Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020) is a composer and pianist who had been active since 1950s in Russia. However, his works have only begun to receive attention in the western public in the last thirty years. Although he spent his whole life in Russia, Kapustin was strongly influenced by American jazz, he incorporated jazz elements, rhythm and style into classical music, thus creating his own compositional style. Among his piano works, the Twenty-Four Preludes, Op.53, which was published in 1988, is a collection of Preludes in jazz style, he uses various jazz elements, thus making it a unique work.

This thesis will focus on the background of Kapustin and the historical development of preludes. Additionally, the author will discuss jazz elements used in selected preludes from Twenty-Four Preludes, Op.53.