I ended up playing this opus and now it makes sense. I feel evil playing it though. Did not make for good Christmas music during the holidays at the family house. People were telling me to play something less dramatic
HA! Story of my life. I think I've depressed my family permanently with hundreds of playings and practice sessions of Scriabin and Rachmaninoff. People don't want music with depth and power and challenge; they want mostly bubble gum. Oh well. Let's keep playing the greats.
Hahaha; my older sister obtained a 1920 Steinway M for her son. Son is now working pro jazz pianist and composer(has PhD Music Theory) . At family gatherings my brother & nephew & I would take turns giving the Steinway a workout. Nephew with jazz, my bro had several Chopin etudes , op53 polonaise , some Rach under his fingers. DeFalla Ritual Fire Dance & many many other pieces. He’s much more advanced than I am (tremendous sight-reader) I’d play some Scriabin, couple Rach pieces. Bach-Busoni chorale. For a change of pace and as an attempt to be more disciplined, I learned Brahms op118 #3. As I was playing this at one party, my niece looked into the music room and said, “ oh it’s you playing, I thought it was Joe “ (my brother)...😀 I took it as a compliment, since it must have sounded pretty good; not my usual jagged performance....
Why did I wait so long to begin listening to Scriabin? I have been searching for piano music that sounds like this for a long time. This is simply amazing. The fact that Emil Gilels is interpreting is a huge plus. Scriabin was obviously completely his own man.
Same here. I am only today (his death day) listening to Scriabin properly for the first time, despite my love of piano music, especially by Chopin and Rachmaninoff.
This was his last testament. Going backwards from here is also interesting. He insated a new theory of using the tritone as an instrumental interval to move his harmonies. The most successful composers always heard this.
@@sebastian-benedictflore that's a questionable statement. I think he would be opressed when Stalin would come. Or highly likely emigrate in Europe(France?)
Yea Scriabin usually takes me to worlds of uncertainties where everything is purposely misplaced in an ordered chaos. Color, along with reality, ceases to exist the way we usually imagine it. There is this literal melting and blending of the two. Psychological episodes where you're lost in hallucinations in your mind also constantly seem to be present in his style as well as drug induced adventures. I don't know much about Dali but what do you think?
I like to listen to this series while listening to Op 67 series at the same time ( Yes, 2 pieces at the same time ), I hear some spectacular and weird sound combinations.
The hermetic languge of Scriabin in these preludes which are based upon synthetic scales are perfectly rendered by Gilels. He strictly obesrves the execution guidelines of Scriabin.
Two things: 1. Scriabin was obviously advanced in his artistry far beyond the point of traditional ( even Wagnerian ) harmony. 2. He was a mystic attempting to create flashes of light and shadow with his music, this is understandable given his well-known synesthesia; he would literally see flashes of color when he heard these cords.
+tharnax Unfortunately there are many composers who like to elevate themselves higher than what their actual level is. Scriabin, on the other hand, had every right to think of himself as a prophet - without him, we would not be enjoying this gorgeous music.
No. Wagner was advanced for his time, mid-19th century, but by 1890s - 1900s his harmonic inventions were far surpassed by the work of Mahler and Sibelius, while Scriabin pushed tonality past the breaking point. As in Bartok's, there's still an instinctively worked harmonic centering, that is, you can still feel harmonies tensing and relaxing, more "organic" and accessible than the pantonal revolution of Schoenberg and his school.
I would say, Scriabin keeps a completely functional tonal harmony, but outside of the traditional one with a more open and relaxed restrictions (as long as different chords might work as the tonic).
I must admit that I am guilty of allowing Scriabin's music to take me to this realm as well. Especially with his later works, where his style became much more original and "obscure" I get this sense of orderly disorder. It's definitely an acquired taste however that not everyone can appreciate immediately, or ever. If you enjoy this type of music though I would highly recommend looking into Dalí's works, you should find them interesting as well.
Nice to know I'm not completely alone. Would you wanna talk on skype sometime? I'll take the time to look at Dali's works and we can talk from there. Just message me your id or whatever.
Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) foi um compositor russo de complexa biografia17, considerado como um dos grandes artistas que conduziram àquela jornada da música moderna centro européia em seus rumos para a pós-tonalidade.18 Entre 1890 até sua morte em 1915, foram marcantes suas inovações alcançadas através de harmonias flutuantes, não resolvidas e radicalmente dissonantes, fundadas em construções sintéticas e de grande precisão e beleza geométrica [escalas octatônicas, de tons inteiros, superposições de 4ªs, etc.] às quais o compositor associava um misticismo altamente elaborado. Dentre suas combinações de notas, célebre é esse seu “acorde sintético” [dó - fá# - sib - mi - lá - ré ], pois transformou radicalmente a sonoridade musical de sua época. (Conhecido também como “acorde místico”; “acorde de Scriabin”, ou ainda “arquétipo do profeta Scriabin”).
does it not evoke emotion? this gives me chills honestly and i can't imagine how ones mind could maintain this type of musical thought. Your initial listen to this is perceived as random, however it is more correct to say abstract. There is linearity to this music, there is structure, its just all taking place in a bad dream. the ebb and flow of dissonance with resolution, the essence of emotional evokation through pure sound and harmonic structure is reaching its limits with this music.
@sweetdude3000 Dude, try reading the chapter on Scriabin in Richard Taruskin's amazing "Music in early twentieth century", it will help you a lot to understand these preludes which are entirely octatonic based. For further reading I recommand George Perle's "Scriabin's self analysis", in The Right Notes. That's really not random notes at all. It's highly structured.
In the 5 Preludes Op. 74, Scriabin makes more use out of transpositions of the octatonic scale rather than having very linear/scalar lines; but one can usually see the outline of it. In the beginning of the 4th prelude, we see the soprano line outlining G#-A-B-C-D#-E (h-W-h-A-h). Depending on the desired harmonic cluster, Scriabin will add an augmented step in the scale which in addition adds variety to the modality of the piece.
Nice little analysis. The great thing i think I've noticed about Scriabin is that the reason he manages to bring these synthetic scales to life is because he doesn't stick religiously to any certain form of melody or the notes in the scale.
Whilst I agree it's odd, Scriabin himself might actually have dome the same. He also might not lol but I say that for a particular reason. Check out Scriabin's own recording of Op.8 No.12 (Welte-Mignon piano roll)
@sweetdude3000 There is plenty of organisation here, in terms of a unifying harmonic language. It is just more challenging and interesting than Scriabin's earlier works.
It's a new kind of language that takes some getting used to. The most immediate way to "get it" is to create some sort of imagery or emotion that you can relate to the piece. I'll even do that for you.Try Vers la Flamme: /watch?v=WlqGkVc29Gw&playnext=1&list=PL068CA1B0E5C07BA2&feature=results_main Imagine the beginning chords as someone speaking of the end of times. Then at 1:50 imagine the accompaniment as the slow and seductive movements of a flame that is constantly building in ferocity.
I don't know the personal history of Scriabin. But hearing these darkest preludes one can only imagine the poignant distress this man must have been through. Despair down to the bone...
Actually, his life wasn't a particularly hard one, not even by composers' standards, although by the end of it (when this was composed), he had fallen very ill with blood poisoning. That probably isn't the reason he wrote this music though. He was just very eccentric and was working towards his impossibly epic work, the "Mysterium", so epic that he barely even started on it. However, many of these later works were to be integrated into this great work, likely including these Preludes. Nemtin was a great orchestrator of Scriabin and you can listen to Ashkenazy's recording of "Preparation to the Final Mystery" on various media to hear sections of Scriabin's sonatas and these very Preludes brought to new life.
By the way, one of best interpretors of Scriabin is the illustrious Vladmir Ashenazy. Hats off to the gent. As a conductor and pianist. His 10 Sonatas are hard to beat. Also his version of the Poem of Fire and the piece completed from Nemtin from the last 55 sketch pages of Scriabin that he used to the the Preparation of the Mysterium with choir is absolutely mind blowing!!
I'm not overly fond of this interpretation. What I like about late Scriabin seems to be to a large extent missing here. He doesn't make the most of the demonic tritones, or the knocks of fate and it's not chaotic enough for my taste. Mind you, who am I to criticize Gilels? He's great in just about everything else.
@@sebastian-benedictfloreare you talking about Gilels or Scriabin? I wouldn't call this performance chaotic, but I'd prefer it if it had more of a sense of it, particularly in movements 3 and 5. I'd like those 2 movements to sound more out of control, but that's just me, I'm not saying what goes.
@@sebastian-benedictfloreI think that although his late works are well structured in a non chaotic way, within that, they often seem to express a sense of chaos to me. I'm not the only one who has noticed this. Read up on Scriabin and you'll see the word 'Chaos' mentioned quite often. I feel it especially in his late works and it is something which attracts me to them. It's okay that you don't, you don't have to feel what I feel. Hopefully though you won't try to convince me that it isn't there, or shouldn't be there. The 5th, 7th and 9th sonatas, Vers la flamme, even the Etude op8 no12 all have moments where there is a sense of everything going out of control and I mean 'chaotic' in that sense. I want to hear that sense that the music is going out of control.
@@nostromissimo I know what you meant. I just disagree. Funny enough, I've actually played a bunch of those pieces you mentioned and I have also read a lot about Scriabin. I guess it's just a difference in opinion/interpretation but I consider his music narrative and transcendental. However whilst it might be overwhelming, I don't think it is chaotic.
I don't understand. Why didn't the pianist play the full value of the notes at the end of the pieces such as the last one. Instead of holding it to the full values he just played it abruptly. Why?
I just don't "get" this music. I love Scriabin's early works and even play most of it. This just sounds like random notes and random intervals, no organization at all, but I am sure there is much more to it. Can someone help me appreciate these works?
You're right, there is much more to it. This music uses synthetic scales rather than the usual Greek ones (Ionian, Lydian etc.) or pentatonic and such. How to get into it? Go through Scriabin's music in chronological order. Sonata 2 and 3, then sonata 4 and 5, Poem of ecstasy, op 56 and all of that. Then poem of fire, sonata 7, 6, 9, 8. Vers La Flamme. Then here. The later his music, the more meticulously organised it becomes.
