Prelude in F-sharp major, Op. 16 No. 5

About this work

Scriabin’s Prelude in F-sharp major, Op. 16 No. 5 unfolds in twenty-four bars of 3/8. Marked Allegretto, its flowing melody often begins with a dotted eighth note. An inner voice shares the right hand while the left hand plays broken chords. Keeping these three layers distinct is more demanding than the short score might suggest.
Bring out the upper line
Start slowly with the two right-hand voices. Hold the inner voice’s tied notes while the melody continues in sixteenth notes. Then add the left hand, keeping its bass notes light. With six sharps in the key signature, changes of register and occasional double sharps deserve careful reading.
The opening rubato allows some flexibility within the phrase, supported by a steady three-eighth-note pulse. In bars 12 and 20, the bass plays four eighth notes in the time of three. Practise these bars separately before returning to tempo. Repeated phrases move between mf, pp and f, followed by a gradual diminuendo towards the close.
Score and listening
The two-page PDF uses Philippe Hézaine’s typesetting for the Mutopia Project, based on the 1897 Belaieff edition. The MIDI provides a reference for pitches and rhythm, rather than a pianist’s flexible phrasing. The typesetting is available under the Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 2.5 licence. Find more piano scores on LesPartitions.info.