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Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin
Alexander Scriabin (also spelt:Skryabin) (bornMoscow January 6 1872; died Moscow April 27 1915) was a famousRussiancomposer andpianist. He wrote music for theorchestra and for thepiano. His music belongs to the LateRomantic period, but his later works sound quite modern, and he wasinfluenced byImpressionism. He had some very unusual ideas about combining all thearts into one work.
Scriabin was the only child in a family which had anaristocratic background. He was always proud of having been born onChristmas Day (6 January is Christmas Day in theRussian Orthodox church). His mother died when he was a year old and his father spent most of his time abroad working as adiplomat. He was looked after by his aunt, grandmother andgreat-aunt, all of whom fussed over him so that he was a veryspoilt child. When he grew up he was very short and his hands could only just stretch oneoctave (eight notes) on the piano.
Scriabin was educated in the Moscow Cadet Corps. He learned to play the piano and became friends with the composerSergei Rachmaninoff who was just one year younger. He won the secondgold medal ever to be awarded at theMoscow Conservatoire (Rachmaninoff had won the first one). He practised a piece calledIslamey byBalakirev but damaged hisrighthand doing it. He still managed to continue his career as a pianist, but he wrote a few piano pieces for the left hand only. In 1895 he toured through many countries inEurope giving concerts and composing a lot of piano music. He married in 1897. He went with his wife toOdessa where he played his PianoConcerto and then spent several months inParis. He taught at the Moscow Conservatoire and wrote some important orchestral music. Later he left his wife and children and went to Europe for several years with another woman. She inspired a lot of his music. Scriabin continued to travel and play the piano until the end of his life. When he was inLondon in 1914 he had aboil on hislip, which got steadily worse until he died a year later.
Scriabin liked the music ofChopin and he wrote a lot of short pieces calledPreludes which show Chopin’s influence. As he got older his music became more and more personal. He was veryegocentric (thought only about himself and not about other people) and he had some strange ideas. He wanted to write a work which combined all thearts and all thesenses: music,dance,poetry,colours and evensmells. He wanted this work to be performed beside a lake inIndia. This work was never finished or performed, and we do not know whether he seriously thought it would happen, but he did buy himself a sunhelmet.
Scriabin tried using differentharmonies in his music. He had a favouritechord which he called his “mystic chord” (from the bottom upwards: C, F sharp, B flat, E, A, D). He used it in lots of ways. His orchestral works include a Piano Concerto, 3symphonies,Le poème de l’extase (The poem of extasy) andProméthée, le poème du feu (Prometheus, the poem of fire). His music which is mysterious and dream-like and shares some similarityFrench Impressionist composers like Debussy.
