Where to start with Scriabin?

[eric9]

This composer commands a huge amount of respect on this board and I would love to explore his music.  I've heard some of his etudes and they're incredible, but way out of my league.  Are any of you Scriabin fans out there able to recommend a piece or two of his to start with?  To goive you an idea of my level, I'm not working with a teacher and am currently playing/working on:

Brahms op 79 no 2 Rhapsody
A couple of Chopin Waltzes
Rachmaninoff Elegie
Schumann Papillons
Mozart K332

Any suggestrions?

[Kassaa]

You should look at his op. 2 set, the first is a rather famous slow etude, the other two are pretty much unheard works, there are some beautiful preludes in his op. 11 set and Op. 3 consists of not very difficult mazurkas, op. 9 has a great nocturne for the left hand, but all these works are rather Chopinesque, his later works are insanely difficult, and apart from the sonatas I'm not very familiar with these works, so maybe someone else could give some advice here? His earlier works are a great start though!

[dnephi]

I agree with Kassaa, although not knowing your playing, I can't be any more specific. 

Scriabin is absolutely incredible and is one of my favorite composers.  I wish you the best of luck exploring his music.

Daniel

[ryguillian]

“Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.” — Lewis Carroll

But in all seriousness... I would suggest reading Faubion Bowers's excellent "Scriabin: A Biography" and using that as a guide to the composer's output... I think reading this book will give you much better sensibility in approaching the composer and give you a deep understanding of what's going on in his music.

Best, Ryan.

[sharon_f]

I also agree with Kassaa about Op. 11. There are some very beautiful Preludes in the set. Most are manageable though there a couple of tricky ones, too. My teacher who adores Scriabin has me working on some of them. Check out some of Michie Koyama's videos on youtube. This is one of my favorites:

[lmpianist]

I also agree with looking into the Op. 11 preludes.  I like playing nos. 4, 5, and 9 as a set, but 9 is my favorite.  I think we're probably at about similar levels and they should be pretty manageable.

[indutrial]

You should look at his op. 2 set, the first is a rather famous slow etude, the other two are pretty much unheard works, there are some beautiful preludes in his op. 11 set and Op. 3 consists of not very difficult mazurkas, op. 9 has a great nocturne for the left hand, but all these works are rather Chopinesque, his later works are insanely difficult, and apart from the sonatas I'm not very familiar with these works, so maybe someone else could give some advice here? His earlier works are a great start though!

As a non-pianist, I simply started from the beginning of his career, which began in his teens, when he wrote pieces like the op. 2 etude, several other Chopin-inspired works, and I think one of the unnumbered sonatas. Following his career piece by piece is definitely a rewarding experience, especially considering the harmonic complexity he embraced as his career moved forward towards the greatness that would be seen in things like Vers la flamme (spelling) and other late works. I would recommend buying or downloading the CD sheet music edition that has his works and Rachmaninov's works organized by opus number. That made studying his corpus of work very convenient and easy.

[dnephi]

I actually find his earlier and middle periods more harmonically interesting because they are less static.  I love his later works for the ingenuity of sonority and the indescribable emotion underneath, but his middle period, in particular, combines the declamatory nature of his later harmony with dynamic, functional usage to create a uniquely intense experience. 

I find it very intriguing to listen through all his music- there's an organic continuity that you couldn't expect after hearing an early and a late piece.

Granted, I love music from all three periods