The Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53, is a work written by Alexander Scriabin in 1907. This was his first sonata to be written in one movement, a format he retained from then on. A typical performance lasts from 11 to 12 minutes. The work is considered to be one of Scriabin's most difficult compositions, both technically and musically. [1]
After finishing his symphonic poem Le Poème de l'Extase, Op.54, Scriabin did not feel comfortable living in Paris. In early September 1907 he wrote:
Life is fearfully expensive, and the climate is rotten. The air in the areas where we could find an apartment big enough for us at a reasonable price is frightful ... you cannot make any noise. You have to wear house slippers after 10 at night. [2]
Scriabin decided to go to live in Lausanne with his pregnant wife Tatyana, [nb 1] since he found the place to be cheaper, quieter, and healthier, and only 7 hours away from Paris. Also, he had his music being printed there, as he had recently broken his long-term partnership with publisher M.P. Belaieff due to financial discrepancies. [3]
In his new peaceful household in Edifice C Place de la Harpe, [nb 2] Scriabin could play the piano without fear of complaints from neighbours, and soon began to compose again, alongside the revisions he was making to the score of Le Poème. On 8 December, Tatyana wrote to a friend:
We go out a little, having caught up on our sleep. We begin to look normal again. Sasha even has begun to compose – 5th Sonata!!! I cannot believe my ears. It is incredible! That sonata pours from him like a fountain. Everything you have heard up to now is as nothing. You cannot even tell it is a sonata. Nothing compares to it. He has played it through several times, and all he has to do is to write it down ... [4]
In late December, Scriabin wrote to Morozova about the imminent completion of his new work:
The Poem of Ecstasy took much of my strength and taxed my patience. ... Today I have almost finished my 5th Sonata. It is a big poem for piano and I deem it the best composition I have ever written. I do not know by what miracle I accomplished it ... [5]
Although the actual writing took only six days, from 8 to 14 December 1907, some ideas had been conceived much earlier. The initial nine bars of the first theme of the exposition, Presto con allegrezza(mm. 47 ff.), can be found in a notebook from 1905 to 1906, when Scriabin was in Chicago. [nb 3] Another notebook from 1906 contains the Imperioso theme (mm. 96 ff.), while elements from the Meno vivo(mm. 120 ff.) can also be made out, as well as sketched-out passages for a few other sections. [3] [6] [nb 4]
Scriabin included an epigraph to this piano sonata, extracted from his essay Le Poème de l'Extase: [nb 5]
Original Russian text
Я к жизни призываю вас, скрытые стремленья!
Вы, утонувшие в темных глубинах
Духа творящего, вы, боязливые
Жизни зародыши, вам дерзновенье приношу!
Original French translation
Je vous appelle à la vie, ô forces mysterieuses!
Noyées dans les obscures profondeurs
De l'esprit créateur, craintives
Ebauches de vie, à vous j'apporte l'audace!
English translation
I call you to life, O mysterious forces!
Drowned in the obscure depths
Of the creative spirit, timid
Shadows of life, to you I bring audacity! [7]
Five months after its completion, Scriabin published the work himself in Lausanne, producing an edition with 300 copies. [3] He later gave the autograph as a present to his pupil Alfred La Liberté. In 1971 the pianist's widow gave the manuscript, along with various other documents, to the Scriabin Museum. [6]
The work was premiered on 18 November 1908 in Moscow by pianist Mark Meitschik. [3]
The piece is written in sonata form [8] with an introduction. The structure of the work is described in the table below:
| Section | Subsection | Excerpt | mm. | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 1 |  | 1–12 | The sonata begins with an introduction. Its first part consists of an agitated theme, marked allegro-impetuoso-con stravaganza. It features trills and glissandos, and ends in an agitated ascending rush followed by a pause. |
| 2 |  | 13–46 | A second theme follows at m. 13, marked languido. [nb 6] | |
| Exposition | First theme |  | 47–95 | The exposition commences at m. 47. The first theme, marked presto con allegrezza is in F♯ major and set in binary form. The first half begins with a 6-bar phrase (harmonized as dominant eleventh chord) followed by the same phrase transposed a fourth higher (harmonized with a C♯ minor seventh chord). After this, a 4-bar and a derived 5-bar phrases. The second half (mm. 69 ff.) begins as A but now over a tonic pedal. After reprising the first 12 bars, a series of shorter phrases bring more agitation to the passage, leading to the transition passage. |
| Transition |   | 96–119 | The transition begins at m. 96, and consists of three 2-bar motifs. It gradually moves from the initial C♯ major tonality to the Bb major tonality of the second theme. The first motif is marked imperioso . The second is marked sotto voce misterioso affanato. These two motifs are presented alternatively three times, then, the second is prolonged and bursts in a third 2-bar motif marked quasi trombe-imperioso. A dominant ninth chord prepares the entrance of the second theme. | |
| Second theme |  | 120–139 | The second theme begins at m. 120. It is marked meno mosso, is in B♭ major and also set in binary form. The first half begins with a chromatic phrase built over a dominant chord. The second (mm. 134 ff.) quotes the first but now over a tonic pedal. | |
| Codetta |  | 140–165 | The codetta follows at m. 140, interrupting the second theme. It consists of three motifs. First, a new 2-bar motif, marked allegro fantastico, followed by a longer idea, marked presto tumultuoso esaltato, which is stated twice. It concludes with a shortened version of the trill theme transposed a major second up. | |
| Development | 1 |  | 166–184 | The development at m.166 begins presenting the first 17 bars of languido theme transposed a major second up. |
| 2 |  | 185–226 | The development section follows with an episode featuring the first theme, which is "interrupted" several times by the imperioso motif. | |
| 3 |   | 227–270 | The next section features materials derived from the coda and the introduction. First, the presto tumultuoso esaltato is developed. The trills theme is briefly quoted(mm. 247–250). Then, the languido theme is mocked (mm. 251ff.). | |
| 4 |   | 271–288 | At m. 271 fragments of the meno mosso theme appear. First, it is partly stated twice, and then, it is interrupted twice by the allegro fantstico theme. | |
| 5 |  | 289–312 | At m. 289 the allegro fantastico motif succeeds over the meno mosso theme, and a passage built over this motif begins, creating increasing tension. | |
| 6 | 313–329 | At m. 313 the allegro fantastico passage burst in a climax based on the meno mosso theme. The four-bar phrase is stated three times, each one a fifth lower, first in D♭ major, then in G♭ and finally in B. However, the expected final climax is interrupted by the reexposition of the first theme in pp. | ||
| Recapitulation | 329–400 | The exposition (second half of the first theme, transition, second theme) is repeated note-for-note transposed a fifth down. | ||
| Coda | 401–457 | The coda is modified so as to lead to a climatic fff statement of the languido theme, followed by the ascending rush of the first musical idea. | ||
According to Samson, unlike his later sonatas, [nb 7] the sonata-form of this work still has some meaning to the work's tonal structure. That means the sonata is arguably in F-sharp major (owing to the initial key signature of six sharps), but the sonata could also be said to be atonal due to its lack of a definite tonal center. [8]
The work does not contain any perfect cadence, nor any consonant chord. [nb 8]
The work features one of the strange occurrences of the complete mystic chord spelled in fourths (mm. 264 and 268). Jim Samson [9] points out that it fits in well with Scriabin's predominantly dominant quality sonorities and harmony as it may take on a dominant quality on C or F♯. This tritone relationship between possible resolutions is important to Scriabin's harmonic language, and it is a property shared by the French sixth (also prominent in his work).
The piece also contains an incipient instance of the mystic chord which helps illuminate its origins in tonal language; first appearing at m. 122, the set [0 2 4 6 T] is presented as a dominant chord with the flat fifth degree in the bass, later revealed to be an extended appogiatura to the tonic (m. 134), over which the same notes form a major 13th chord in root position. Compare this presentation with the 'mature' mystic chord, [0 1 3 5 7 9].
This is Scriabin's most recorded sonata. Pianist Sviatoslav Richter described it as the most difficult piece in the entire piano repertory. [10]
Notable recordings include those by Alexei Sultanov, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Sofronitsky, Michael Ponti, Samuil Feinberg, Glenn Gould, Garrick Ohlsson, Marc-André Hamelin, Bernd Glemser, Maria Lettberg, Igor Zhukov and Pietro Scarpini.
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone that is commonly used in the final cadence in tonal classical music, popular music, and traditional music. In the movable do solfège system, the tonic note is sung as do. More generally, the tonic is the note upon which all other notes of a piece are hierarchically referenced. Scales are named after their tonics: for instance, the tonic of the C major scale is the note C.
Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality, in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a single, central triad is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale function independently of one another. More narrowly, the term atonality describes music that does not conform to the system of tonal hierarchies that characterized European classical music between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. "The repertory of atonal music is characterized by the occurrence of pitches in novel combinations, as well as by the occurrence of familiar pitch combinations in unfamiliar environments".
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed in a relatively tonal, late-Romantic idiom. Later, and independently of his influential contemporary Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed a much more dissonant musical language that had transcended usual tonality but was not atonal, which accorded with his personal brand of metaphysics. Scriabin found significant appeal in the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk as well as synesthesia, and associated colours with the various harmonic tones of his scale, while his colour-coded circle of fifths was also inspired by theosophy. He is often considered the main Russian Symbolist composer and a major representative of the Russian Silver Age.
The emancipation of the dissonance was a concept or goal put forth by composer Arnold Schoenberg and others, including his pupil Anton Webern. The phrase first appears in Schoenberg's 1926 essay "Opinion or Insight?". It may be described as a metanarrative to justify atonality. Jim Samson describes:
As the ear becomes acclimatized to a sonority within a particular context, the sonority will gradually become 'emancipated' from that context and seek a new one. The emancipation of the dominant-quality dissonances has followed this pattern, with the dominant seventh developing in status from a contrapuntal note in the sixteenth century to a quasi-consonant harmonic note in the early nineteenth. By the later nineteenth century the higher numbered dominant-quality dissonances had also achieved harmonic status, with resolution delayed or omitted completely. The greater autonomy of the dominant-quality dissonance contributed significantly to the weakening of traditional tonal function within a purely diatonic context.
In music, the mystic chord or Prometheus chord is a six-note synthetic chord and its associated scale, or pitch collection; which loosely serves as the harmonic and melodic basis for some of the later pieces by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. Scriabin, however, did not use the chord directly but rather derived material from its transpositions.
The Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 64, subtitled Messe Blanche, was written by Alexander Scriabin in 1911. As one of the late piano sonatas of Scriabin's career, the music is highly chromatic and almost atonal. George Perle says that, "the primary set upon which the Seventh Sonata is based," is, in linear order as spelled by Scriabin, E, F♯, G, A, B♭, C, D♭, and that the mystic chord may be derived from the quartal spelling of this set.
The Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 66, by Alexander Scriabin, was composed between 1912 and 1913. As one of Scriabin's late piano sonatas, the eighth sonata features non-tertian harmony, though is arguably less dissonant than some of his other late works. Like Scriabin's other late piano sonatas, the eighth sonata reflects the composer's mystical interests. Scriabin saw some parts of this sonata, which, like the sixth sonata, he never performed in public, as "the most tragic episode of my creative work".
The Piano Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30, was written by Alexander Scriabin around 1903 and first published in 1904. It consists of two movements, Andante and Prestissimo volando, and is one of Scriabin's shortest piano sonatas. The sonata is generally considered to be the beginning of Scriabin's middle period due to the newly mystical sonorities and tonal ambiguity of the first movement. It remains one of the most performed of Scriabin's sonatas.
Vers la flamme, Op. 72, is one of Alexander Scriabin's last pieces for piano, written in 1914.
The Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 70, was written by Alexander Scriabin in 1913. It was his final work in this form. The piece is highly chromatic and tonally ambiguous like Scriabin's other late works, although arguably less dissonant than most of his late works. It is characterized by frequent trills and tremolos. It is sometimes called his "Insect Sonata", referring to his words:
L'isle joyeuse, L. 106 is a piece for solo piano by Claude Debussy composed in 1904. According to Jim Samson (1977), the "central relationship in the work is that between material based on the whole-tone scale, the lydian mode and the diatonic scale, the lydian mode functioning as an effective mediator between the other two."
In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures built from the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. For instance, a three-note quartal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fourths, C–F–B♭.
In music, unified field is the 'unity of musical space' created by the free use of melodic material as harmonic material and vice versa.
G-sharp minor is a minor scale based on G♯, consisting of the pitches G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E, and F♯. Its key signature has five sharps.
The Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 is a ballade for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin, completed in 1842 in Paris. It is commonly considered one of the masterpieces of 19th-century piano music.
Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7 in B♭ major, Op. 83 (1942) is a sonata composed for solo piano, the second of the three "War Sonatas". The sonata was first performed on 18 January 1943 in Moscow by Sviatoslav Richter. Performances of this sonata can last anywhere from 17 to about 20 minutes.
In music theory and harmonic analysis, a synthetic chord is a made-up or non-traditional (synthetic) chord which cannot be analyzed in terms of traditional harmonic structures, such as the triad or seventh chord.
This title is applied to a group of notes, usually a scale-like succession of pitches, with a fixed progression of tones and semitones. This scale can obviously be transposed to any pitch, and depending on its intervallic makeup, will have a fixed number of possible transpositions. Furthermore, the sintetakkord can be used either vertically or horizontally; Roslavets' music is not concerned with the order of the pitches, but rather with the whole 'field' thus created, so that the system is less oriented toward themes and more toward harmonic fields. [See: Josef Matthias Hauer]
The Elektra chord is a "complexly dissonant signature-chord" and motivic elaboration used by composer Richard Strauss to represent the title character of his opera Elektra that is a "bitonal synthesis of E major and C-sharp major" and may be regarded as a polychord related to conventional chords with added thirds, in this case an eleventh chord. It is enharmonically equivalent to a 7#9 chord : D♭-F-A♭-C♭-E and a 6b9 chord : E-G#-B-C#-F.
The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54, is a symphonic poem by Russian composer and pianist Alexander Scriabin written between 1905 and 1908, when Scriabin was actively involved with the Theosophical Society. The 20-minute work premiered on 10 December 1908 in New York.
Post-tonal music theory is the set of theories put forward to describe music written outside of, or 'after', the tonal system of the common practice period. It revolves around the idea of 'emancipating dissonance', that is, freeing the structure of music from the familiar harmonic patterns that are derived from natural overtones. As music becomes more complex, dissonance becomes indistinguishable from consonance.
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