Scriabin aimed to combine sounds, colors, smells, and movements in his final orchestral work, 'Prométhée. Le Poème du feu', demonstrating his synesthetic approach to music.
Composer Biography
Alexander Scriabin, born in 1872, was an eccentric composer who exclusively played his own works and wrote philosophical essays with messianic zeal.
Performer Biography
Dina Yoffe, the pianist on this album, is a prize-winner at the Robert Schumann Competition and the prestigious Frédéric Chopin Competition.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Scriabin, like Wassily Kandinsky, was a Russian Symbolist who sought to express the internal and sensed, believing that inner beauty is achieved by renouncing customary beauty.
Composition History
Scriabin's 24 Preludes Op. 11 were largely composed during his concert tours in 1895 and 1896, fulfilling a promise to his publisher Mitrofan Petrovitch Belaieff.
Interpretation
Dina Yoffe, the pianist, unifies the Preludes of Chopin and Scriabin on this album to highlight their similarities and differences, despite the usual practice of keeping Chopin's Preludes as self-contained works.
Compositional Technique
Both Scriabin's Op. 11 and Chopin's Op. 28 Preludes are ordered according to the circle of fifths, with major keys immediately followed by their relative minor.
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