'Inaferando' - what does it mean?

[al]

I'm playing Scriabin's poème op. 32 no. 1 at the moment, and I'm puzzled by the direction 'inaferando' at the start of the second section (b.15).  I showed it to my Italian teacher and she'd never seen it before, although she thought it was related to the verb 'afferrare' - to grasp.  Has anyone found a definitive translation for this word?

[arensky]

Yes this is a puzzler, and native Italian speakers I asked shrugged their shoulders at this one! So I went to the dictionarries... "innaferra ' bile" , adj. is defined as "unseizable, elusive." Now if we remove the suffix and replace it with "'anza", anza is a suffix that is used to create abstract nouns. We now have a noun, meaning "the elusive",  like "arroganza" means arrogance (n.), as opposed to "arrogante" (adj.) I think Scriabin created a new word here, both he and Medtner did this in their performance directions, often butchering the Italian language in the process. Here I think he confused Italian with Latin or Spanish (-anza = ando? I am not sure). Well it is a great word ! And it certainly is elusive... .

Anyway I  think we can safely say that "Inaferando" = " unseizable, or elusive", but as a noun, not as an adjective ("inaferrabile") .

Much easier to figure out was the main direction for op.32 #2,  ".......con Fiducia". I thought it had something to do with banking ("fiduciary") but a look in the Italian/English dictionary defined this as "confidence"...much simpler!

Hey make sure you play even groups of 5 in those "Inaferando" RH 16th notes! Isn't it a beautiful piece? It's always been one of my favorite short pieces, enjoy! 

[quantum]

Thanks for sharing your reasearch into the matter.  This word puzzeled me too, and I just thought I needed to find a different dictionary. 

[al]

Here I think he confused Italian with Latin or Spanish (-anza = ando? I am not sure).

Well the suffix '-ando' is normally part of a certain tense (gerund) which means the action is in progress (like the English 'ing').  If the word were 'afferrando', it would mean simply 'gripping' or 'seizing'.  The prefix 'in-' is what puzzles me - I don't know much Italian so I'm assuming it is used to mean the negative of the verb.  I don't really know what the opposite of seizing would be - perhaps losing grip?  Of course, your explanation is equally viable which is why I am confused.

Hey make sure you play even groups of 5 in those "Inaferando" RH 16th notes! Isn't it a beautiful piece? It's always been one of my favorite short pieces, enjoy!

I think my groups are all even now - it took me a while to get the 3 against 5 with the dotted rhythms!  I'll put a recording up in the audition room in a couple of weeks.

[arensky]

Well the suffix '-ando' is normally part of a certain tense (gerund) which means the action is in progress (like the English 'ing').  If the word were 'afferrando', it would mean simply 'gripping' or 'seizing'.  The prefix 'in-' is what puzzles me - I don't know much Italian so I'm assuming it is used to mean the negative of the verb.  I don't really know what the opposite of seizing would be - perhaps losing grip?  Of course, your explanation is equally viable which is why I am confused.

Well it is elusive! Losing grip, or slipping away, makes sense, if what we are dealing with is a verb. I think it is an abstract noun, derived from inaferrabile ("unseizable, elusive"), and Scriabin perhaps understood Italian as well as we do! I think maybe he got his suffixes mixed up, or perhaps this is his own special word that is a noun AND a verb. I think "slipping away/losing grip/unseizable" and/or "elusive" are all part of what he was trying to describe. I am no linguist, but he clearly (or not so clearly) meant something along the lines of what we have come up with...we should now be unconfused, and "slip away" from this, and try to not seize it!

Shameless self promotion Check out my recording of this piece in the Audition Room!

[gorbee natcase]

It means stick your tail between your legs and pretend to be a lady

[erak]

A teacher once told me "I asked this Italian pianist what inaferando meant, and he responded: Ha! Scriabin? Doesn't exist!"

[allthumbs]

It means stick your tail between your legs and pretend to be a lady

Have you ever tried that?