Probably my favourite composer. His sonatas are among some of the best out there.5th sonata is probably my favourite.
Any Scriabin fans out there? Dude was a nutbar but man... he had a lot to tell us. I'd love to hear what compositions of his you guys enjoy.Cheers
Why was he a "nutbar"? I don't usually like late 19th/early 20th Century music but I do like some of his 24 Preludes, Op 11. Haven't had a listen to his sonatas though.
Have you read his letters and essays? That guy literally thought he was some sort of prophet/God. Wanted to premiere his Mysterium at the top of Mount Everest, thinking that it would signal the end of our world...?I wouldn't call him a nutjob in the likes of say Schumann or Hans Rott, but the guy was clearly a delusional megalomaniac. Edit:"At times he thought he was God (being born on Christmas Day reinforced this delusion) and once he tried to walk on water on Lake Geneva and preached to the fishermen"https://www.52composers.com/scriabin.html
Calm down Hinton, I like you but sometimes I think you write too much. I was only talking about his personality, not his music.
Yeah I don't know how calling a piece of music "delusional" validates as sound criticism, but yeah I see that a lot too. But rest assured, I was only commenting about the man, not the music! The music is mighty fine though. It's also quite an interesting thing you said about his sonata cycle demonstrating the development of his musical language. I think that the preludes, and not just the op. 11 set, all 70+ preludes pretty much gives you the same demonstration. Although on a lesser scale, you can see that Scriabin used the prelude form for musical experimentation (much like Chopin did with his mazurkas.) They also stretch out from his early period (op.2) to the very end (op. 74). I'd love to go an "complete Scriabin preludes" program, it sounds like an awesome experience! The "complete sonatas" too...
Good points - although a complete Scriabin preludes recital would probably not have quite the same effect as one traversing all of his sonatas...Best,Alistair
They might be beautiful, but they don't leave quite the impact the same way the sonatas do!
Even as my capacity to learn repertoire increases, the idea of playing 5 Scriabin sonatas in a recital is intimidating. It's incredibly complex writing. My other concern is the demands would possibly reflect on the quality of the performance.
"At times he thought he was God (being born on Christmas Day reinforced this delusion) and once he tried to walk on water on Lake Geneva and preached to the fishermen"
Topic: Scriabin 