- Russian composer and pianist of the early twentieth century, a romantic dreamer who expressed his, sometimes fantastic, ideas through music. Scriabin's music is very original, one can feel nervousness, impulsiveness and mysticism in it. He was close to images that are associated with fire, the union of color and sound. After all, it was he who used light music for the first time in history.

Alexander Nikolayevich was born on January 6, 1872 in Moscow, in a poor noble family of a diplomat. Shurinka's mother, as she called him, was a talented pianist who graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. But a year after the birth of her son, she died of consumption. After the death of his wife, Sasha's father marries an Italian citizen Olga Fernandez for the second time, leaving little Shurinka to be raised by his grandmother in the Novgorod province and his sister Lyubov Alexandrovna.

Sasha Scriabin in childhood

From the age of five, Sasha has been showing big interest to playing the piano. But according to family tradition, he is sent to the 2nd Moscow Cadet Corps. However, the love of music overpowers, and, after graduating from the cadet corps, he decides to devote himself entirely to music.

In 1888, Scriabin entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he successfully studied with Safonov, Taneyev, and Arensky. In 1892, having successfully graduated from the conservatory, he gave concerts in the cities of Russia. And in 1895-96. tours throughout Europe.

In 1904 he moved to live in Switzerland, but soon again traveled to France, Italy and America.

In 1910 he returned to live in Moscow, without stopping touring with author's concerts in European countries, such as the Netherlands, Great Britain, France and Belgium. In Moscow, continuing his concert activity, he does not stop composing.

Photo of A. Scriabin, donated by the great-great-nephew of the composer and his namesake - Alexander Scriabin

The composer mainly writes piano and symphonic music. He creates his own sound world and his own system of images. His music is the pathos of struggle and the triumph of victory, it sings of the power of the human spirit. At the same time, it feels sophistication and romance.

The composer gives his last concerts during 1915. After an unsuccessful extrusion of a boil in the nasolabial triangle, he develops a carbuncle, and then sepsis, as a result of which the composer died. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

The house in which the composer lived with his family in Moscow, from 1922 to this day, has been operating as the State Memorial Museum of A.N. Scriabin.

The composer's work is diverse: studies, waltzes, mazurkas, sonatas, impromptu, piano concertos with an individual orchestra.

Alexa ndr Nikolaevich Skryabin (1871/72–1915) was a Russian composer, pianist, and teacher. His father was a diplomat, his mother was a pianist. He studied at the Moscow Cadet Corps (1882–89). Musical talent manifested itself early. He took lessons (piano) from G. E. Konyus, N. S. Zverev. In 1892 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in piano with V. I. Safonov, and also studied with S. I. Taneyev (counterpoint) and A. S. Arensky (composition). He gave concerts in Russia and abroad, was an outstanding performer of his own compositions. M. P. Belyaev provided him with significant support (he published the works of the young composer, subsidized his concert trips). In 1904–10 (with a break) he lived and worked abroad (in European countries, also toured the USA). He was engaged in teaching activities: in 1898-1903 professor (piano class) of the Moscow Conservatory, at the same time he taught in the music classes of the Catherine Institute in Moscow. Among the students: M. S. Nemenova-Lunts, E. A. Beckman-Shcherbina. Scriabin is one of the largest representatives artistic culture late 19th - early 20th centuries Piano and symphonic genres are represented in his creative work. In the 90s. preludes, mazurkas, etudes, impromptu, piano sonatas 1-3, concerto for piano and orchestra were created in the 1900s. - 3 symphonies, sonatas 4-10 and poems for piano (including "Tragic", "Satanic", "To the Flame"), as well as such symphonic works as "The Poem of Ecstasy" (1907), " Prometheus ”(“ Poem of Fire ”, 1910) is a landmark work of the late period of creativity. Scriabin's music reflected the rebellious spirit of his time, a premonition of revolutionary change. It combines a strong-willed impulse, intense dynamic expression, heroic jubilation, a special "flight" and refined spiritualized lyrics. In his work, Scriabin overcame the ideological inconsistency inherent in his theoretical philosophical concepts (around 1900, Scriabin became a member of the Moscow Philosophical Society, occupied a subjective-idealistic position). Scriabin's works, which embodied the idea of ​​ecstasy, a daring impulse, aspiring to unknown cosmic spheres, the idea of ​​the transforming power of art (the crown of such creations, according to Scriabin, was to be "Mystery", which combines all types of art - music, poetry, dance, architecture , as well as light), are distinguished by a high degree of artistic generalization, the power of emotional impact. Scriabin’s work uniquely combines late Romantic traditions (the embodiment of images of an ideal dream, the passionate, agitated nature of the utterance, the tendency to synthesize the arts, the preference for the genres of prelude and poem) with the phenomena of musical impressionism (subtle sound coloring), symbolism (images-symbols: themes of “will” , "self-affirmation", "struggle", "languor", "dreams"), as well as expressionism. Scriabin is a bright innovator in the field of musical expressiveness and genres; in his later compositions, dominant harmony becomes the basis of harmonic organization (the most characteristic type of chord is the so-called Promethean chord). For the first time in musical practice, he introduced a special part of light (“Prometheus”) into a symphonic score, which is associated with an appeal to color hearing. Scriabin's work had a significant impact on the piano and symphonic music of the 20th century. Received further development ideas of synthesis of music and light. In 1922, a museum was organized in the premises of Scriabin's last apartment in Moscow.

Compositions: For orchestra - 3 Symphonies (1900–04, 3rd Divine Poem), Dream Symphonic Poems (1898), Poem of Ecstasy (1907), Prometheus (Poem of Fire; with piano and choir, 1910); concerto for piano and orchestra (1897); for piano - 10 sonatas (1892–1913), 29 poems, 26 studies, 90 preludes (including 24 preludes op. 11), 21 mazurkas, 11 impromptu, waltzes, etc.

Russian composer and pianist Alexander Nikolaevich Skryabin was born on January 6, 1872 (December 25, 1871 according to the old style) in Moscow. His family came from an old noble family. My father served as a diplomat in Turkey. Mother - Lyubov Shchetinina was an outstanding pianist, she graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with the Polish pianist Teodor Leshetitsky, her talent was highly appreciated by composers Anton Rubinstein, Alexander Borodin, Pyotr Tchaikovsky. She died of tuberculosis when her son was not even one and a half years old. Alexander was brought up by his aunt, Lyubov Scriabina, who fascinated him by playing the piano. At the age of five, he confidently reproduced on the instrument not only melodies, but also once heard simple pieces, at eight he began to compose music, also wrote poetry and multi-act tragedies.

Since 1882, according to family tradition, Alexander Scriabin studied at the Second Moscow Cadet Corps. He took piano lessons from Georgy Konyus and Nikolai Zverev, studied music theory under the guidance of Sergei Taneyev, and performed in concerts.

In 1888, a year before graduating from the cadet corps, he entered the Moscow Conservatory in two specialties: piano and free composition. In 1892 he graduated from the conservatory with a small gold medal in the class of Vasily Safonov (piano), having received a grade of "five plus" at the final exam. In composition, Scriabin did not receive permission to take the examination for a diploma, although by the time he entered the conservatory he had written over 70 compositions.

After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory due to an exacerbation of the disease right hand, replayed while still in the process of learning, Alexander Scriabin went through a difficult period, from which the famous St. Petersburg philanthropist Mitrofan Belyaev helped him to get out (until the end of his days he was the publisher and propagandist of the composer's music), sending Scriabin in 1896 on a tour of Europe.

In 1898-1904 Scriabin taught special piano at the Moscow Conservatory.

He combined his pedagogical activity with intense composing work. He was fond of the works of symbolist poets. The philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov had a special influence on Scriabin, he was also a friend of the philosopher Sergei Trubetskoy. He attended philosophical circles and literary disputes, which led to the birth of his own philosophical and artistic concept of the "creative spirit", reflected in the Third Symphony "The Divine Poem" (1903-1904), "The Poem of Ecstasy" (1905-1907), "Prometheus" (1911). ), piano works. Later, having become acquainted with the teachings of Helena Blavatsky, Scriabin became interested in Eastern religious teachings and came up with the idea of ​​synthesis of music and other forms of art, reviving the ancient mystery genre.

In 1904-1909, Scriabin lived abroad, gave concerts in America with an orchestra conducted by the famous Hungarian conductor Artur Nikish. In 1909 he performed in Moscow with triumphant success. In 1910, Scriabin finally returned to his homeland.

The last years of his life he devoted mainly to piano compositions. Scriabin's later works - sonatas No. 7-10, piano poems "Mask", "Strangeness", "To the Flame" are somehow connected with the ideas of "mystery". At the same time, he formed a new system of musical thinking, which was developed in the art of the twentieth century.

Scriabin is the first composer who used color and light music when creating his works, who created a table of the correspondence of colors to certain keys. In 1910 for symphony orchestra expanded composition, piano, organ, choir, light Scriabin wrote "The Poem of Fire" ("Prometheus"), which is considered one of his most significant creations. It was first performed in 1911 in St. Petersburg, the piano part was performed by the author himself.

In 1914, at the beginning of the First World War, Scriabin gave concerts in favor of the victims of the war.

Among the composer's works are three symphonies (1900, 1901, 1903-1904); symphonic poem"Dreams" (1898); for piano - 10 sonatas, 9 poems, 26 etudes, 90 preludes, 21 mazurkas, 11 impromptu, waltzes.

On April 27 (April 14, old style), 1915, Alexander Scriabin died suddenly in Moscow from blood poisoning.
In 1916, by order of the City Duma, a memorial plaque was installed on the house of Scriabin. In 1922, the Scriabin Museum was opened in the apartment where the composer lived from 1912 until his death.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted at http://www.website/

SKRYABIN, ALEXANDER NIKOLAEVICH (1872-1915), Russian composer and pianist. Born December 25, 1871 (January 6), 1872 in Moscow. After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory (where he studied, in particular, with A.S. Arensky and S.I. Taneev), Scriabin began to give concerts and teach, but soon focused on composing. Scriabin's main achievements are associated with instrumental genres (piano and orchestral; in some cases - the Third Symphony and Prometheus - the choir part is introduced into the scores). Scriabin's mystical philosophy was reflected in his musical language, especially in innovative harmony, far beyond the boundaries of traditional tonality. The score of his symphonic Poem of Fire (Prometheus, 1909-1910) includes a light keyboard (Luce): beams of projectors of different colors should change on the screen in sync with changes in themes, keys, and chords. The last work of Scriabin was the so-called. The preliminary act for soloists, choir and orchestra is a mystery play, which, according to the author's intention, was supposed to unite humanity (remained unfinished).

Scriabin is one of the largest representatives of the artistic culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A bold innovator, he created his own sound world, his own system of images and means of expression. Scriabin's work was influenced by idealistic philosophical and aesthetic currents. In the bright contrasts of Scriabin's music, with its rebellious impulses and contemplative detachment, sensual languor and imperative exclamations, the contradictions of the complex pre-revolutionary era were reflected.

The main area of ​​Scriabin's work is piano and symphonic music. Legacy of the 80's and 90's the genre of romantic piano prevails. miniatures: preludes, etudes, nocturnes, mazurkas, impromptu. In these lyrical plays, wide circle moods and states of mind from soft daydreaming to passionate pathos. The sophistication characteristic of Scriabin, the nervous exacerbation of emotional expression, is combined in them with the noticeable influence of F. Chopin, and partly A. K. Lyadov. The same images prevail in the major cyclic works of these years: the piano concerto (1897), 3 sonatas (1893, 1892-97, 1897).

The Scriabin family belonged to the Moscow noble intelligentsia. Parents, however, did not have a chance to play a significant role in the life and upbringing of their brilliant son, who was born on January 6, 1872. The mother soon died of tuberculosis, and the father, a lawyer, spent a lot of time minding his own business. Sasha's musical ear and memory amazed those around him. From an early age, by ear, he easily reproduced a melody he heard once, picked it up on the piano or on other instruments that came to hand. But little Scriabin's favorite instrument was the piano. Even without knowing the notes, he could spend many hours behind him, to the point that he rubbed the soles of his shoes with the pedals. “So they burn, so the soles burn,” his aunt lamented.

The time has come to think about general education Sasha. His father wanted him to enter the Lyceum. However, the relatives gave in to the desire of everyone's favorite - be sure to enter the cadet corps. In the fall of 1882, ten-year-old Alexander Skryabin was admitted to the 2nd Moscow Cadet Corps.

Gradually, Sasha made the decision to enter the conservatory. Continuing his studies in the corps, he began to study privately with a prominent Moscow teacher N. Zverev.

In parallel with his studies with Zverev, Skryabin began taking music theory lessons with Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev. In January 1888, at the age of 16, Scriabin entered the conservatory. At the same time, Scriabin was also accepted into the piano class. Here Vasily Ilyich Safonov, a major musical figure, pianist and conductor, became his teacher.

Very soon, Scriabin, along with Rachmaninov, attracted the attention of teachers and comrades. Both of them took the position of conservative "stars", showing the greatest promise. Alexander studied in Taneyev's class for two years. Taneyev appreciated the talent of his student and treated him personally with great warmth. Scriabin responded to the teacher with deep respect and love. The works created by Scriabin during his studies were written almost exclusively for his favorite instrument. He wrote a lot during these years. In his own list of his works for 1885-1889, more than 50 different plays are named. In February 1894, he made his first appearance in St. Petersburg as a pianist performing his own works. Here he met the famous musical figure M. Belyaev. This acquaintance played an important role in the initial period creative way composer.

Through Belyaev, Scriabin began relations with Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Lyadov and other Petersburg composers.

In the mid-1890s, Scriabin's performing activities began. He gives concerts from his compositions in various cities of Russia, as well as abroad. In the summer of 1895, Scriabin's first foreign tour took place. At the end of December of that year, he went abroad again, this time to Paris, where he gave two concerts in January.

Reviews French critics about the Russian composer were generally positive, some even enthusiastic. His individuality, exceptional subtlety, special, "purely Slavic" charm were noted. In addition to Paris, Scriabin performed at the same time in Brussels, Amsterdam, The Hague. In subsequent years, he visited Paris several times. At the beginning of 1898, a big concert from the works of Scriabin, in some respects not quite ordinary: the composer performed together with his pianist wife Vera Ivanovna Scriabina (nee Isakovich), whom he had married shortly before. Of the five departments, Scriabin himself played in three, in the other two - Vera Ivanovna, with whom he alternated. The concert was a huge success.

In the autumn of 1898, Scriabin accepted an offer from the Moscow Conservatory to take over the piano class and became one of its professors.

Among small works of these years, preludes and etudes occupy the first place. The cycle of 12 etudes created by him in 1894-1895 represents the most remarkable examples of this form in world piano literature. The last etude (D-sharp minor), sometimes referred to as "pathetic", is one of the most inspired, courageous and tragic works of the early Scriabin.

In addition to small-form pieces, Scriabin also created a number of large piano works during these years. He wrote his first sonata just a year after graduating from the conservatory. Important in the creative development of Scriabin is his Third Sonata. Here, for the first time, the idea that later formed the basis of his symphonic works is clearly embodied - the need for an active struggle to achieve the goal, based on an unshakable conviction in the final triumph.

At the end of the 1890s, new creative tasks force the composer to turn to the orchestra, to which they devote their main attention for a while. It was a period of great creative takeoff. He discovered the great possibilities hidden in his talent as yet undiscovered. In the summer of 1899, Scriabin began composing the First Symphony. Basically it was completed in the same year. The music of the symphony captivates with romantic excitement and sincerity of feelings. Following the First Symphony, Scriabin composed the Second Symphony in 1901, continuing and developing the range of images outlined in its predecessor. At the end of the century, Scriabin became a member of the Moscow Philosophical Society. Communication in it, together with the study of special philosophical literature, determined the general direction of his views.

These sentiments led him to the idea of ​​the "Mystery", which from now on became for him the main business of life. The "Mystery" was presented to Scriabin as a grandiose work that would unite all kinds of arts - music, poetry, dance, architecture, etc. However, it should have been, in his idea, unclean piece of art, but a very special collective “action”, in which no more no less than all of humanity will take part! It will not be divided into performers and listeners-spectators. The execution of the "Mystery" must entail some kind of grandiose world upheaval.

The idea struck with its grandiosity even the author himself. Afraid to approach him, he continued to create "ordinary" pieces of music. Less than a year after finishing the Second Symphony, Scriabin began composing the Third. However, her writing proceeded relatively slowly. But during the several summer months of the same 1903, Scriabin wrote a total of more than 35 piano works, so great was the creative upsurge he experienced at that time.

In February 1904, Scriabin went abroad for several years. Scriabin spent the following years in various Western countries - in Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, and also went on tour in America. In November 1904, Scriabin completed his Third Symphony. An important event in his personal life dates back to this time: he divorced his wife Vera Ivanovna. The second wife of Scriabin was Tatyana Fedorovna Shletser, the niece of a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Tatyana Fedorovna herself had musical training, at one time she even studied composition (her acquaintance with Scriabin began on the basis of classes with him in theory). But, bowing to the work of Scriabin, she sacrificed all her personal interests for him.

In Paris on May 29, 1905, the first performance of the Third Symphony took place - it became a wonderful monument to Russian and world symphonic music beginning of the XX century. With a pronounced originality, it clearly links with the traditions of domestic and foreign music. After the performance of the Third Symphony, the composer began to work on the next major symphonic work - "The Poem of Ecstasy", which he called at the beginning the Fourth Symphony. Elevation, vivid emotions attract attention in this poem, completed by the composer and written in 1907.

A year later, Scriabin had the idea of ​​the next major orchestral work - the poem "Prometheus". The music of the poem was mainly in 1909.

Features of the idea led to non-standard means for implementation. The most unusual detail of the huge Prometheus score, reaching up to 45 lines, is a special musical line marked with the word "light". It is intended for a special, not yet created instrument - the "light keyboard", the design of which Scriabin himself imagined only approximately. It was assumed that each key would be connected to a light source of a certain color of life.

The first performance took place on March 15, 1911. "Prometheus" gave rise, in the words of contemporaries, "fierce disputes, ecstatic delight of some, mockery of others, for the most part - misunderstanding, bewilderment." In the end, however, the success was huge: the composer was showered with flowers, and for half an hour the audience did not disperse, calling the author and conductor.

Scriabin's thoughts in the last two years of his life were occupied (and unfinished due to his death) by a new work - "Preliminary Action".

As its name indicates, it was supposed to be something like a "dress rehearsal" of the "Mystery" - its, so to speak, "lightweight" version. In the summer of 1914, the First World War. In this historical event, Scriabin saw, first of all, the beginning of processes that were supposed to bring the "Mystery" closer.

In Scriabin's symphonies, there is still a noticeable connection with the traditions of the dramatic symphonism of P. I. Tchaikovsky, with the work of R. Wagner and F. Liszt. Symphonic poems are original works both in conception and in embodiment. The themes acquire an aphoristic brevity of symbols denoting a particular state of mind (the themes of “languor”, “dreams”, “flight”, “will”, “self-affirmation”). In the harmonic sphere, instability, dissonance, and refined spice of sound prevail. The texture becomes more complex, acquiring multi-layered polyphony. In the 1900s in parallel with the symphony, the piano also developed. Scriabin's work, embodying the same ideas, the same range of images in the chamber genre. For example, the 4th and 5th sonatas (1903, 1907) are a kind of "companion" of the 3rd symphony and the "Poem of Ecstasy". The tendency to concentration of expression, compression of the cycle is similar. Hence the one-movement sonatas and piano poems - a genre that had in the late period of Scriabin's work essential. Among the piano works of recent years, sonatas 6-10 (1911-13) occupy a central place - a kind of "approaches" to the "Mystery", a partial, sketchy embodiment of it. Their language and figurative structure are distinguished by great complexity, some encryption.

It is as if Scriabin seeks to penetrate into the subconscious area, to fix in sounds suddenly arising sensations, their bizarre change. Such “captured moments” give rise to short themes-symbols that make up the fabric of the work. Often one chord, two- or three-sound intonation or a fleeting passage acquire an independent figurative and semantic meaning. Scriabin's work had a significant impact on the development of piano and symphonic music in the 20th century.

This portrait of Scriabin at the piano and Koussevitzky at the conductor's stand was painted by Robert Sternl, a German friend of Russian composers. and, in particular, Rachmaninov, whom Sternl also painted on numerous occasions.

During the first months of 1915, Scriabin gave many concerts. In February, two of his speeches took place in Petrograd, which had a very great success. In this regard, an additional third concert was scheduled for April 15th. This concert was destined to be the last.

Returning to Moscow, Scriabin felt unwell after a few days. He had a carbuncle on his lip. The abscess turned out to be malignant, causing a general infection of the blood. The temperature has risen. Early morning On April 27, Alexander Nikolaevich passed away.

Buried A.N. Scriabin at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Alexander Nikolaevich had seven children in total: four from his first marriage (Rimma, Elena, Maria and Lev) and three from his second (Ariadne, Julian and Marina). Of these, three died in childhood, far from reaching adulthood. In the first marriage (with the famous pianist Vera Isakovich) of four children (three daughters and one son), early age two died. The first (being seven years old) died the eldest daughter of the Scriabins - Rimma (1898 - 1905) - this happened in Switzerland, in the holiday village of Vezna near Geneva, where Vera Scriabin lived with her children. Rimma died on July 15, 1905 in a cantonal hospital from an intestinal volvulus.

By that time, Scriabin himself lived in the Italian town of Bogliasco - already with Tatyana Schlozer, his future second wife. “Rimma was Scriabin's favorite and her death deeply shocked him. He came to the funeral and sobbed bitterly over her grave.<…>This was the last meeting between Alexander Nikolayevich and Vera Ivanovna.

The eldest son of Scriabin, Lev was the last child from his first marriage, he was born in Moscow on August 18/31, 1902. Like Rimma Scriabina, he died at the age of seven (March 16, 1910) and was buried in Moscow at the cemetery of the Joy of All Who Sorrow monastery on Novoslobodskaya Street (the monastery does not currently exist). By that time, Scriabin's relationship with the first family was completely ruined, resembling rather the Cold War, and the parents did not even meet at the grave of their son. Of the two (long-awaited) sons of Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin, only one remained alive at that time, Julian.

Ariadna Scriabina converted to Judaism at her first marriage, by her third marriage she married the poet Dovid Knut, with whom she participated in the Resistance movement in France, was tracked down by the Vichy police in Toulouse during a mission to transport refugees to Switzerland and died in a shootout on June 22, 1944 while trying to arrest. In Toulouse, a monument was erected to her, and on the house where A. Scriabina died, members of the Zionist Youth Movement of Toulouse erected a memorial plaque with the inscription: “In memory of Rezhin - Ariadna Fixman, who heroically fell at the hands of the enemy on 22-- VII-- 1944, who defended the Jewish people and our homeland the Land of Israel."

The composer's son Julian Scriabin, who died at the age of 11, was himself a composer, whose works are performed to this day.

Alexander Nikolaevich's half-sister Ksenia Nikolaevna was married to Boris Eduardovich Bloom, a colleague and subordinate of Scriabin. Court adviser B. E. Bloom then served in a mission in Bukhara, and in 1914 he was listed as vice consul in Colombo in Ceylon, where he was “seconded to strengthen the personnel of the political agency,” although he did not travel to the island. On June 19, 1914, their son Andrei Borisovich Bloom was born in Lausanne, who, under the monastic name "Anthony", would later become a famous preacher and missionary, Metropolitan of Surozh (1914-2003).

Prometheus (Poem of Fire) Op. 60-- musical poem (duration 20-- 24 min.) by Alexander Scriabin based on the myth of Prometheus for piano, orchestra (including organ), voice (chorus ad libitum) and "light keyboard" (ital.tastiera per luce), representing a disk on which twelve colored light bulbs were installed in a circle with the same number of switches connected by wires. When playing music, the lights flashed in different colors. Another of the innovative ideas used by Scriabin was the construction of a musical fabric from a single structure - a chord, which was later called "Promethean".

The work was composed in 1908-1910. and was first performed on March 2 (15), 1911 in Moscow by an orchestra conducted by Sergei Koussevitzky. The premiere took place without a lighting party, since the apparatus was not suitable for performance in a large hall.

Prometheus was first performed with a light part on May 20, 1915 at New York's Carnegie Hall by the Orchestra of the Russian Symphony Society conducted by Modest Altshuler. For this premiere, Altshuler ordered a new lighting instrument from engineer Preston Millar, to which the inventor gave the name "chromola" (English chromola); the performance of the lighting part caused numerous problems and was coldly received by critics. According to the then press, the public premiere was preceded by a private performance on February 10 in a narrow circle of selected connoisseurs, among whom were Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan and Misha Elman.

In the 60-70s. there was renewed interest in the performance of Scriabin's work with a lighting part. In 1962, according to the director Bulat Galeev, the full version of "Prometheus" was performed in Kazan, and in 1965. a light-musical film was shot to the music of Scriabin. In 1972, the performance of the poem by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR under the direction of E. Svetlanov was recorded at the Melodiya company. On May 4, 1972, at London's Albert Hall, Prometheus was performed, with light part, by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eliakum Shapira. On September 24, 1975, the Iowa University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Dickson, performed the poem for the first time, accompanied by laser show, the setup for which was designed by Lowell Cross (this concert was filmed and edited as documentary film and re-released on DVD in 2005).

Among the most notable recordings of Prometheus are performances by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado (piano Martha Argerich), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Pierre Boulez, soloist Anatoly Ugorsky), the Philadelphia Orchestra (conducted by Ricardo Muti, soloist Dmitry Alekseev) , London Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Lorin Maazel, soloist Vladimir Ashkenazy).

The premiere of a new symphonic work became the main event of Russian musical life. This happened on March 9, 1911 in St. Petersburg in the hall of the Noble Assembly, the same one that now belongs to the St. State Philharmonic. Conducted by the famous Koussevitzky. At the piano was the author himself. The success was huge. A week later "Prometheus" was repeated in Moscow, and then sounded in Berlin, Amsterdam, London, New York. Light music - that was the name of Scriabin's invention - then fascinated many, here and there new light-projection devices were designed, promising new horizons for synthetic sound-color art.

But even at that time, many were skeptical about Scriabin's innovations - the same Rachmaninov, who once, sorting out Prometheus at the piano in the presence of Scriabin, asked, not without irony, what color it was. Scriabin was offended.

This frail, short man, who bore titanic plans and was distinguished by his extraordinary capacity for work, possessed, despite a certain arrogance, a rare charm that attracted people to him. Bribed his simplicity, childlike immediacy, open credulity of his soul. He also had his little eccentricities - long years stroked the tip of his nose with his fingers, believing that in this way he would get rid of snub-nosedness, he was suspicious, he was afraid of all kinds of infections and did not go out into the street without gloves, did not take money in his hands, at tea drinking he warned not to pick up the dryer that had fallen from the plate - on tablecloths could be germs..

Alexander Scriabin, the most unknown Russian composer, who managed to look into the highest transcendental spheres, possessed the rarest and most amazing gift - synesthesia, or “color hearing”, when music gives rise to color associations and vice versa, when color causes sound experiences. Among Russian composers there is no other such genius who would be as mystical as Alexander Scriabin. His creations are a sacred action, magic, whose mysterious formulas are woven into musical symbols.

MYSTERIES OF THE "PROMETHEUS ACCORD" The esoteric plane of the "Poem of Fire" goes back to the mystery of the "world order". The famous "Prometheus chord" - the entire sound basis of the work - is perceived as the "Pleroma chord", a symbol of the fullness and mystery of the power of existence. The hexagonal “crystal” of the “Promethean chord” is similar to the “Solomon seal” (or the six-pointed symbol that is symbolically depicted at the bottom of the score cover). There are 606 measures in the “Poem of Fire” - a sacred number that corresponds to triadic symmetry in medieval church painting, related to the theme of the Eucharist (6 apostles to the right and left of Christ). In "Prometheus" the proportions of the "golden section" are exactly observed. Particular attention - the final part of the choir. "Prometheus" for Scriabin meant a new stage in the embodiment of the principle of the Absolute in music.

"Prometheus" ("The Poem of Fire") occupies a special place in the work of Alexander Scriabin and is completely unique - in the world space. It is not only a synthesis of music and light, but also an encrypted teaching, a fusion of hidden symbols and, probably, a new Bible consisting of sounds. This is total harmony, the embodiment of the theosophical principle "everything in everything", and the presence of hidden meanings in the poem is amazing.

The choice of the hero, the fire thief Prometheus, was not at all accidental for Scriabin: “Prometheus is the active energy of the Universe, creative principle. It is fire, light, life, struggle, thought. Progress, civilization, freedom,” the composer said. He was obsessed with the idea of ​​becoming world harmony from chaos. But were angels or demons standing behind Alexander Scriabin when he wrote this poem? Scriabin was fascinated by fire. Not only the "Poem of Fire" was "fiery". Alexander Nikolaevich also owns earlier works on the same topic: the poem "To the Flame" and the play "Dark Lights". And in each of these creations, not only (and sometimes, not so much) the life-giving fiery force was sung, but also another, demonic hypostasis of the fiery element, which carries an element of a magical spell and devilish charms.

All researchers of the composer's work agree that Scriabin's Prometheus bears the features of Lucifer. The composer's striking statement is well known: "Satan is the yeast of the universe." For Scriabin, Lucifer was not so much evil as ... a "bearer of light" (lux + fero), a luminous mission. But what color was that "light" of Scriabin's Prometheus-Lucifer? Turns out it's blue-lilac. According to the composer's light-and-sound system, the tonality of F sharp, the main tonality of the Poem of Fire, corresponds to it. Surprisingly, the same blue-lilac gamut is present in the works of other mystics who metaphysically contemplated other spheres of life: Vrubel's demons are blue-lilac, Blok's famous "Stranger" is also riddled with blue-lilac tones. The poet himself spoke of "The Stranger" as "a diabolical alloy from many worlds, mostly blue and purple." Daniil Andreev in his "Rose of the World", describing the diabolical layers, resorts to such descriptions: "purple ocean", "infralilac glow", "luminary of an unimaginable color, vaguely reminiscent of violet."

Poem of ecstasy. A distinctive feature of Scriabin's work is the extraordinary intensity of spiritual development. Scriabin was not only a composer and pianist, but also a philosopher. He did not have a special philosophical education, but already from the beginning of the 1900s he took part in the philosophical circle of S.N. Trubetskoy, carefully studied the works of Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel. But he did not stop at any of these directions. All this served only as a basis for his own mental constructions, which were reflected in his music. Over the years, the composer's philosophical views expanded and transformed, but their basis remained unchanged. This basis was the idea of ​​the divine meaning of creativity and the theurgic, transformative mission of the artist-creator. Under its influence, the content, the "philosophical plot" of Scriabin's works is also formed. This plot depicts the development and formation of the Spirit: from the state of constraint to the heights of self-affirmation. Ups and downs in all musical manifestations are a characteristic feature of Scriabin's style. The principle of comparison and interpenetration of contrasts - grandiose and refined, active-strong-willed and dreamy-languid permeates the dramaturgy of the composer's symphonic works - the Third Symphony, "The Poem of Ecstasy".

Scriabin did not look for musical language "on purpose". His language, which all his contemporaries unanimously recognized as innovative, was for Scriabin a natural manifestation, a worthy means for embodying the ideas that he wanted to convey to the audience. “I am going to tell people that they are strong and powerful, that there is nothing to grieve about, that there is no loss! So that they are not afraid of despair, which alone can give rise to real triumph. Strong and powerful is the one who has experienced despair and conquered it,” the composer wrote in his diary. scriabin prometheus third symphony

The idea of ​​transformation, the victory of the spiritual over the material is seen by Scriabin in the following dramatic triad: languor - flight - ecstasy. These images and psychological states penetrate not only symphonic works of the composer, but also piano miniatures, because Scriabin was the greatest pianist of his time, actively giving concerts all over the world.

Scriabin. Symphony No. 3, in C minor, Op. 43, "Divine Poem"

Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 43, "The Divine Poem"

03/18/2011 at 15:43.

Orchestra composition: 3 flutes, piccolo flute, 3 oboes, cor anglais, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 8 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, tom-tom, glockenspiel, 2 harps, strings.

History of creation

At the end of the 1902-1903 academic year, Scriabin left his position as a professor at the conservatory, as teaching weighed on him and did not allow him to fully devote himself to creativity. In the summer, at the dacha, he worked hard. With the St. Petersburg philanthropist, music publisher M. Belyaev, he concluded an agreement under which Belyaev paid the composer a monthly sum sufficient for the life of his family, and Scriabin covered these amounts by providing his compositions for publication. He was seriously indebted to the publishing house: the amount was so large that it was necessary to compose thirty piano pieces to pay off. Meanwhile, the composer's thoughts were occupied with a new, Third Symphony.

The summer passed in the most intense work - the Fourth Piano Sonata, the Tragic and Satanic Poems, the Preludes op. 37, studies op. 42. And at the same time, the idea of ​​the Third Symphony took shape to such an extent that, having arrived in St. Petersburg in the first days of November, Scriabin was able to introduce his musician friends to it. He wrote to his wife: “Last night he finally performed his symphony in front of a host of St. Petersburg composers and, oh surprise! Glazunov is delighted, Korsakov is very supportive. At dinner, they even raised the question that it would be nice to make Nikish perform it ... I am also happy for Belyaev, who will now publish it with pleasure.

Now Scriabin could go abroad - he had long dreamed of living in Switzerland. However, a month later, Belyaev died unexpectedly, and Scriabin found himself without the support he had become accustomed to over the many years of their friendship. It was not yet clear how relations with Belyaev's successors would develop. M. Morozova, a wealthy student of Scriabin, came to the rescue and offered an annual subsidy. The composer accepted her with gratitude and in February 1904 settled in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. Here he finished the Third Symphony, after which he went to Paris to negotiate its performance.

T. Schlozer came to Paris to see him, who selflessly fell in love with the composer and decided to unite her life with him, despite the fact that Scriabin's wife did not give him a divorce. Perfectly understanding the composer's music and his philosophical searches, Schlozer wrote a literary program (in French) for the premiere of the Third Symphony, which the composer authorized. It is as follows: “The “Divine Poem” represents the development of the human spirit, which, tearing itself away from a past full of beliefs and secrets, overcomes and overthrows this past and, having passed through pantheism, comes to an intoxicating and joyful affirmation of its freedom and its unity with the universe (divine "I")".

The first part is “Struggle”: “The struggle between a man - a slave of a personal God, the supreme ruler of the world, and a powerful, free man, a man-god. The latter seems to triumph. But so far only the mind rises to the affirmation of the divine "I", while the personal will, still too weak, is ready to succumb to the temptation of pantheism.

The second part is “Pleasures”: “Man surrenders himself to the joys of the sensual world. Pleasures intoxicate and lull him to sleep; he is consumed by them. His personality dissolves into nature. And then, from the depths of his being Alexander Nikolaevich Skryabin, the consciousness of the sublime rises, which helps him overcome the passive state of his human "I".

The third part, “The Divine Game”: “The spirit, freed at last from all the bonds that bind it to the past, full of humility before a higher power, the spirit that produces the universe by the mere power of its creative will and conscious of itself as one with this universe, surrenders itself to the sublime the joys of free activity - "divine play"".

The premiere of the Third Symphony took place in Paris on May 29, 1905 under the direction of A. Nikisch. Received the title "Divine Poem", it marks the highest flowering of the composer's work. It reflected the brightest aspects of his talent, the ideas that excited him were embodied. The "Divine Poem" conveys the "pre-stormy" state that engulfed Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. However, it is realized deeply individually, not as a feeling of the coming revolution or other upheavals and cataclysms, but as the life of the soul. Scriabin was one of those composers who did not create spontaneously, but substantiated their work with certain ideas. His notes preserved the main outlines of his philosophical system. “Everything that exists exists only in my mind. The world ... is the process of my creativity,” the composer believed.

The third symphony is of particular interest because, as it were, it connects the early Scriabin with the later. It richly presents various shades of the composer's worldview, his entire path from "despair" to "optimism" and from disappointment in life to radiant ecstasy. For the first time it uses the huge composition of the orchestra, which will later be used in the "Poem of Ecstasy" and "Prometheus".

Music

The first part is preceded by an introduction; at the very beginning, the theme of Liszt's character sounds fortissimo - octaves of bassoons, trombone, tuba and string basses are intoned by seven chanted notes - the theme of self-affirmation, a kind of "I am". This is the core of the whole symphony. She is answered by a sharp fanfare move of three trumpets. The sonority subsides, and overflows of arpeggio harps and strings are heard. They contain a number of colorful harmonic juxtapositions. By the end of the introduction, there is a complete lull, a transition to the first part, which has the subtitle "Struggle".

The first part is built according to the scheme of the classical sonata allegro, but its scale is grandiose. This is achieved by expanding each of the main sections of the form - exposition, development, reprise and large code, which is the second development. main topic the part set forth by the violins, with its melodic turns, is close to the theme “I am”, but unlike the domineering, assertive one, it is uncertain, full of anxiety. So Scriabin shows the bifurcation of the "I" into confident in its strength and vacillating, doubting. This theme repeatedly passes in the orchestra, varying in various ways and splitting up, then growing, then subsiding, conveying a variety of emotional shades. A new phase of development begins: the flute, violins and clarinet take off light scales, and the horns sing in unison with the cellos expressive melody("with enthusiasm and rapture" - remark of the author). This is the first impulse towards light and joy in the symphony. It fades out pretty soon, turning into a restrained waltz-like theme of the violins, partly foreshadowing thematic material the second part. The side part, light, whimsical, flying, is set out by woodwinds against the background of graceful winding melodic patterns of violins. After its brief development, the final game begins, at first restrained, calm. Its coloring, clear and gentle, is created by the tremolo of the strings, the light lines of the woodwinds, the echoes of the harps. A pastoral theme appears in flutes and violins, after which the sonority begins to grow, the melody acquires an ecstatic character, and soon the climax comes on the tutti of the orchestra, indicated by the composer with the remark “divine, grandiose”. The fanfare rhythms of the entire orchestra sound solemnly and at the same time impetuously, and finally the motive “I am” is heard. As in the introduction, it appears twice and resolves twice into a stream of arpeggios. In development, fragments of the main part are played by different instruments, combined with the simultaneous development of a side part. But at the moment of the climax everything seems to collapse, roll down in a swift chromatic scale (the author's remark is "terrible collapse"). Gradually, new culminations are being prepared and collapsed. The latest one in development starts from afar. After reaching the climax, the theme “I am” loudly enters, but quickly breaks off. The following passage is gloomy, disturbing ("with anxiety and horror"). The reprise repeats the main contrasts and climaxes of the exposition, but the presentation of the themes and the orchestration vary. Following the end of the reprise, another extensive coda sounds.

Critics reproached the composer for the excessive expansion of the movement. Indeed, the balance is disturbed, but it is necessary: ​​the first part "overflows" without interruption into the second. Written in a free three-part form, it is entitled "Delights". The first theme of the movement is full of languor, sensual charm. The theme is widely developed: its presentation is rich in exquisite harmonic effects. The episode, equipped with the remark "with boundless ecstasy", is typical of true Scriabin harmonies - the apogee of sensuality, immersion in the delights of pleasures. The harps enter for the first time, the timpani rumble dully on a bass note. A new phase begins - a sinuous melody appears at the clarinet, akin to the future theme of the finale, but emotionally opposite to it - images of pantheism, which are extremely important for the concept of the symphony. The strings are accompanied by a calm tremolo, the horns have sustained notes, the harp has intermittent chords, and the flutes have an imitation of bird chirping, which continues and even intensifies when the main theme re-enters.

The finale - "The Divine Game" - is written in sonata form, more concise than in the first movement. It begins with a trumpet fanfare, performing a melody close to the theme "I am". The music approaches the genre of a fast march, but without a consistently chased rhythm. It is rather the dissolution of real marching into more capricious, vague, unstable rhythms. The side part (flute and cello in unison) resembles the connecting part of the first movement, but is distinguished by concentrated meditation. Its development leads to the final part, in which winding melodic moves give way to light, transparent music, full of lyrical delight. The orchestration is characteristic - string tremolo, harp arpeggios, sparkles of wood, rich copper chords, a vague roar of timpani - and above all the high sounds of the piccolo flute. The elaboration is small, but it vigorously develops the fanfare turns of the “I am” theme of the initial motif of the finale. Scriabin's remarks - "swiftly", "divinely", "luminously", "more and more sparkling" emphasize the steady emotional growth. In the reprise, the main part is greatly reduced, the side part is expanded and contains new features, in particular, more developed fanfare themes from the second movement. The final batch leads to the code. The main themes of all parts sound, and, finally, the theme “I am” is powerfully affirmed for the last time. Scriabin's "I" won. The long-familiar arpeggios, which invariably accompanied the theme of self-affirmation, are now full of triumph, confidence and strength. Here, for the last time, the final, most powerful climax is reached. The tremolo timpani grows. Powerful voices of copper merge into a single choir. This is the highest point of self-affirmation. This is ecstasy.

The anthem of the revolution was his Third Symphony ("Divine Poem"), the first performance of which took place in January 1905 under the baton of the Hungarian conductor Artur Nikita. At the beginning of the XX century. The centers of musical life in Russia were the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres. However, the main achievements of the operatic art of that time are associated with the activities of a private opera in Moscow (S.I. Mamontova, and then - S.I. Zimina). On the stage of the Moscow private Russian opera Mamontov, the talent of the outstanding Russian singer and actor F.I. Chaliapin (1873-1938) was fully revealed. "In Russian art, Chaliapin is an era, like Pushkin," wrote Gorky. The Russian vocal school produced many remarkable singers, among whom the stars of the first magnitude were F.I. Chaliapin, L.V. Sobinov, A.V. Nezhdanova. Complex processes took place in the visual arts. The Association of the Wanderers remained one of the main creative organizations Russian artists. Many of the Wanderers were influenced by the revolutionary movement (N.A. Kasatkin, S.V. Ivanov, I.I. Brodsky and others).

Work	Title in foreign language	Opus number	date of creation
Waltz f-moll
Etude cis-moll
Prelude H-dur
Impromptu in the form of a mazurka in C-dur
Ten mazurkas:
Allegro Appassionato es-moll	Allegro appassionato
Two nocturnes:
First sonata in f minor
Two impromptu in the form of a mazurka:
Twelve etudes:
Two pieces for the left hand: cis minor prelude Nocturne Des-dur
Two impromptu:
24 preludes:
Two impromptu:
Six preludes:
Two impromptu:
Five preludes
Five preludes:
Seven preludes:
Concert Allegro b-moll	Allegro di concert
Sonata 2 gis-moll	Sonate-fantaisie
Piano Concerto fis-moll
Polonaise b-moll
Four preludes:
Sonata 3 fis-moll
"Dreams". Prelude for large orchestra e-moll
Nine mazurkas
Symphony No. 1 in E-dur for large orchestra
Two preludes:
Fantasy h-moll
Second symphony in c-moll for large orchestra
Fourth Sonata Fis-dur
Four preludes:
Two poems:
Four preludes:
tragic poem
Three preludes:
"Satanic Poem"	"poeme satanique"
Four preludes:
Waltz As-dur
Four preludes:
Two mazurkas:
Eight etudes:
Third Symphony "Divine Poem" C-dur
Two poems:
Three plays: ・Album sheet quirky poem · Prelude	Feuillette d'album poeme fantasque
Scherzo C-dur
Like a waltz
Four preludes:
Three plays: · Prelude
Four plays: fragility · Prelude · Inspired poem · Dance of yearning	Danse languide
Three plays: · Mystery ・Poem of languor	Poeme languide
Fifth sonata
"Poem of Ecstasy" for large orchestra	Poeme d'Extase
Four plays: · Prelude
Two plays: · A wish · Dance of caress	caresse dansee
Leaf from the album	Feuillette d'album
Two plays: · Prelude
"Prometheus, Poem of Fire" for large orchestra, piano, choir and organ	"Promethee, le poeme du Feu"
nocturne poem
sixth sonata
Two poems: · Weirdness
Seventh Sonata
Three studies
Eighth Sonata
Two Preludes
ninth sonata
Two poems
Tenth Sonata
Two poems
Poem "To the Flame"
Two dances: · Fairy lights Dark Flame	Flammes sombres
Five preludes

Works unpublished during the author's lifetime or remaining in manuscript

Work	Title in foreign language	Opus number	date of creation
Allegro. Overture in d-moll for symphony orchestra		Incomplete
Andante A-dur for string orchestra
Ballad b-moll		Manuscript (incomplete)
Waltz gis-moll
Waltz Des-dur
Waltz Impromptu Es-dur		Manuscript
Variations on a Theme by Egorova in f-moll
Variations on the Russian theme "Tired of the nights, bored" for string quartet
Canon d-moll
Leaf from the album As-dur
Leaf from the album Fis-dur
Mazurka F-dur
Mazurka h-moll
Nocturne As-dur
Nocturne Des-dur		Manuscript (incomplete)
Nocturne g-moll		Manuscript (incomplete)
Romance for horn and piano	Romance rour cors a pistons in fa
Scherzo Es-dur		Manuscript
Scherzo F-dur for string orchestra
Scherzo As-dur		Manuscript
Sonata cis-moll		Manuscript (incomplete)
Sonata es-moll
Sonata fantasy gis-moll
Fantasy for piano and orchestra a-moll. Arrangement for two pianos		Manuscript
Etude Des-dur		Manuscript (incomplete)

Posted to site

Similar Documents

The performing image of the composer A.N. Scriabin, analysis of some features of his piano technique. Scriabin-composer: periodization of creativity. Figurative-emotional spheres of Scriabin's music and their features, the main characteristic features of his style.

master's thesis, added 08/24/2013


Distinctive features and the importance of music in the early 20th century. Composer activity of S. Rachmaninov, original foundations of his musical style. Creative let the Russian composer and pianist A. Scriabin. Variety of musical styles of I. Stravinsky.

abstract, added 01/09/2011


Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin is one of the most outstanding and versatile figures of Russian culture of the nineteenth century. Creative heritage of the great composer. Borodin's work on the Second ("Bogatyr") symphony. The programmatic nature of the work.

abstract, added 04/21/2012


silver Age as a period in the history of Russian culture, chronologically associated with the beginning of the 20th century. A brief biographical note from the life of Alexander Scriabin. Matching colors and tones. The revolutionary nature of the creative searches of the composer and pianist.

abstract, added 02/21/2016


Childhood years of the outstanding Russian composer Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin. First trials and victories. First love and struggle with the disease. Winning recognition in the West. The creative flourishing of the great composer, author's concerts. Last years of life.

abstract, added 04/21/2012


Piano works of the composer Scriabin. Musical means and techniques that determine the features of the form and figurative content of the prelude. Compositional structure of the Prelude op. 11 No. 2. The expressive role of texture, metro-rhythm, register and dynamics.

term paper, added 10/16/2013


Creativity and biography. Three periods creative life. Friendship with the famous conductor SA Koussevitsky. Creativity of A. N. Scriabin. New stage creativity. Innovation and traditions in the work of A.N. Scriabin. Tenth Sonata.

abstract, added 06/16/2007


Formation of the future composer, family, study. Song creativity of Kendenbil, choral compositions. Appeal to the genre of symphonic music. musical fairy tale R. Kendenbil "Chechen and Belekmaa". Cantata-oratorio genres in the composer's work.

biography, added 06/16/2011


Biography of the Swiss-French composer and music critic Arthur Honegger: childhood, education and youth. Group "Six" and the study of the periods of the composer's work. Analysis of the "Liturgical" symphony as a work of Honegger.

term paper, added 01/23/2013


History of the Czech violin musical culture from its origins to the 19th century. Elements of folk music in the works of outstanding Czech composers. Biography and work of the Czech composer A. Dvorak, his works in the genre of bow quartet.

Alexander Nikolaevich Skryabin

Alexander Scriabin is one of the greatest Russian composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an outstanding, very unique pianist. He was born in Moscow in 1872. His mother was a pianist who graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, his father, being a diplomat, served in the Middle East for a long time.

Alexander was orphaned early, and his aunt took up the upbringing of the boy. Very early, the future composer showed interest in music: he sat for hours at the piano, improvising. It turned out that Sasha has an excellent musical ear and memory.

When the boy was 10 years old, his aunt assigned him to the Cadet Corps, where he successfully completed his course of study in 1889. Initial musical education The well-known theorist and composer G. E. Konyus helped Scriabin get it, later the boy took piano lessons from N. S. Zverev, theory from S. I. Taneyev. For the first time as a pianist, Scriabin performed before the general public in the Hall of Columns of the former Noble Assembly. At that time he was 14 years old.

Alexander Nikolaevich Skryabin

In 1888, Alexander entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied piano with Safonov, theory and composition with Taneyev and Arensky. However, he studied with the latter for a relatively short time, because Arensky did not believe that the young man had the makings of a composer. As a result, Scriabin graduated from the conservatory only in the piano class, receiving a gold medal.

In 1894, Scriabin first performed with his works in St. Petersburg. In this city, he met MP Belyaev and members of his circle. Thanks to their support (Belyaev undertook to publish his compositions), Scriabin was able to give concerts consisting entirely of his own compositions in Russia and abroad. And soon he gained popularity as one of the brightest and most interesting Russian pianists. In 1898, Scriabin became a piano professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Here his pedagogical talent was revealed, which helped him win the love of students.

The very first works of Scriabin that have come down to us were written by him during his studies in the Cadet Corps. During the period when he received his education at the conservatory, and in the coming years after graduation, the composer mainly created works for the piano. These include preludes, mazurkas, impromptu and other miniatures, as well as the first three sonatas and a piano concerto.

The music of the first period of the composer's work can be characterized as lyric-dramatic. Already at this time, the typical for the creative personality of Scriabin, the attraction to the transfer of brightly contrasting areas becomes noticeable: psychologically subtle lyrics and dramatic experiences. In the works of the composer, she found a way out and his love for nature. However, his music was never purely landscape sound-painting: the images that arose in his head under the influence of the beauties of nature were refracted through emotional experiences.

The traditions of Russian and Western European musical culture formed the basis of Scriabin's work. Although he did not use genuine folk themes, his works nevertheless bear a national imprint, manifested in the melody of melodies and in some characteristic features of the harmonic language.

Scriabin's lyrics are already in early years has a touch of sophistication and intimacy. The uniqueness of the composer's style is reflected in literally all the elements of his musical language: the flexible, restless rhythm is especially noteworthy.

Anton Stepanovich Arensky

The most characteristic features of Scriabin's work of the 90s are most noticeable in the piano concerto, in the Third Sonata, in a number of preludes, etudes and other compositions of these years.

At the beginning of the 1900s, Scriabin's musical talent reached its peak. From that moment on, the composer focuses his attention mainly on symphonic works. In 1900, he completed the First Symphony, which marked the transition of the author's work to a new level. Two years later, the Second Symphony appears, in 1904 - the Third ("Divine Poem"). Simultaneously with these major works, Scriabin created a large number of works for pianoforte, including the Fourth Sonata, a number of poems and preludes.

In 1904, the composer left the Moscow Conservatory and went abroad. During his stay there (about six years), he managed to visit Switzerland, Italy, France and the United States of America, write the "Poem of Ecstasy" (1907) for orchestra, the Fifth Sonata and many small piano pieces. His music is gradually gaining more and more recognition.

Introduction theme from the symphony "The Divine Poem" by A. N. Scriabin

During this period, Scriabin develops mainly the theme of life's struggle, overcoming various obstacles encountered in the path of man. In one of his letters there are such lines that perfectly reflect his position: “To become an optimist in the true sense of the word, one must experience despair and overcome it.” The theme of resolving the difficulties that now and then arise in life was already outlined in the composer's First Symphony and was further developed in the Second. main role active, strong-willed images of a heroic deed, the triumph of light play in these compositions. As an epigraph to the Third Symphony and to the "Poem of Ecstasy", one could probably take the words of the composer himself: "I'm going to tell people that they are strong and powerful."

Scriabin's musical language in the 1900s became much more complicated. In the melody, declamation, an abundance of active imperative intonations become more noticeable. The rhythms are notable for their impetuosity, suggesting that the compositions are to some extent danceable.

Scriabin combines new features with the classical rigor of form and an abundance of clearly defined sections. Even more clear is the composer's desire for completeness, consistency and careful finishing of all the details of the texture.

In 1909, Scriabin returned to Russia and in 1910 finally settled in Moscow. He still continued to perform as a pianist in various Russian cities and abroad. In 1910, Scriabin made a concert tour with the orchestra of the famous conductor Koussevitzky around the Volga cities, and in subsequent years he gave concerts in Germany, Holland, and England.

Scriabin splendidly and inimitably performed works of his own composition. Pianist M. L. Pressman, who studied with Scriabin at the conservatory, later recalled: “He had an exceptionally charming sound in terms of beauty and softness, light and clear mobility of his fingers. In small passages, the piano sounded incomparably with him. He could extract almost orchestral colors from it, there was a lot of grace in it. If we add to all this that he had a wonderful command of the pedal, then the physiognomy of Scriabin the pianist will be clear.

One of the reviewers wrote the following words about Scriabin's performance: “Scriabin plays somehow intimately, as if improvising, as if confessing his innermost inspirations to himself. I would like to put out the lights in the hall and in the dark to eavesdrop on the movements of his rich soul. You can't talk about his technique. You don't think about her when you listen to him play. You only hear and experience what he, by his creative will, makes you hear and experience - this is greatest art!… He looks like his spiritual predecessor – Chopin…”

Despite being very busy and constantly performing as a pianist, Scriabin also finds time to create new works, which include the symphonic poem Prometheus (Poem of Fire) for orchestra, solo piano and choir singing without words. After this composition, he wrote five more sonatas, the poem "To the Flame" and a number of small piano pieces.

Under the influence of the reactionary mystical teachings, very common in those years, Scriabin plans to create a grandiose work called "Mystery", combining various types of art in it. He dreamed that all mankind would take part in the "Mystery". Its fulfillment will lead to the death of the world as a material principle and the liberation of the spiritual principle. Reflections on the fusion of the arts prompted the composer to introduce into the score of "Prometheus" a special musical line, denoted by the word luce ("light"), intended for some kind of light instrument not yet invented by mankind. During the performance of "Prometheus", the hall, according to Scriabin's idea, was to be illuminated by light waves of different colors, corresponding to certain musical themes and harmonies.

In works last period Scriabin's musical images often acquire an abstract character, become conditional image-symbols. Thematic development is replaced by a complex combination of different themes. The compositions are dominated by complex modes: for example, in Prometheus, the main harmony, which displaced triads and other chords of the major-minor mode system, becomes a consonance of six tones, built in fourths.

In the last year of his life, Scriabin worked on the "Preliminary Act", which he considered as a kind of prologue to the "Mystery". From this work, only the poetic text written by him and a few rough sketches of music have survived.

In the spring of 1915, the composer gave concerts in Petrograd. Upon his return to Moscow, he fell seriously ill and died soon after.

Creativity Scriabin had a huge impact on Russian and foreign music. Many composers mastered expressive techniques, especially Scriabin's harmonies.

Piano compositions make up the largest part of Scriabin's entire heritage. Among them are a number of large-scale works - a concerto, 10 sonatas and plays (B-minor fantasy, the poems "Tragic", "Satanic", "To the Flame", a nocturne poem). There are a lot of miniatures - mainly preludes, etudes.

In the 1900s, the genre of the poem appeared in Scriabin's piano work. Some of the plays written by him during this period have peculiar bizarrely mysterious names, for example, Irony, Riddle, Mask, Strangeness, etc.

Of the 10 sonatas created by the composer between 1893 and 1913, the first three are traditional sonata cycles. The rest are composed on the principle of one-part. The Third and Fourth, related to the composer's symphonic work, are rightfully considered one of his best achievements. The fifth sonata echoes the "Poem of Ecstasy", the last five sonatas are generally close in style to "Prometheus".

Piano works early period Scriabin's works are distinguished by the melodiousness and beauty of the melodic language. The composer's lyrical melody, flexible and plastic, often has a kind of sinuous pattern that conveys the subtlest shades of spiritual experiences. Despite the melody, Scriabin's melody is more instrumental than vocal, song in nature. This feature is most noticeable in the dramatic episodes of his music. Their melody is characterized by breaks, jumps, pauses.

Scriabin almost did not turn to such forms of imitative polyphony as fugue, fugato, although the features of polyphony are clearly manifested in his works. Widely using a variety of figurations, he skillfully created intricate patterns from them. A complex, multifaceted presentation is typical of Scriabin's piano style.

Six scores (not counting the piano concerto), a small orchestral composition "Dreams", 3 symphonies and 2 poems ("The Poem of Ecstasy" and "Prometheus") belong to the symphonic area of ​​the composer's work.

Scriabin's symphonism was built on the basis of a creative combination and refraction of various traditions of symphonic classics of the 19th century. All three of his symphonies are united by a common ideological concept, the essence of which reflects the struggle of the human personality with hostile forces that block its path to freedom. Moreover, this confrontation each time ends with the victory of the hero and the triumph of light.

The First Symphony (E-major, 1899 - 1900) consists of 6 parts. In this work, all the skill of the composer as a symphonic playwright is clearly felt. He opposes various images to each other, skillfully develops them, saturating the music with the dynamics of the struggle and at the same time preserving the integrity and harmony of the form. But the vocal and symphonic finale was much less successful for Scriabin. He himself said that he could not yet convey here "the light in music."

The Second Symphony (1902) continues the line of the First, but it is more dramatic and heroic. Its "through action" leads from the gloomy, harsh moods of the first, introductory part to a heroic impulse.

The Third Symphony and the "Poem of Ecstasy" reflected Scriabin's desire for maximum concentration of musical content: if the First Symphony had 6 parts, the Second - 5, the Third had only 3, and the "Poem of Ecstasy" and "Prometheus" were single-movement compositions.

In Scriabin's symphonic works, emotional contrasts characteristic of his work are very noticeable. The composer himself defined them by the expressions "highest grandiosity" and "highest refinement." Heroic Promethean images are compared with refined, refined and fragile images - the themes of the "dream".

These two planes of Scriabin's symphonic dramaturgy are most clearly expressed in the Poem of Ecstasy. This work is a kind of transitional stage between the middle and final periods of Scriabin's work. Some new features appear in it, previously uncharacteristic of symphonies and indicative of the development of the composer's style. For example, in the "Poem of Ecstasy" there are practically no extended melodies, almost each of its many themes is, in fact, an individual, expressive, but very laconic musical phrase. Continuous symphonic development is replaced by an alternation of rather short, emphatically contrasting episodes.

Along with the evolution of Scriabin's symphonic style, the development of orchestral means also took place. Starting with the Third Symphony, the composition of the orchestra has grown significantly. It includes, not counting the strings, 4 instruments of each type of woodwind, the brass group includes 8 horns, 5 trumpets, 3 trombones and a tuba. In addition, there are 2 harps and a percussion group. In the “Poem of Ecstasy” and in “Prometheus”, an organ, celesta, bells and bells are added to this composition, and in “Prometheus” - piano and choir.

The composer died in 1915.

From the book of 100 great musicians author Samin Dmitry

ALEXANDER NIKOLAEVICH SKRYABIN /1872-1915/ The Scriabin family belonged to the Moscow noble intelligentsia. Parents, however, did not have a chance to play a significant role in the life and upbringing of their brilliant son, who was born on January 6, 1872. Mother soon died of tuberculosis, and father

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BO) of the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BU) of the author TSB

Team of authors

Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin (1872–1915) The Scriabin family belonged to the Moscow noble intelligentsia. Parents, however, did not have a chance to play a significant role in the life and upbringing of their brilliant son, who was born on January 6, 1872. The mother soon died of tuberculosis, and

From the book Popular History of Music author Gorbacheva Ekaterina Gennadievna

From the book of 100 famous Muscovites author Sklyarenko Valentina Markovna

Alexander Nikolaevich Skryabin Alexander Skryabin is one of the greatest Russian composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an outstanding, very unique pianist. He was born in Moscow in 1872. His mother was a pianist who graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in her time, his father,

From the book Big Dictionary of Quotes and Popular Expressions author Dushenko Konstantin Vasilievich

Skryabin Alexander Nikolaevich (born in 1872 - died in 1915) Russian composer, pianist. He created 222 compositions, including 3 symphonies, "The Poem of Ecstasy", "Prometheus", "The Poem of Fire", Piano Concerto; numerous works for piano, including 10 sonatas,

From the author's book

SKRYABIN, Alexander Nikolaevich (1871/72–1915), composer 262 Poem of Ecstasy. Name compositions for symphony orchestra