Scriabin – piano music in the context of the composer’s creative ideology. Part 1

Abstract

The article is the first part of a cycle of texts devoted to the profile and piano works of Alexander Scriabin. The composer had an extraordinary piano talent and the ability of coloured hearing. He worked out an innovative musical language based on a unique harmonic style. He was an unprecedented visionary of art, he had knowledge on philosophical topics, he was also a mystic who wanted to save the mankind thanks to his creative output. The article’s author asks questions about the reasons of this radical evolution of Scriabin’s musical language, the reflection of his personality and creative views and the connections of music with mystical experiences. As he believes, finding a way to a possibly authentic explanation of these issues may contribute to a better understanding of the composer’s creative intentions in the context of the artistic interpretation of his piano works. The first part of the cycle presents the artist’s biography, his poetry and philosophical works. It discusses the most important events in his life, his music education and activity as a pianist and a composer, paying attention to the phenomenon called synesthesia and his idea-based creative aspirations. The analysis of the composer’s philosophical notes will allow for determining his worldview. As a result, the article will present the connections between the spheres of Scriabin’s activity, covering subsequent stages of his life and the transformation of his artistic views serving as a reference to the evolution of his musical language, which will be discussed in the next part of the cycle.