skriabin etude op. 8, no. 12

[birba]

People here who play this:  do you take the big left hand leap with the right hand when it's played in the middle of the right hand triad.  I know Arrau wouldn't.

[quantum]

Yes, I play it with the right hand.  If you look at the RH harmony, you will see that that the note falls into it. 

[birba]

I just get this guilty feeling when I do it.

[omar_roy]

I took it with the left hand.  Sure, it's harder, but it IS an etude after all.

Besides, the risk of taking it with the left hand is exciting, isn't it?

[birba]

I'm going to have to go with that.  I'm learning it that way, at least.  I'm almost embarassed to say I'm just beginning to learn it at my age.  I read through it years ago and I could probably play it by memory (very slow!) but I never actually got into the ring and tackled it.

[omar_roy]

Attack it head on with brute force of determination and stubborn will!  It's definitely not one of those "work smarter, not harder" pieces.

[pianowolfi]

I just get this guilty feeling when I do it.

I think Arrau, though I very much adore him, tends to be a bit fanatic regarding these things. Things like this appear in many Scriabin pieces and I often try to arrange it.

[lelle]

I just get this guilty feeling when I do it.

Keep in mind that scriabin often wrote what he had in mind, musically. Play all the notes, but hit them with whatever hand feels the most confortable. Most people do this way, because there is no point in making the passages 10 times more uncomfortable and difficult, especially if you intend to play it at the metronome marking notated in the score

[whistlestop]

Why make it harder than it need be?

I can't play it yet; I'm having enough of a struggle with all the octaves without attempting impossible stretches. On my copy I have highlighted all the 'LH' notes than I can do more easily with the right.

[quantum]

I think of it this way:
The score is descriptive not prescriptive.  It's purpose is to describe the music in as clear manner as possible so that the performer may comprehend its elements so they may be interpreted.  Its purpose is not to tell the performer how to play. 

The question of taking notes with the other hand is rather mild in this piece.  If you look at the Sonatas there are much more difficult hand contortions that would be just ridiculous to take as written. 

Play the music not the score.