Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin (1872-1915): Enlightenment or illness?
Eliezer Witztum, Vladimir Lerner
Journal of medical biography June 6, 2014 DOI: 10.1177/0967772014537151 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Perceptual disorders Affective disorders, psychotic History, 19th century History, 20th century Famous persons Russia Synesthesia Creativity Synaesthesia Scriabin Colour music |
| Key points | Raises the question of whether the composer Scriabin was a mystic genius or suffered from affective psychopathology with psychotic features, noting that the content of an experience alone usually does not determine whether an individual is psychotic. |
Abstract
The similarity between psychotic symptoms and aspects of mystical experiences is well known. It has long been recognized that there are similarities between mystical and spiritual and psychotic experiences. The content of an experience alone usually does not determine whether an individual is psychotic. The Russian composer Scriabin (1872-1915) was among the most famous artists of his time. Scriabin infused his music with mysticism, evolving a modernistic idiom through which he created a musical counterpart to the Symbolist literature of that period. In this paper, we discuss the question that arises from perusing Scriabin's life is whether the composer was a mystic genius or whether he suffered from affective psychopathology with psychotic features.