late intermediate

Prelude BWV 855a

Alexander Siloti

About this piece
This arrangement has been described as "perhaps Siloti's most tender and perfect" transcription. It transposes Bach's original down from the original E minor into B minor, with the steady sixteenth-note figuration that was originally given by Bach to the left hand being instead assigned to the right hand. Siloti also adds a repeat of the entire work, in order to allow for a change of voicing where the melody in the left hand is emphasized. The chords in the left hand are arpeggiated; however, according to Siloti's daughter Kyriena (to whom the work was dedicated), he would omit the arpeggiation on the first pass and restore it on the repeat in order to heighten the effect of the left-hand melody. It has been performed by many pianists, most famously Emil Gilels. The date of the arrangement is uncertain: it was first published by A. Gutheil of Moscow, and was performed by Siloti in public for the "first time" in February 1912.
Is this your next piece?
You might enjoy this challenge if you're an intermediate pianist who likes playing relaxing music.
Level guide
Equivalent to RCM level 7
Equivalent to ABRSM level 7
More like this
Loading score…

A free account includes access to this week’s Free Pick score.

Sign up free
Alexander Siloti was born

Beginning of the composer’s lifetime.

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War, occasionally known as the Franco-German War, and sometimes referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between France and the North German Confederation led by Prussia. Lasting from...

Sources & credits Wikipedia · Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Text may be edited by PianoLIT.
Image · Anton von Werner Museen Nord / Bismarck Museum: Picture · Public domain
First Boer War

The First Boer War, also known as the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 between the United Kingdom and Boers of the Transvaal. The war resulted in a Boer victory and eventual independenc...

Sources & credits Wikipedia · Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Text may be edited by PianoLIT.
Image · Fidodog14 Own work · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Picture of Dorian Gray was published

The Picture of Dorian Gray is an 1890 philosophical fiction and Gothic horror novel by Irish author Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical Lippincott...

Sources & credits Wikipedia · Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Text may be edited by PianoLIT.
Image · Unknown authorUnknown author From part one of The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library's online exhibition: Reading Wilde, "Querying Spaces: An Exhibition Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Trials of Oscar Wilde"; plus direct link to image · Public domain
Tosca was published

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 F...

Sources & credits Wikipedia · Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Text may be edited by PianoLIT.
Image · Adolfo Hohenstein http://www.studioesseci.net/mostra.php?IDmostra=62 · Public domain
The Phantom of the Opera was published

The Phantom of the Opera is a Gothic horror novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in Le Gaulois from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1...

Sources & credits Wikipedia · Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Text may be edited by PianoLIT.
Image · André Castaigne http://litteranet.blogspot.fr/2010/11/le-fantome-de-lopera-lhydre-au-destin.html · Public domain
This piece
Prelude was published

Alexander Siloti was 49 years old

Turkish War of Independence

The Turkish War of Independence was a series of military campaigns and a revolution waged by the Turkish National Movement, after the Ottoman Empire was occupied and partitioned following its defeat in World War I. The c...

Sources & credits Wikipedia · Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Text may be edited by PianoLIT.
Image · Lubunya Self-made from cropped versions of: Other photos · CC BY 3.0
Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its Axis allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southern Russia. Marked by inten...

Sources & credits Wikipedia · Wikidata (CC0); Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Text may be edited by PianoLIT.
Image · Unknown authorUnknown author http://aloban75.livejournal.com/564228.html · Public domain
Alexander Siloti died

End of the composer’s lifetime.

Other releases