INTRODUCTION. An Initial Comparison of Scriabin’s Early, Middle and Late Period Works

Introduction. An Initial Comparison of Scriabin’s Early, Middle and Late Period Works

Throughout his life, Scriabin’s harmonic language underwent an evolution. His

earliest works were inspired by the compositions of Chopin, specifically their abundant

use of dominant seventh chords with added dissonances. Likewise, Scriabin was

influenced by Chopin’s innovative pianistic textures and voice-leading techniques.

Scriabin’s early output (until roughly 1900) contained many works in the genres which

Chopin earlier employed: namely, the Mazurka, Waltz, Impromptu, Prelude, Etude, and

Nocturne. Scriabin assimilated many of Chopin’s ideas pertaining to texture, chord

spacing, and contrapuntal figuration.

In 1921, in an essay published in “Revue Musicale,” Boris de Schloezer, Scriabin's brother in law, was the first to divide Scriabin’s works into three periods.1 This

thesis examines the evolution of Scriabin’s harmony across these three periods by means

of a focus on the Etudes Op. 8 (published in 1895), Op. 42 (1904), and Op. 65 (1912).

One etude from each creative period will be analyzed in detail. It is important to start

with a sample comparison of piano works selected from each of his three stylistic

periods, in order to have a general overview of how Scriabin’s harmonic language and

treatment of texture evolved.

Scriabin’s earliest work in the genre, the Etude in C-sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1,

was written in 1886, when he was fifteen years old (Ex. 1 on the following page). It was published in 1894, by the German publishing house Jurgenson.2

1 Peter Sabbagh, The Development of Harmony in Scriabin's Works, USA Universal Publishers, 2003, 11. 2 This was shortly before Scriabin met the influential publisher Mitrofan Belaieff.

Of this work, Faubion Bowers writes in his book Scriabin, a Biography: “The popular

Etude in C-sharp minor is almost Scriabin’s signature in the West. It is a contemplative,

melancholy, searching piece whose simple ascending melody is underlined with plangent chords.”3 The texture of the Etude Op. 2, No. 1 is characteristic of Scriabin’s early period

works.

Ex. 1. Scriabin Etude in C-sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1 (composed in 1886)

The most notable textural feature of this music is the extensive thumb crossing

between the hands. Many of the notes cannot be held down by the fingers alone and must

be prolonged by a skillful use of the pedal. This, in turn, results in more non-harmonic

notes being captured on the pedal. It also naturally brings out the repeated-tone element

in the left hand. The texture (along with the unconventional distribution of the notes

between the hands) is therefore directly linked to the decisive issue of tone production. When Alexander Siloti4 edited Scriabin’s Trois Morceaux, Op. 2 for publication by Carl

Fischer Publishing in New York (see Ex. 2 on the next page), he unwisely eliminated all

3 Faubion Bowers, Scriabin, a Biography, New York, Dover, 1996, 1:136. 4 Pianist, conductor, and composer Alexander Siloti (1863-1945) was an esteemed student of Franz Liszt, and one of the piano teachers of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).

the thumb crossing in this etude (and, in turn, most of the pedaling challenges) by redistributing notes into the right hand.5

Ex. 2. Scriabin Etude in C-sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1, Siloti edition

Scriabin assimilated an important characteristic of Chopin’s piano writing by

employing there, and in much of his early period music, a liberal use of the technique of

thumb-crossing. The resulting widely-spaced figurations depend on pedaling in order to

prolong the tone, which, in turn, creates a wider array of overtones than would arise when

the notes are held with the fingers alone. This subtle effect will be absent if a performer

uses Siloti’s edition.

The Chopin Prelude in A major, Op. 28, No. 7 (Ex. 3 on the following page) is

one of many examples of Chopin’s use of interlocking thumbs in his textures. There, the

left hand thumb goes over the right, even when a more conventional redistribution of

notes between the hands could significantly ease the work's pianistic challenges.

5 Carl Fischer published the Siloti edition ca. 1929. It was later reprinted by an unidentified publisher and is now available online on IMSLP (accessed April 12, 2020). https://imslp.org/wiki/3_Pieces,_Op.2_(Scriabin,_Aleksandr)

Both Chopin and Scriabin often use thumb crossing as a device to highlight a

certain register of the piano (creating unusual timbres). In Chopin’s Prelude in A major,

Op. 28, No. 7, the high E played by the left hand thumb is emphasized in mm. 1, 2 and 4.

Ex. 3. Chopin Prelude in A major, Op. 28, No. 7

The careful voice-crossing which is prevalent in early Scriabin works also points to his desire to maintain meticulous voice leading within a subtly polyphonic texture.6

Another important characteristic (which will be developed further in his later

opuses) is the prominent use, within the texture of a composition, of the sonority of the

open fourth (as shown in Ex. 4). The pianistic challenges posed by the unusual texture of

Scriabin's Etude Op. 2, No. 1 are similar to those to be found later in his Etude in B-flat

minor, Op. 8, No. 11 (Ex. 5 on the following page), to be discussed in Chapter 2.

Ex. 4. Scriabin Etude in C-sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1

6 See Chapter 2 for specific examples.

Ex. 5. Scriabin Etude in B-flat minor, Op. 8, No. 11

Another distinctive trait of Scriabin's musical style—one that can be heard

throughout his entire compositional output, and as early as the aforementioned Etude Op.

2, No. 1—is the use of dotted rhythms as a motivic element. Examples 4 and 5 present

this quite notably.

Scriabin’s early works (through Op. 25) were recognized by his contemporaries as being inspired by Chopin’s compositions.7 This was also the case for other members of

the Belaieff circle to which Scriabin belonged—most notably Liadov—who composed many works in the genres strongly associated with Chopin (more on this in Chapter 1).8

The previous generation of Russian composers, such as Balakirev, likewise composed works in genres which Chopin pioneered, particularly the Mazurka.9 Jim Samson writes

in The Cambridge Companion to Chopin: “it is indeed arguable that the most productive

legacy of Chopin 'the Slavonic composer' was not in Poland at all, but in Russia. There,

his [considerable] impact was… inspirational in the formation of radical nationalist styles by the composers of the Balakirev circle.”10

7 Scriabin’s Nine Mazurkas, Op. 25, published in 1899, were the last piano works belonging to his early period. 8 Anatoly Liadov (sometimes transliterated as Lyadov), 1855-1914. 9 Mily Balakirev (1837-1910) formed the “Mighty Handful” (also known as “The Five”) in the early 1860’s. This was a group of composers who promoted Russian nationalism and wrote in a musical style which was distinctly more progressive than the emerging Russian conservatory tradition. 10 Jim Samson, The Cambridge Companion to Chopin, Cambridge University Press, 1994, 7.

Another important characteristic of Scriabin’s early piano writing was his use of

long pedal-tones with non-functional harmonies over them. Sergei Rachmaninoff, who had been Scriabin’s classmate, was also fond of this device.11 Rachmaninoff’s Etude-

Tableau in E-flat minor, Op. 39, No. 5 (Ex. 6 on the following page) was written in 1916-

1917, some twenty years after the publication of Scriabin’s famous Etude in D-sharp

minor, Op. 8, No. 12. As we compare the Rachmaninoff’s Op. 39, No. 5 (Ex. 6) to

Scriabin's Op. 8, No. 12 (Ex. 7)—which is enharmonically in the same key—strong

similarities in texture can be observed, especially during the buildup to the coda in the Scriabin example (starting at measure 33).12

Likely the bass notes in each example are meant to be evocative of church bells.

Rachmaninoff, in his dictated reminiscences, discussed the important role of bell-like sonorities in Russian music13: “This love of bells is inherent in every Russian. I always

associated the idea of tears with them. The sound of church bells dominated all the cities

of Russia I used to know: Novgorod, Kiev, Moscow.”14

11 Rachmaninoff and Scriabin had the same teachers in Moscow: Taneyev, Arensky and Zverev. 12 Scriabin, especially starting from the works of his middle period and on, had a strong preference for keys with sharps, rather than flats. 13 Bell-like effects can be found in many of Rachmaninoff’s works, including his Suite No. 1 for Two Pianos Fantaisie-Tableaux, Op. 5, and the choral symphony The Bells, Op. 35. 14 Sergei Bertensson, Sergei Rachmaninoff: a Lifetime in Music, Indiana University Press, 2001, 184.

Ex. 6. Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableau in E-flat minor, Op. 39, No. 5

Ex. 7. Scriabin Etude in D-sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 12, mm. 33-38

While Scriabin’s early style was firmly diatonic, he had already found certain

unique qualities which remained present in his music throughout all his stylistic periods.

Among these, two in particular are to be noted (as shown in examples 7, 8 and 9):

1. The extensive use of cross-rhythms, often in conjunction with quintuplets and sharply dotted rhythms, such as the 32nd notes preceded by a rest, which can be observed in the right hand melody of the Etude Op. 8, No. 12 (Ex. 7).

2. Figurations which unfold harmonies downwards in the left hand, delaying the arrival of the root note. While it most often is to be found in the middle and late period, it is a technique which he also employs in the early period piano works.

Ex. 8. Scriabin Etude in F-sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 2

Ex. 9. Scriabin Etude in B major, Op. 8, No. 4

Other specific modes of harmonic and textural treatment in Scriabin’s early

period etudes will be discussed in the detailed analysis of the Etude in F-sharp minor,

Op. 8, No. 2, to be found in Chapter 2.

In the last few years of his early period Scriabin did not produce many

compositions, as his teaching duties took up much of his time. Arthur Eaglefield Hull, the

author of the first-ever Scriabin biography in English, explains: “As time went on

Scriabin found his pedagogic duties seriously clogging his creative work, and in 1903…

he followed Taneyev’s lead and resigned from his post in order to devote himself entirely to composition.”15

15 Arthur Eaglefield Hull, A Great Russian Tone-Poet, Scriabin, London, K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1916, 46.

Immediately after his resignation, there was an explosion of creativity, and he produced a

tremendous number of compositions, including the Symphony No. 3 in C minor (1902-

1904), the Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major (1903-1904), and more than thirty additional works for piano solo.16

Scriabin left Russia in 1903 and returned only in 1909, settling in Moscow in

1910. His compositions starting from 1903 display a rapidly evolving harmonic language.

It is for this reason that Scriabin’s middle period is sometimes referred to by his

biographers as the “transitional period”.

The Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30 (1903) marked Scriabin’s

transition from his early period to his middle period. Of it, Bowers writes: “this music

created a unique vocabulary of astonishment. Its evolution had been almost imperceptible

and such a gradual break with the conventions of preceding music was rare among twentieth-century composers.”17 The first phrase of this composition (Ex. 10) already

reveals Scriabin’s extended use of chromaticism, especially in the bass line, and in the

appearance over-all of “apparent harmonies” (chromatically-inflected chords which seem

to be self-standing, but are actually better understood as the result of contrapuntal voice-

leading in a fundamentally diatonic context).

Ex. 10. Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30

16 Hull, Tone-Poet, 46. 17 Bowers, Biography, 1:331.

During the middle period, Scriabin did not yet break away from a foundational

employment of diatonic harmony. The cadences throughout this music retain clear V-to-I

motion, yet the impact of individual passing chromatic sonorities clearly foreshadow the

far more “structural” chord constructions of Scriabin’s late period. It should be noted that

Scriabin had already experimented with a high degree of chromaticism towards the end

of his early period. His Mazurka Op. 25, No. 3 (1899), for instance (Ex. 11), is a

distinctly forward-looking work which employs a chromatic bass line very similar to the opening of the aforementioned Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30.18

Ex. 11. Scriabin Mazurka in E minor, Op. 25, No. 3 (1899)

From a rhythmic perspective, the compositions of the middle period feature even

more complex textures than are to be found in the early music. Many of the non-

functional harmonies found in this stylistic period are generated from chromatic stepwise

motion.

There are works in Scriabin’s middle period featuring extended sections (usually

prolonging a single harmony) which do not fit neatly into a diatonic framework. His

forward-looking Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53 (1907) is a good example (see Ex. 12 on the

following page). It features several techniques that will become the central basis for pitch

18 Scriabin’s Nine Mazurkas Op. 25 (composed in 1898-1899) are his last opus of his early period.

organization in the late period works, namely: the non-functional dominant chord

sonorities, and a “tritone-link” motion in the bass which provides the main harmony with

two valid root notes. However, Scriabin does not relinquish use of the traditional V-to-I

bass motion entirely at this point in his career; that will only occur with the initial piano

works of his late period: the Two Pieces (Deux morceaux), Op. 59. The absence of

traditional cadential bass motion by falling perfect fifth (or rising perfect fourth) is one of

the most defining features of his unique harmonic system to be found in the late period

music.

Ex. 12. Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53 (1907), mm. 13-33

This entire section of Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 5 (Ex. 12) is essentially an

expansion of a single harmony and is centered around the two fundamental bass notes of

E and A-sharp (which are a tritone apart). Note the underlying apparent dominant seventh

chord sonority (E, F-sharp, A-sharp with added dissonances) and chords stacked by

fourths. The bass-motion is generally by minor third or tritone. These methods of pitch

organization will be used extensively throughout the music of Scriabin's late period.

The Eight Etudes Op. 42 were written in 1903, the first—and perhaps the single

most productive—year of Scriabin’s middle period. The set is characterized by florid

textures and harmonic vagueness. Nevertheless, all eight of the Op. 42 Etudes end with a

traditional cadence on the tonic chord in root position. Many of Scriabin’s figurations in

these etudes obscure the underlying harmonic motion—yet, in fact—still only on the

surface level. This can be observed in the Etude in F-sharp major Op. 42, No. 3 (Ex. 13).

Ex. 13. Scriabin Etude in F-sharp major, Op. 42, No. 3 (1903)

The left hand can easily be reduced, structurally, to a single underlying harmony,

since all of the non-harmonic notes (marked in the score) can be explained as decorations

of that unifying chord. The D-natural in the first measure is an incomplete neighboring

note which resolves to C-sharp, and the non-harmonic E-sharp likewise resolves to an F-

sharp. Similarly, in measure two, the B-flat resolves to A, and the C-sharp to a D-natural.

Thus, the simplicity of the underlying diatonic harmony is only made clear to a

listener at the end of each measure, when all the non-harmonic notes resolve. However,

the fundamental diatonicism of this music is subtly colored with the various neighboring

notes which have—albeit on a surface level—strongly hinted at more complex chromatic

harmonies and progressions. In the first measure (Ex. 13), the fundamental harmonic

tones in the left hand are: A-sharp, C-sharp and F-sharp, and in measure two they are F-

sharp, A and D. The right hand of this etude also contains many non-harmonic, dissonant

notes which further serve to obscure the underlying harmony.

What changed Scriabin's fundamental reliance on diatonic harmony? What led

him, in fact, to abandon it? To an important degree it was his exposure, around 1905, to the mystic writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky19 (however, he had been somewhat

familiar with mystic thought earlier, through his association with Prince Trubetskoy which started around 1900).20 Writes Alfred J. Swan in his Scriabin biography: “After the

completion of his Symphony No. 3 Le Divin Poème (The Divine Poem), which he

worked on from 1902 until its completion in 1904, he was thrust into contact with

theosophy. He kept up from that time a constant intercourse with the leaders of theosophic thought.”21 Don Louis Wetzel points out that Scriabin’s interest in mysticism

fell in line with the intellectual currents in Russia at the time:

Mysticism as an aspect of spiritual realism was very much in vogue during the turn of the century in Russia. Along with the influential teachings of Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) came the esoteric mystic-philosophical doctrines of Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891).Theosophical notions of world catastrophe, cleansing destruction, suffering, and the building of a new, superior culture in which Russia would play a leading role were variants on the same messianic theme dear to Russian god-seekers (idealists) and god builders (rationalists) alike.22

19 H.P. Blavatsky (1831-1891). Co-founder of the Theosophical Society, occultist, and author. 20 Prince Sergey Nikolayevich Trubetskoy (1862-1905). A professor at the philosophical faculty in Moscow, who ran the Religious and Philosophical Society which Scriabin attended. See Francis Maes, A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2002, 211. 21 Alfred J. Swan, Scriabin, London, 1923; repr., New York, Da Capo Press, 1969, 90. 22 Don Louis Wetzel, “Scriabin in Russian musicology and its background in Russian intellectual history”, PhD Diss., Thornton School of Music, 2009, 70.

When Scriabin composed the 3 Etudes Op. 65, his life was revolving around the

Mysterium (also known as the Mystery) project, which ultimately remained unfinished.

The Mysterium was a festival of “omni-art” that would fuse music and speech, lights and

perfume, dance and gesture with his theosophically inspired beliefs. The ideas that

inspired the Mysterium also influenced all his late period compositions (starting from

1910). Anna Gawboy writes in her Ph.D. dissertation on the Prometheus, Op. 60:

Scriabin believed that there had once been a divine, primal unity which had been broken to form the diversity of the material world. Art, too, had once been unified, but had since been fragmented to form the separate genres of music, painting, dance, and poetry. Scriabin’s belief in the fundamental correspondence between art and life led him to theorize that by reuniting the arts in the Mysterium, his “omni-art” could bring about the primal unity which had existed at the beginning of the cosmos.23

Scriabin’s own philosophical writings at the time were generally derived from those of

Blavatsky, which in turn were based around the core ideas of earlier world mysticism.

Boris de Schloezer writes in his book Scriabin: Artist and Mystic: “This phase of

Scriabin’s spiritual development owed most to theosophy… he felt tremendous admiration for Mme. Blavatsky to the end of his life.”24 In 1905, Scriabin asked a

question, which he then proposed to answer in a radical manner:

How can you express mysticism with major and minor? How can you convey the dissolution of matter, or luminosity? Above all, minor keys must disappear from music. Minor is abnormal. Minor is an undertone. I deal with overtones. Oh, how I want to break down the walls of these tempered tones.25

By 1910, Scriabin developed a new system of harmony which, arguably, accomplished

exactly that. His Deux morceaux, Op. 59 [Two Pieces, Op. 59] were the first piano works

23 Anna Gawboy, “Alexander Scriabin’s Theurgy in Blue: Esotericism and the Analysis of Prometheus: Poem of Fire, Op. 60”, Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 2010, 38. 24 Boris de Schloezer, Scriabin: Artist and Mystic, trans. Nicolas Slonimsky, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987, 68. 25 Bowers, Biography, 107.

to use this new system of tonal organization.26 As can most strikingly be observed in

them, Scriabin has completely gotten rid of the traditional harmonic bass motion by

perfect fifths at cadences and replaced it with motion by tritone. He has also abandoned

key signatures.

The ending of Scriabin’s Prelude Op. 59, No. 2 (Ex. 14, starting from m. 56 in the

work) reveals his new approach to harmony.

Ex. 14. Scriabin Prelude Op. 59, No. 2, mm. 56-61

The most important new characteristics first observed in the Prelude Op. 59, No. 2 are:

the bass motion by tritone, the use of the acoustic scale as the underlying mode, and

chords stacked in fourths. In the last seven measures of the prelude, every pitch (except

the D-flat in the final chord) is derived from the overtone series, particularly its upper

partials. It is these partials, in fact, which generate the acoustic scale (see the overtone

series and the acoustic scale illustrated on the next page).

26 Scriabin’s orchestral work Prometheus Op. 60, written in 1910, was his first published work to use his new system of harmony. The Deux Morceaux Op. 59 for piano solo were composed at the same time, but not published until 1912.

Ex. 15. The acoustic scale is derived from the upper partials of the overtone series

As noted before, the only pitch (in Ex. 14) which does not belong to the above

collection is the D-flat in its final chord. That pitch is derived, instead, from the octatonic

scale rising from the same note - C. It has been generally observed that Scriabin used the

acoustic scale—with the addition of two “foreign” notes derived from the octatonic scale

built up from the identical initial pitch—is the central mode of pitch organization to be

found in the works of his late period.

Ex. 16. Scriabin’s “Chord of the Pleroma”, also known as the “Prometheus Chord”, “Synthetic Chord” and “Mystic Chord”

The use of the acoustic scale as the pitch generator of Scriabin’s late-period harmonies

was first observed in his Prelude Op. 59, No. 2 and in his orchestral work Prometheus,

Op. 60.27 Lana Forman notes that the composer quite consciously and clearly explained

27 And to a lesser extent: the octatonic scale.

the significance of his “Prometheus Chord” or the “Synthetic Chord:28 “Scriabin himself

called it the ‘chord of the pleroma’ apparently referring to the Gnostic meaning of the

word (pleroma as the spiritual universe, the abode of God and of the totality of the divine powers and emanations).” 29 This chord is based on the acoustic scale which, in turn, is

generated by the harmonic overtone series (see Ex. 15 and 16 on the previous page).

Swan writes: “this chord is derived from some of the more dissonant upper partial

tones of sound [overtones]. Upon analysis it will be found to embrace all the four kinds

of triads (major, minor, diminished and augmented). That is why it has been called synthetic.”30 However, it was only one of many possible vertical sonorities which Scriabin generated with his system of modes.31

Creating a harmonic structure from a linear progression, and thereby gradually

breaking down the distinction between melody and harmony, was an historically notably

achievement of Scriabin, with far-ranging reverberations in the procedures of several of

the 20th century’s most noted musical radicals, such as Arnold Schoenberg and, in his

own way, Igor Stravinsky.

But it was hardly an “abstract” issue for Scriabin; it arose from his own passionate

understanding of the mystic idea that, fundamentally, the multiplicity and unity of reality

were identical (this will be discussed in Chapter 4). As stated previously, it is likely that

Scriabin was introduced to these ideas as early as 1900, during his association with the

28 Also known as the Mystic Chord, a term coined by Arthur Eaglefield Hull in 1916. 29 Forman, “Mysticism”, 9. 30 Swan, Scriabin, 99-100. 31 When the astounded Rachmaninoff asked Scriabin to explain the opening chord of Prometheus, Scriabin replied that it was the “Chord of the Pleroma”. The concept of the Pleroma—the primordial divine wholeness—goes back to Eastern Christian Gnosticism. See Forman, “Mysticism”, 9.

prominent Russian philosopher Prince Sergey Trubetskoy32, but could not find a way to express them fully in his music until the works of his late period.33

The analysis of the Etude Op. 65, No. 3 in Chapter 7 will reveal how Scriabin

incorporated pitches from the octatonic collection at key structural moments in lieu of

what otherwise would have functioned at such points: traditional cadences. Scriabin’s

writing in his late period, moreover, acquired greater transparency through the use of

compositional techniques restricting, in a highly economical way, the choice of modes

and intervals.

The specific differences between middle period and late period compositional

techniques in this regard will be clarified later in this dissertation. Overall, it was

Scriabin’s middle period which featured the greatest degree of textural complexity. There

is a paradox here, as it was a result of adding figuration to obscure an underlying

harmony still firmly rooted in traditional progressions with triads as the main building

block.

It was only in the late period, with the employment of his “Synthetic” or “Mystic

Chord”, that Scriabin realized his goal: breaking free of traditional major and minor

chord constructions. However, this was not his sole method of pitch organization at that

time, as the analysis of the 3 Etudes Op. 65 will reveal. Furthermore, Scriabin’s Etudes

Op. 65 feature some particularly restrictive intervallic techniques which are not found in

his other works.

32 Trubetskoy introduced Scriabin to the writings of Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), a poet, philosopher and literary critic who was the first Russian mystic to construct a philosophical system informed by his mystic experience. See Julia A. Lamm, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Christian Mysticism, John Wiley & Sons, 2017, 495. 33 Siglind Bruhn, Voicing the Ineffable: Musical Representations of Religious Experience, Pendragon Press, 2002, 41.