Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Prelude Op. 11 No. 10 by Alexander Scriabin: Two Facets of Drama

The two considered dramatic preludes were written by the young Sergei Rachmaninov and Alexander Scriabin almost simultaneously, with a difference of two years. The article examines the interrelationships and features of these two plays. The basis for the joint study of these miniatures is the same tonality (C-sharp minor), one genre definition, as well as several similar features in imagery (drama) and the dramatic idea (the juxtaposition of the "fatal" beginning and the pleading voice). The interrelations are manifested in form, texture, harmony, and specific compositional techniques. On the other hand, distinctive features are also studied in the form, texture, harmony, concert scale, and features of the melodic relief of these compositions. An attempt is made to substantiate the specificity of the plays' figurative and semantic content by the musical language's peculiarities. Rachmaninov's prelude, Op. 3 No. 2 and Scriabin's prelude Op. 11 No. 10 are studied by comparison. The method of sequential comparison makes it possible to study the interrelationships in detail and clearly identify the features and individuality of each miniature's symbolic and semantic content and musical language. For the first time, these two famous preludes are compared in detail, sequentially, in the context of each part. It can be argued that preludes have several similar features (dramatic, compositional, textural) that have not been discussed before. As a result of the comparison, both the peculiarities of imagery and the peculiarities of musical language are highlighted in a new way. A number of these features will later, in the course of the evolution of creativity, become distinctive features of the compositional styles of each of the authors. Due to these individual characteristics, one dramatic idea is embodied in each of these preludes in its own way: the idea of contrasting and further interaction of two contrasting images—"rock" and "supplication"—is embodied in each prelude in its own way. These features emphasize the difference, like the drama of each play. This difference is related to the individuality of creativity's emotional, symbolic, and semantic content and the specifics of the aesthetic positions of the two Russian contemporary composers.

prelude, texture, bell-ringing, peculiarities of musical language, organ point, comparison, symbolism, basses, harmony, drama