Prelude in E major, Op. 11, No. 9 (Scriabin)

Alexander Scriabin's Prelude in E major, Op. 11, No. 9, is 36 bars long and takes almost a minute and a half to perform, being played at an Andantino pace.

Despite its key, the left hand voice often plays C-sharp minor passages, while the right hand plays relatively consistently within the bounds of E major, giving the piece a unique tone colour. This Prelude, together with No. 10 in C-sharp minor, can be played as neo-romantic, impressionistic, and twentieth-century repertoire in a Royal Conservatory of Music grade nine exam.

Structural analysis

The piece begins with a gentle left hand melody in C-sharp minor (even using the B-sharp leading note) accompanied by distinctly major right hand block chords. The frequent major ninth and major seventh intervals contribute luxurious tone colour of the piece. In the eighth bar, a chromatic scale rises back up to the C-sharp to repeat the first four bars of the initial melody. This time, a triplet with a dotted rhythm is employed as an additional counterpoint in the right hand.

In the thirteenth bar, we see further development of the melody, using sweeping but short crescendos and decrescendos. The next four bars act as a bridge to the second section at bar 17, where a soaring tenor melody is accompanied by luscious harmonies in the right hand. This section continues until the 30th bar, when an A major chord is played but then, when the pedal lifts, only the third C sharp is heard, and the initial melody is repeated, using the right hand harmony from the ninth bar. The piece ends with three block chords, in a very powerful dominant cadence, with the concluding E major chord, arpeggiated.

Recordings

One of the critically acclaimed performances of this piece is that of Mikhail Pletnev on his disc Scriabin: 24 Preludes/Sonatas 4 & 10.

External links

• Preludes Op. 11 (Scriabin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)