Scriabin, Aleksandr Nikolayevich, 1872-1915, Russian composer and pianist. The name is sometimes spelled Skriabin or Skryabin. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, where he later taught (1898-1903). In his piano compositions, including nine sonatas and such pieces as Satanic Poem, he introduced chords built in fourths instead of the conventional major and minor triads, producing an exotic, mystical effect. He aspired toward a fusion of the arts, and his Divine Poem (1904; the third of three symphonies), a programmatic orchestral work, attempts to unite music and philosophy. Prometheus: a Poem of Fire (1908) calls for a color organ that produces a play of lights upon a screen during the performance. A projected composition, Mysterium, that would have employed the media of all the arts, including colors and scents, was never realized.

(born Jan. 6, 1872, Moscow, Russia—died April 27, 1915, Moscow) Russian composer and pianist. He studied piano and composition at the Moscow Conservatory and then launched a successful concert career. His early music was mostly for piano (including études, preludes, and sonatas) but also included two symphonies and a piano concerto. After 1900 he was much preoccupied with mystical philosophy and began using unusual harmonies, producing a third symphony and the Divine Poem (1904). He became involved in theosophy, which provided the basis for the orchestral Poem of Ecstasy (1908) and Prometheus (1910); the latter called for the projection of colours onto a screen during the performance. No longer thinking in terms of music alone, he made sketches for a huge operatic ritual, Mysterium, which was never composed.

Learn more about Scriabin, Aleksandr (Nikolayevich) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 6, 1872, Moscow, Russia—died April 27, 1915, Moscow) Russian composer and pianist. He studied piano and composition at the Moscow Conservatory and then launched a successful concert career. His early music was mostly for piano (including études, preludes, and sonatas) but also included two symphonies and a piano concerto. After 1900 he was much preoccupied with mystical philosophy and began using unusual harmonies, producing a third symphony and the Divine Poem (1904). He became involved in theosophy, which provided the basis for the orchestral Poem of Ecstasy (1908) and Prometheus (1910); the latter called for the projection of colours onto a screen during the performance. No longer thinking in terms of music alone, he made sketches for a huge operatic ritual, Mysterium, which was never composed.

Learn more about Scriabin, Aleksandr (Nikolayevich) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

The Piano Sonata No. 9, opus 68, commonly known as the Black Mass Sonata, is one of the late piano sonatas composed by Alexander Scriabin. The work was written around 1912–1913, and although its nickname was not invented by Scriabin—who did however refer to his Seventh Sonata as White Mass—he personally approved of it.

Structure and content

The ninth sonata spans a single movement, typically lasting 8–10 minutes, marked as follows:

1. Moderato quasi andante - Molto meno vivo - Allegro molto - Alla marcia - Allegro - Presto

Like Scriabin's other late works, the piece is highly chromatic and atonal. The Black Mass Sonata is particularly dissonant because many of its themes are based around an interval of a minor ninth, one of the most unstable sounds. The ninth sonata is an unmistakable masterpiece; notable Scriabin contemporaries such as Igor Stravinsky praised it. Its marking 'legendaire' exactly captures the sense of distant mysterious wailing which grows in force and menace. The opening theme is constantly transformed, from the early trill arpeggio's sounding unsettling and then completely shifting, eventually tumbling in rapid cascades into a grotesque march. Scriabin builds a continuous structure of mounting complexity and tension, and pursues the combination of themes with unusual tenacity, eventually reaching a climax as harsh as anything in his music. The piece ends with the original theme reinstated.

Like Scriabin's other sonatas, it is both technically and musically highly demanding for the pianist, sometimes extending to three staves as opposed to the standard two used in piano music.

Recordings

As one of Scriabin's more well known works, the ninth sonata has been recorded and performed extensively, most notably by Vladimir Horowitz, Vladimir Sofronitsky, and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Notes

References

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