Alexander Scriabin

What do you think of Scriabin's orchestral music? I absolutely love it. I haven't heard his first 2 symphonies or his "Reveries", however I am very familiar with his Piano Concerto, his 3rd Symphony and also his Poem of Ecstacy, Poem of Fire, and L'Act Preable.

The later pieces (the last three I mentioned, especially the last two) are in a really cool, unique "Scriabinesque" musical language. There are many places in the music that send shocks up my neck and scalp (do any of you experience this with music?)

I've attached a little sample from his Third Symphony, the "Divine Poem" so you can hear what its like.

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Hmmm... the file didn't attach right. Here it is again.

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I find his stuff very intriguing when I first heard it - it felt quite a bit different than the stuff that his contemporaries wrote, and even from those in the age following him (though there are a lot of similarities as well). I believe it said that if he hadn't died so young, atonality would've probably started in Russia rather than Vienna . I have a recording of his Preparations for the Final Mystery (which was actually done mostly by another Russian composer, Alexander Nemtin I think, piecing together the scraps of manuscript of what Scriabin had before he died), and though I haven't had the time to site through it in one listening (at about 3 hours it's no quickie ), the textures and progressions in that piece were absolutely amazing. It really brings about the setting that he intended it to be performed in (the coming of the Judgement Day, all the people in the world gathered to sing a final requiem), minus all the funky synesthesic instruments of course - but still, worth checking out .

It is nice... it reminds me of the Ravel that I have heard. I don't like how he uses the brass though. I often find that composers abuse the brass section (save for the french horn) and I got that from your clip. Seeing that he and Ravel were comtemporaries, it isn't surprising either. Music from the turn of the (last) century has never been among my favorites, so I can't say that I will be purchasing Scriabin's music anytime soon. But I do thank you for bringing him to my attention.

I recall playing Scriabin's First Piano Sonata a few years back. His orchestral scores show a similar sort of development. his early works, such as the First Symphony, are full of bravura and an almost Straussian (Richard) exuberance. But he does become quite a bit more mystical as he progresses, and his harmonic lagunage is very advanced. while I did not like 'Poem of Ecstacy', 'Poem of Fire' is first rate.