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Joshua Fitzgerald

150198520

Leslie De’Ath

November 22, 2018

Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915)

Alexander Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist. His musical output can be divided

into three stages: his early years, a transitionary middle period, and his later years. At first, his music

was highly influenced by the music of Frederic Chopin. However, as the years went by he grew to

create his own harmonic language building toward atonality, partly in order to fulfil the maximum

effect of his obsession with synesthesia, mysticism, and as such, his ever-changing philosophy

centring around the rebirth of the world.

Scriabin’s early pieces, most notably including 12 Etudes Op. 8, 24 Preludes Op. 11, Sonata

No. 2 Op. 19, and Piano Concerto Op. 20, closely follow the spirt of Chopin. His middle period

consists of the 4th and 5th Sonatas, 2 Poemes Op. 32, and 8 Etudes Op. 42, forming a glimpse of his

growing individuality. His later period is defined by the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Sonatas, Poeme-Nocturne

Op. 61, and the late Preludes such as those in Op. 74.

The timeline of his musical evolution can be seen in his piano sonatas. Sonatas 1, 2, and 3 are

written in a romantic style with little straying from the common practice. Sonatas 4 and 5 drive

toward more chromaticism and dissonance. Chords still have proper function but the emphasis on
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colours via additional non-chord tones is more apparent. Sonatas 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are all one

movement, and employ a more flexible version of sonata form and lack traditional harmonic

progression.

An example of strange harmony for the sake of philosophical effect comes in the 9th Sonata,

where the basis of the themes centre on the unstable minor 9th to create growing menace. Scriabin's

use of the mystic chord, a chord build of 4ths of various qualities, is also seen in these sonatas. Vers

la flamme is sometimes included in these set of sonatas as it was initially intended by Scriabin to be

the 11th Sonata. Furthermore, it represents, along with Sonata No. 9 (Black Mass), Scriabin’s

obsession with some mystical heat force to end the world.

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References

Kandinskij, Aleksej I., Y. Rudakova, and Tatyana Christyakova. Scriabin: His Life and Times.

Neptune City: Paganiniana Publications, 1984.

Powell, Jonathan. “Scriabin, Aleksandr Nikolayevich.” Grove Music Online. Accessed 19

November, 2018. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.

Shedlock, John South. "Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915)." Musical Opinion, Apr, 2015, 22,

https://libproxy.wlu.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.libproxy.wlu.ca/docview/1683487047?accountid=15090.