Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Scriabin (6 January 1872 – 27 April 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist. Scriabin's work was influenced by Romanticism, but he developed a highly idiosyncratic musical language that anticipated and contributed to the developments of atonality and twelve-tone technique in 20th-century music. His compositions include piano works, symphonies, and chamber music. Scriabin is also noted for his innovative and often controversial approach to musical form and harmony.

Biography

Alexander Scriabin was born in Moscow, Russia, into a musical family. His mother, Lyubov Petrovna, was a concert pianist, and his father, Nikolai Alexandrovich Scriabin, was a lawyer. Scriabin showed early musical talent and was enrolled at the Moscow Conservatory at the age of 11, where he studied piano under Vasily Safonov and composition under Anton Arensky and Sergei Taneyev.

In the early stages of his career, Scriabin was influenced by the works of Frédéric Chopin, and his early compositions reflect this. However, as his career progressed, Scriabin developed a more distinctive style characterized by his use of innovative harmonic structures and his exploration of mysticism in music.

Scriabin's later works, such as the Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, incorporate his philosophical ideas, influenced by Theosophy and his own mystical visions. He envisioned a grand synthesis of the arts, culminating in a work titled Mysterium, which was to be performed in the Himalayas and bring about the transformation of the world. Scriabin died before he could realize this ambitious project.

Musical Style and Legacy

Scriabin's music marks a significant departure from traditional tonality, exploring new harmonic languages that influenced the development of modern music. His use of the mystic chord is one of his most notable contributions to music theory. Scriabin's approach to harmony and his philosophical ideas about music's role in spiritual transformation had a profound impact on future generations of composers, including Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg.

Despite his relatively short life, Scriabin's work has had a lasting impact on classical music, and he is considered one of the most innovative composers of the early 20th century. His compositions, particularly his piano works and symphonies, remain popular in concert repertoires around the world.

Selected Works

• Piano Sonatas (10)
• Symphonies (5)
• Le Poème de l'extase (The Poem of Ecstasy), Op. 54
• Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, Op. 60
• Numerous works for solo piano, including preludes, études, and mazurkas

See Also

• List of Russian composers
• History of music theory
• Modernism (music)