Overview
Introduction
Alexander Scriabin's 24 Preludes, Op. 11 is a set of preludes composed in the course of eight years between 1888–96, being also one of Scriabin's first published works with M.P. Belaieff in 1897, in Leipzig, Germany, together with his 12 Études, Op. 8 (1894–95).
Structural analysis
Scriabin's 24 preludes were modeled after Frédéric Chopin's own set of 24 Preludes, Op. 28: They also covered all 24 major and minor keys and they follow the same key sequence: C major, A minor, G major, E minor, D major, B minor and so on, alternating major keys with their relative minors, and following the ascending circle of fifths.
It is considered an outstanding set among Scriabin's early works, with easy-to-difficult numbers, among them No. 2 in A minor, No. 3 in G major, No. 6 in B minor, No. 8 in F♯ minor, No. 14 in E♭ minor, No. 15 in D♭ major, No. 16 in B♭ minor, No. 18 in F minor, and No. 24 in D minor.
Tempo markings
- No. 1 in C major – Vivace
- No. 2 in A minor – Allegretto
- No. 3 in G major – Vivo
- No. 4 in E minor – Lento
- No. 5 in D major – Andante cantabile
- No. 6 in B minor – Allegro
- No. 7 in A major – Allegro assai
- No. 8 in F♯ minor – Allegro agitato
- No. 9 in E major – Andantino
- No. 10 in C♯ minor – Andante
- No. 11 in B major – Allegro assai
- No. 12 in G♯ minor – Andante
- No. 13 in G♭ major – Lento
- No. 14 in E♭ minor – Presto
- No. 15 in D♭ major – Lento
- No. 16 in B♭ minor – Misterioso
- No. 17 in A♭ major – Allegretto
- No. 18 in F minor – Allegro agitato
- No. 19 in E♭ major – Affettuoso
- No. 20 in C minor – Appassionato
- No. 21 in B♭ major – Andante
- No. 22 in G minor – Lento
- No. 23 in F major – Vivo
- No. 24 in D minor – Presto
Prelude in C major, Op. 11, No. 1
Alexander Scriabin's Prelude in C major, Op. 11, No. 1, was composed in November 1895 in Moscow. Here Scriabin's virtuosic sustain pedaling assembles clusters of up to seven different diatonic notes in an exquisite sonority that Scriabin himself used to describe as a "psychic shift".
The whole melody of this prelude consists of 240 eighth-notes, being the opening chord of this piece C–D–E–F–G–A, with the C-major tonic in the bass. The time value for each eighth note changes whenever the tempo flexes, as can be noticed in the second group of notes in the 2nd bar, which measures less than half the tempo of the second group in the 14th bar. This piece has 26 bars and takes about one minute to be played with a Vivace tempo marking.
