Overview
Introduction
These two preludes were composed the same year Scriabin completed his First Symphony. By this time his expressive language was deepening somewhat, but his more revolutionary works were still a few years off.
Both these pieces offer harmonies less warm than the post-Romantic norm, yet not too far in advance of what Rachmaninov was then writing. True, Scriabin is somewhat austere here, but his thematic bent was still largely located in the nineteenth century. The first prelude from Op. 27, in G minor, carrying the description Patetico, is dark and passionate, sounding like agitated Rachmaninov, but without a hint of sentimentality in its yearning and struggling. The piece indeed conveys the "pathetic," but in a cool, rather detached way as it builds up amid much gloom and tension to reach an indeed rather Rachmaninovian calm at the close. The next prelude, in B major, marked Andante, is serene but inhabits the same somewhat impersonal world in its muted tone and detached expressive demeanor. The first of the Op. 27 Preludes lasts perhaps a bit over two minutes in a typical performance, and the second is about half as long.
Parts/Movements
- Patetico in G minor
- Andante in B major
