Scriabin: Piano Works

Featuring

Yevgeny Sudbin
Alexander Scriabin

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Compositional Technique

Scriabin was the first composer to explicitly introduce sex into his music, with titles like 'Desire,' 'Danced Caress,' 'Sensual Delights,' and 'Poem of Ecstasy.'

Composer Biography

Alexander Scriabin, the composer, was born on Christmas Day (Julian calendar) and died at Easter, leading to parallels being drawn between him and Christ.

Cultural Impact

The Soviet regime, despite Scriabin's mystical and sexual themes, re-branded him as a revolutionary and cosmonautic mascot, even broadcasting his 'Poem of Ecstasy' during Yuri Gagarin's first space flight.

Compositional Technique

Scriabin's 'Mystic Chord,' based on tritones and diminished sevenths, made his harmony impossible to understand under traditional tonal rules, with melody and harmony becoming an indivisible whole.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Scriabin believed art was the way for mankind to achieve spiritual liberation and become God, with many of his philosophical ideas based on theosophy and mysticism.

Compositional Technique

Scriabin's later works abandoned traditional cadences and 'clean' chords, creating a sense of unresolved suspension and continuous build-up, as seen in his Fifth Sonata.

Performer Biography

Yevgeny Sudbin, the pianist on this album, is recognized as one of the world's most interesting young pianists, with critically acclaimed recordings of Scarlatti, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, and Medtner.