These 5 Preludes were written in 1943 in Saratov, a city where Borys Lyatoshynsky was evacuated during the occupation of Kyiv. This epic music, whose subject is war and the hope of a future victory, is written in a harmonic language unique to it. However, it draws from Ukrainian popular and folk music, like his chamber music masterpieces from the same period such as the Second Trio and Ukrainian Quintet. These preludes, although they can be played separately, form a complete cycle, a whole. It is a "Suite" in which certain themes reappear, transfigured, in different parts creating an overall dramaturgical journey.