Hello and welcome back to our Piece of the Week listening club! In retrospect I should have waited to 'officially' start in January. Our first week got cut off, so if you didn't get a chance last time, you can go to our Week 1 thread Maslanka Symphony no. 4 and listen/share your thoughts
This week's selection is Alexander Scriabin's Piano Sonata no. 4 (1903)
Some listening notes from Simon Nicholls for Hyperion records
> A fairly radical break had taken place with the moral code inculcated by the adoring maiden aunt who had pampered Scriabinโs youth (his mother was dead and his father abroad on diplomatic missions). Mitrofan Belaiev, outstanding patron of Russian composers, Scriabinโs publisher since 1894 and his stern, fatherly mentor in worldly matters, had died in December 1903. Corresponding to this upheaval in personal life is a transformation in musical language, shown clearly in the Sonata No 4, Op 30 (1903). For this work Scriabin wrote a programme: a poem describing flight to a distant star. It reflects the startling new philosophies he was imbibing:
> Thinly veiled in transparent cloud
> A star shines softly, far and lonely.
> How beautiful! The azure secret
> Of its radiance beckons, lulls me โฆ
> Vehement desire, sensual, insane, sweet โฆ
> Now! Joyfully I fly upward toward you,
> Freely I take wing.
> Mad dance, godlike play โฆ
> I draw near in my longing โฆ
> Drink you in, sea of light, you light of my own self โฆ
> These excerpts give a flavour of Scriabinโs literary effusion, which hardly does justice to his music. It does, however, contain a number of motifs which recur in his mental world: light, colour, erotic desire, flight, dance, and the equation of the cosmos with the ego. The last-mentioned is close to the tat tvam asiโโThat art thouโโof Sanskrit teaching, the universal oneness of mystic experience in many cultures; with a personality as self-absorbed as Scriabin, however, it is possible to feel rather that he believes โAll is myself!โโa rather different proposition.
Ways to Listen
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[YouTube - Vladimir Ashk
I'm looking for works similar to Scriabin's late sonatas from the early 20th century and beyond. Harmonically dense, chromatic, almost atonal etc.
What pieces are good introductions for these two composers?
For an idea on my level, Iโve learned Chopin Nocturne Op 48 no1 and up to the Coda of the first Ballade, Rach Prelude in C# minor, and I am working on Beethovens Sonata Pathetique right now
Also I improvise a lot
I wrote this during a time of absolute boredom and in no way am I discussing about technical ranking, more or so an overview of what the pieces are about. It's also Scriabin's 150th :D
_________________________________________________________________________
Often many consider the First Sonata (Op.6, 1891-2), Second (Op.19, 1892-97), and Third (Op.23, 1898) to be the Sonatas of Scriabinโs first period.
The 4th Sonata (Op.30, 1903) really is the only Sonata Scriabin composed during the middle period as the 5th (Op.53, 1907) is more of a transitory work in my opinion between the middle and late periods.
The 6th (Op.62 1911-12), 7th (Op.64, 1911-12), 8th (Op.66, 1912-13), 9th (Op.68, 1912-13) and 10th (Op.70, 1912-13) were all composed during his โlateโ period and features substantial difference between his earlier Sonatas.
_________________________________________________________________________
No.1: The first representing a fight against fate and destiny as young Scriabin broke his hands. Casted in 4 movements, it follows a somewhat conventional form. An Allegro, slow movement without tempo markings, Rondo, but ends with a Funeral March that is somewhat of an attacca. Chopin, Schumann and Brahmsโ influence is clear in this Sonata and this is the least performed out of the 10 due to itโs inferior originality (Not saying it doesnโt have any, but is lacking in comparison to the other 9) and perhaps lengthy form.
No.2: One of Scriabinโs most famous works. An impressionistic work fused with Chopinesque pianism. Scriabinโs style and proficiency has improved drastically in comparison to his first. The piece is in two movements and in general represents the movements of the sea. The first being caresses of moonlight and agitation of the deep sea. The first movement features delicate ornaments often placed in between the melody and accompanied with typical Scriabin-esque polyrhythms. While the second being of a sea storm of sorts. The Presto finale features a moto perpetuo in the right hand with an endless stream of triplets while the left hand maintains an intimidating marching rhythm. Itโs a popular piece for competitions and other events as it is very very beautiful but also challenging for the pianist. As far as technical difficulty is concerned, this Sonata ranks one of the easier Sonatas
... keep reading on reddit โก
Hey, I'm hoping someone out there will be able to help me with this!? So basically, I'm doing an EPQ report which will aim to look at and compare different influences on Scriabin's piano music, at the minute I'm looking at the influence of Chopin, the influence of an injury he obtained to his right hand, the influence of Sound-colour Synthesia, and finally the influence of theosophy and mysticism. If anybody can think of any other factors that might be worth mentioning that would be soooo helpful!
And if anyone knows of any books, journals, articles, videos etc. worth looking at related to influences on Scriabin then please let me know!
Thanks again for your help everybody!! ๐
Hello everyone. Recently I started to go deeper into the works of Scriabin. Usually I would not venture so far away from traditional western classical music but Scriabin's music suddenly started to amaze me. A few years ago I would have called it madness... I would love to understand his philosophy more so I can make the most out of his music.
In honour of Scriabin's birthday today, here is a selection of some of his "more accessible" compositions:
Monighetti's album leaf: Microsoft Word - Cover Vorlage (PDF).docx (imslp.org)
Prelude, Op. 2 no. 2: IMSLP08369-Scriabin_-_Op.2_-_3_Morceaux_-_No.2_-_Prelude_in_B_Major.pdf
Prelude, Op. 11 no. 4: https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/6/63/IMSLP75863-PMLP09363-Scriabin_Ausgewaehlte_Klavierwerke_Band_2_Peters_Op_11_scan.pdf
Prelude, Op. 9 no 1: https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/e/ea/IMSLP204257-SIBLEY1802.20158.e38d-39087012841039score.pdf
DR14 (Maat), with digital Booklet. London Symphony Orchestra, B&W SoS exclusive, recorded in DSD128.
https://preview.redd.it/nwwf28cv2ca81.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76c83d814e9862a49fee6ecd756ccf85b2293756
aHR0cHM6Ly8xZmljaGllci5jb20vP2cyYWJyNHplN3AwazIwanNjeTY3 (1.2GB)
In case anyone would like to give out a Christmas gift, I would like to kindly ask for the PDF of the following for my research:
Title: Demystifying Scriabin
Authors: Vasilis Kallis and Kenneth Smith
Publisher: Boydell Press
Hardcover ISBN: 9781783276561 | EPDF ISBN: 9781800104181
https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781783276561/demystifying-scriabin/
https://www.worldcat.org/title/demystifying-scriabin/oclc/1288211842&referer=brief_results
I would highly appreciate it if anyone who has this book would upload it on Libgen, so I could get it from thereโsometimes my computer doesn't allow me to open hyperlinks:)!
I wrote this during a time of absolute boredom and in no way am I discussing about technical ranking, more or so an overview of what the pieces are about. It's also Scriabin's 150th :D
_________________________________________________________________________
Often many consider the First Sonata (Op.6, 1891-2), Second (Op.19, 1892-97), and Third (Op.23, 1898) to be the Sonatas of Scriabinโs first period.
The 4th Sonata (Op.30, 1903) really is the only Sonata Scriabin composed during the middle period as the 5th (Op.53, 1907) is more of a transitory work in my opinion between the middle and late periods.
The 6th (Op.62 1911-12), 7th (Op.64, 1911-12), 8th (Op.66, 1912-13), 9th (Op.68, 1912-13) and 10th (Op.70, 1912-13) were all composed during his โlateโ period and features substantial difference between his earlier Sonatas.
_________________________________________________________________________
No.1: The first representing a fight against fate and destiny as young Scriabin broke his hands. Casted in 4 movements, it follows a somewhat conventional form. An Allegro, slow movement without tempo markings, Rondo, but ends with a Funeral March that is somewhat of an attacca. Chopin, Schumann and Brahmsโ influence is clear in this Sonata and this is the least performed out of the 10 due to itโs inferior originality (Not saying it doesnโt have any, but is lacking in comparison to the other 9) and perhaps lengthy form.
No.2: One of Scriabinโs most famous works. An impressionistic work fused with Chopinesque pianism. Scriabinโs style and proficiency has improved drastically in comparison to his first. The piece is in two movements and in general represents the movements of the sea. The first being caresses of moonlight and agitation of the deep sea. The first movement features delicate ornaments often placed in between the melody and accompanied with typical Scriabin-esque polyrhythms. While the second being of a sea storm of sorts. The Presto finale features a moto perpetuo in the right hand with an endless stream of triplets while the left hand maintains an intimidating marching rhythm. Itโs a popular piece for competitions and other events as it is very very beautiful but also challenging for the pianist. As far as technical difficulty is concerned, this Sonata ranks one of the easier Sonatas
... keep reading on reddit โก