De Scriabin grabé hace un poco una pieza sencilla y ahora este preludio, uno de los más asequibles dentro de los 24.
Encontré el análisis de los 24 preludios, que resulta muy útil: "Tradition and innovation in the twenty-four preludes, opus 11 of Alexander Scriabin".
The mood suddenly changes from the passion of the C minor prelude to a nocturne-like calm in the B-flat major prelude. This mood is created by a simple two voice texture that contrasts flowing left-hand patterns that recall traditional nocturne basses with more sustained melodic motion in the right hand. In a certain sense, the piece has etude value for the left hand, which must present long legato lines without creating unwanted accents when the hand is required to negotiate large leaps.
Melodic momentum is frequently interrupted by rests between the phrases and by means of ritardando markings. The rhythm of the piece is also made irregular by the fact that it alternates between three different time signatures, 3/4, 5/4 and 6/4, as the meter frequently changes from measure to measure. The following table summarizes the succession of meter changes over the course of the piece, which falls into a two-part form.
Table 2.13 Meter Changes
A (mm.1-12) A’ (mm.13-26)
a a’ b a a’ b extension
353634 3536 5555 3536 3536 5555 63
Even though Scriabin consistently uses four-measure phrase units, because of the irregularity and asymmetry of the beat count, the piece seems to be in a more modern style, at least rhythmically, a trend that can be observed in a number of the later pieces of Op. 11. Also, even though the texture looks quite simple, the harmony is fairly complex because the music does not settle in one key. The first section stays away from the tonic triad. The second section starts with a hint of a cadence, but moves toward the subdominant and only establishes the tonic triad at the b phrase of A’ in m. 21.
The structure of this prelude is different from that of the previous preludes, basically consisting of two A sections: A (mm. 1-12) and A’ (mm. 13-26). Even though the first measure is notated as a complete measure, this prelude sounds like it begins with an incomplete measure because the left-hand melody starts on a weak beat. Both voices begin with the note Bb (but not at the same time) and the bass holds Bb as a pedal point. However, the harmony and melody tend to make the Bb sound like the dominant of E-flat major. Phrase a’ (from m. 5) is an exact transposition of phrase a into the subdominant key (E-flat major) up until m. 8 (Ex.2.73), which affects a different cadence than m. 4. At the end of phrase a, the harmony arrives on a B-flat seventh chord that resolves into the key of E-flat major. In contrast, the E-flat seventh chord in m. 8 is reinterpreted as a Fr.6 chord, which resolves to D as the fifth of a second-inversion G minor triad at the start of section B. Measures 9-12 present a melody in a fixed time signature of 5/4. The right-hand melody becomes longer and more active in these four measures. The D pedal point supports an alternation between G minor (m. 9 and m. 11) and D minor (m. 10 and m. 12). The phrase ends on dominant of the original key, B-flat major in m. 12. Phrases a and a’ in section A’ (mm. 13-26) repeat the corresponding phrases of section A, but for the conclusion of phrase a’ (m. 20). The last chord of phrase a’ moves up from E-flat to E-natural and builds a G-flat Gr.6 chord on this note instead of the Fr.6 chord over E-flat that appeared in m. 8. Thanks to the alteration at the end of m. 20, the pedal point of phrase b changes from d to f, which is attained by means of chromatic ascent from eb’ (the second eighth note of m. 20) – e’ (the fourth quarter note of m. 20, Gr.6)- f’ (the second eighth note of m. 21). F becomes a dominant pedal and brings the tonic B-flat into focus. At the end of m. 24 the bass moves off f to inaugurate a cadential progression that leads to the final cadence on the downbeat of m. 26 (Table 2.14).
Table 2.14 Harmonic Progression of Phrase b of Section A’, mm. 21-26
m. 21 m. 22 m. 23 m. 24 m. 25 m. 26
I / Bb ii V9 V7 vii°/vi V7 /ii ii V I
2. 22.