Every music giant is sorta a maniac. In the case of Scriabin, he is a particularly peculiar maniac, as one can tell from his compositions. The other day I stumbled upon a talk of Gary Graffman, who said Scriabin wasn’t played until the recent 20 years. I was shocked that Scriabin was so overshadowed compared to his relatively more reputed colleagues from Russia, such as Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich (Prokofiev is a different matter; I would love to talk about it in another instance.) Fortunately Arthur Greene introduced me into the sound world of Scriabin. I can’t believe I wasn’t exposed to Scriabin before coming to the U of M.

Who is Scriabin then?

A little digression: I have long found the late Brahms looking like Karl Marx… although they probably have little connection in terms of philosophical interests and real-life interactions.

Back to Scriabin.

Color is a key doorway to his works. Scriabin is super unconventional in his harmony. His music is tonal, but he has his own creation of harmonic structure. One adjective to describe his harmony is “lush.” Scriabin prefers a lot of sharps and flats in his chosen key. He would never prefer the simplicity of a-minor, G-major, etc.

Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor.
The third movement starts with a martyrish statement.

Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major
I first heard this piece in Oxford University, where Boris Berezovsky delivered an astounding performance -- I almost fainted when he played these accumulated chords. Berezovsky programmed this piece at the end of the concert, after a series of Godowsky transcriptions of Chopin Op.10. I think this is the beginning of my journey with Scriabin. This music passage is one of the most brilliant representations for “*ecstasy.*”

Piano Sonata No. 5 in [a numerous number of keys], Op.53
Scriabin has modulated almost 1 million times in this piece. It is not clear what key it is exactly in. At this point of transition, the key temporarily rests on B-major. The opus number of this piece reminds me of Beethoven’s Op. 53 -- both are monstrous pieces written for superhuman.

Etude Op. 8, No. 2 in F-sharp minor/major
The motif secretly metamorphosizes from f-sharp minor into F-sharp major at the end. Loss of momentum…?

Etude Op. 42, No. 5 in c-sharp minor
One might wonder how on earth Scriabin manages to portray the bittersweetness of human condition in this highlighted section.

Scriabin has many works to be unearthed, not just the piano solos. The übermensch has said everything in his music.

We may not understand it at all.

Scriabin

BEETHOVEN

“The Wife”