ALEXANDER SCRIABIN

1872 - 1915

Alexander Scriabin was a famous Russian pianist and composer of the late 19th -
early 20th century. He was born in Moscow in 1872 and he died 43 years later, in
1915.

Scriabin was one of the 20th century's most important composers for the piano
and also one of its greatest musical innovators. Along with Claude Debussy and
Arnold Schoenberg, he contributed to the development of
non-tonal harmony.

Especially, in the later years of his short life, he was interested in mystical
philosophy and his beliefs made him push the boundaries of harmony and
performance to their limits. His middle and later styles were characterised by
increasingly dissonant harmonies and extreme changes of mood.

Scriabin's compositional output includes symphonies, a piano concerto, piano

sonatas, piano miniatures, as well as several experimental works, including
Prometheus and The Poem Of Fire (inspired by the Wagnerian concept of the
synthesis of the arts). However, he is best known for his solo piano music.

The Op.17 No.6 Prelude in Bb is a typical example of his early musical style. The
Op.17 Preludes were published between 1895-6 and were influenced by the
lyricism of Chopin and the drama of Liszt, as they belong to the late romantic
period.

These preludes also often display an uncertain sense of tonality with applied
dissonances and non-functional harmony. Formally there are elements of the
ternary principle (with a recapitulation of the opening from the last beat of bar 14)
but the piece is mostly structured by the pervasive use of the rhythmic motive in
bar 1. In this prelude the tonic chord in root position is infrequently employed.