Study in D-sharp minor Op. 8 No. 12

Alexandre Scriabine · Level 6 (Expert) · Romantic · Piano

Scriabin’s most spectacular study (1894): impassioned octaves and chords in the right hand over wide left-hand leaps. A piece by Alexander Scriabin, the Russian pianist who moved from Chopin’s Romanticism to a highly personal language. D♯ minor, 4/4, 56 bars (about 2 minutes), 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.
• A virtuoso study: practise it very slowly, hands separately, and keep the arm and wrist supple in the octaves so as not to tense up. Key signature with 6 sharps: name them aloud before playing and spot the places where accidentals cancel them. The piece starts with a pickup: count the incomplete bar before coming in. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment.

More pieces by Alexandre Scriabine

• Prelude Op. 16 No. 2 in G-sharp minor
• 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 : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0