Prelude Op. 16 No. 2 in G-sharp minor

Alexandre Scriabine · Level 5 (Advanced) · Romantic · Piano

A restless prelude (1895): the left hand sings an anxious line beneath the right hand’s double notes, throbbing in quintuplets. An early piece by Scriabin, in the line of Chopin. G♯ minor, 2/4, 38 bars (about one minute), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Five notes against two eighths: first practise the quintuplets alone, perfectly even, then add the left hand and let it sing. Key signature with 5 sharps: name them aloud before playing and spot the places where accidentals cancel them. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Triplets and other tuplets must be perfectly even: count them aloud with the metronome.

More pieces by Alexandre Scriabine

• Prelude Op. 59 No. 2
• Prelude Op. 16 No. 4
• Étude in C-sharp minor Op. 2 No. 1
• Prelude Op. 16 No. 1
• Préludes opus 16 - 3. (O 16 n°3)
• Prelude Op. 16 No. 5

Source : Mutopia Project · CC BY-SA 2.5