precedes another event or action. For example, An Order of Worship for the Evening may serve “as the introduction to Evening Prayer or some other service, or as the prelude to an evening meal or other activity” (BCP, p. 108). In the Episcopal Church, the term typically refers to a piece of music that is played immediately before the beginning of a service. A musical prelude is often played by an organist or other instrumentalists. The prelude may reflect the theme, liturgical season, or occasion of the day. Many musical preludes have been based on hymn tunes.
Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.