Scriabin plays Scriabin Poem Op. 32 No. 1, Fis-dur

[webbergraham]

So remarkable. Thank you. I'm just 'discovering' Scriabin now, and actually loving the speed of this. I love that those beautiful, poetic lines, are lingered on.....

[lovesGenet]

Scriabin is on more piano programmes than Schoenberg ,Messiaenor Bartok.I go to competitions and many recitals he is not overlooked at all.I wish thee was more Bartokand Messiaen ,they are more respected but they are not in every high schoolers head .I've met pianists who play shostakovich's piano sonata and preludes and yet have never programmed them. The shame is totally on the side of the un-romantics! Berg is certainly finer stuff as is Messiaen and Bartok.I adore him but he aint ignored.

[tonecrafter55]

After Scriabin died, Rachmanninoff paid him homage by touring Russia by train while performing all-Scriabin concerts. His admirers clamoured for some of his own pieces but Rachmanninoff doggedly declared, "Scriabin, only Scriabin".

[thelestuss]

re: RollaAartis

You're right about rolls... they make problematic recordings, but that's not the point. such a precious recording from a precious composer is all about getting the chance to hear his touch... his conceptualization of breath and phrasing, and where he sees the foreground, the melody in each hand, coming through and how the hands play together.

[RollaArtis]

@thelestuss Yes, exactly.

[edoeli]

Scriabin is jazz man !! fantastic !

[superstition2]

I love the ending.

[ilovescarlatti]

This composition is one of the best piano piece ever composed.

[monkeymanNr1]

this is amazing tonal mastering thats why I love his music because its tonal structure is amazing

[ilovescarlatti]

quite different to the interpretation on 1910 ... here the tempo is slow.........i prefer the other -one.......... Scriabin genius genoius genius........i love him..

[ilovescarlatti]

i'm crazy for Scriabin! fantastic genius.. i looooove him,

He's at the same level of Chopin , Schumann etc.... From Bach,Scarlatti to Debussy.... His music is out of time !!!!!!!!

[RollaArtis]

Hello truecrypt - You might be interested to know that I put this recording on the media player and moved the speed setting around - and found that this performance comes alive at a slightly faster speed. Getting the correct tempo is often a problem with roll recordings.

[truecrypt]

@RollaArtis

I think you're absolutely correct!

[Bstniea]

@truecrypt on the sheets, It's noticed 50bpm (dotted eighth note)...

[Chopinco]

@RollaArtis Im just analysing this poem and when i heard this recording i thoug just on that =D and this is the first comment i see :D

[hilocomtoot]

Now this is more like what one would expect from a piano roll's sound, unlike the 8/12 etude that's supposedly is Scriabin playing pre 1915???? I'm now even more skeptical of the etude being played the composer....it's just too clean/clear! Here the piano itself sounds of the era as the 8/12 doesn't, it's way to refined to today's standards.

[julneojazz]

Amazing!!!!!

[julneojazz]

Amazing!!!!

[pianolainstitute]

Actually the speed is about right, but the piano is too loud, which makes it seem too slow. All Scriabin's Welte rolls were made on the same day, and it is most unlikely that the recording machine was running at the wrong speed just for this one. Scriabin was renowned for the intimate and improvisatory nature of his playing, unlike Rachmaninov's more public style. Try the recording of the same roll on the Pianola Institute website, which captures the feeling of intimacy rather better.

[MikeJohnstonguitar]

beautiful...what a warm feeling his music gives

[lenucya]

I love it! thank you dearly!

[RollaArtis]

I think the tempo of this piano roll was set too slow - it needs to be a bit faster as the (re) performance sounds as if it is dragging, especially towards the end

[nmcil]

Thank you so very much for posting these and all the images -

[gtimny]

truecrypt, can you tell me anything about how this piano roll was realized? From the clicks and pops and relatively poor piano tone this sounds very old. As you know, piano rolls are dependent on the operator for speed and to some degree dynamics. The reason I ask is that this comes across - to me, anyway - without much dynamic contrast and at a tempo slow enough that the melodic lines break. So I wonder if it's really what Scriabin had in mind. Thanks for posting all this fabulous stuff.

[truecrypt]

You will probably get better info by checking out Wiki for "piano roll" - they have pretty clear description how it all works.

From purely musical point of view, these recordings are "pale shadows" of real playing. It's better than nothing (much better!), but many essential qualities are missed or greatly distorted. So... it is close to what Scriabin had in mind, but one has to turn on "internal filter" to imagine a real thing.

[v8a8n8o8s8s]

This article by Anatole Leikin has a good analysis of what the piano rolls were (un)able to capture in Scriabin's playing.

"The Performance of Scriabin's Piano Music: Evidence from the Piano Rolls," Performance Practice Review, vol 9 no. 1 (1996): 97-113.

[hinatachansama]

there are some nice comments around. it feels good to know there also are some true 'music lovers

[hilqary]

THIS IS NOT SCRIABIN PLAYING, IDIOTS!

[truecrypt]

Seems like you made 2 mistakes in one sentence.

It IS Scriabin's playing and people are not idiots....

[bandong1234567890]

truecrypt, thank you for this marvelous recording but do you have a recording of scriabin playing his etude op 42 no 5? it is my favourite etude and i really wanted to hear it from him. if you have it can you please post it? thank you once more.

[truecrypt]

I'm not aware of such recording...

[bleriot100]

What an inexhaustibly evocative, spell-casting piece this is. There is no solution to its mystery.

[lvomelhor11]

does anyone know what 'inaferando' at 1:03 means?

great that we have these recordings btw

[Neongrapes]

Well he's using Italian; so I looked "Inaferando" in an Italian

dictionary and got nothing; but then I took out the "a" and looked up "Inferando" and I got "Inferring" but doesn't really fit

...who knows

[computerdborbo]

@Neongrapes

hi, i answer you after two years...

im italian and the correct word is inafferrando... which i suppose means not caught..

[voolare]

I'm Italian and I guarantee you that Scriabin invented this word. If you put together "in" (in the meaning of "not" and "afferrando" one can guess it means something like " not grasping". That part of music is undescribable to me, so I appreciate his inventing a word for it!

[SarrasaniPianoCircus]

"Inaferando" , fantastic!!!

But my absolute favourite is the "Festosamente.Fastoso" of the Tragic Poem!!

[pianodreams12345]

the prophet speaks

[Neongrapes]

I love Scriabin to death. I only wish that his incredible genius

was given its proper due, instead of being overshadowed

by Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bartok, Shostakovich, Messiaen,

Mahler, Rachmaninov, you name it. Also, he's overshadowed

by the impressionists. But, I can't complain about that because I love Debussy, Ravel, Satie. If only Scriabin

could have lived 10 or 20 more years. The sublimity

of his music would be unparalleled.

[Minoru73]

I agree.. But the most composer who overshadowed him was Rachmaninov. Many people even don't ever heard Scriabin's works.. I think, he was like Schubert who was overshadowed by Beethoven. But still, i love Scriabin ever! : )

[WAMEDJO]

Yesterday I've been listening to Rach's op33 and 39 and remembering that he told his schoolfriend Scriabin he thought was "on a wrong way" I said to myself : "Seems that he wasn't so confident on his opininon after all..."

[trigalg693]

My teacher says in Russia he is quite popular, as is Medtner (although not really). Over here in the US the only Russian music anyone ever plays is Rachmaninoff or Prokofiev :(

[kempff95]

great comment!!

very honestly.........

[Neongrapes]

thanks I appreciate it

[ilovescarlatti]

@Neongrapes

i agreee-- he os oneof the genius of the whole art...i love him as Chopin and others.....incredible genius

[ilovescarlatti]

@Neongrapes

i totally agree. SCriabin is fantastic gennius. Wishes from Como lake Italy

[XenoType008]

@Neongrapes I'd say between Chopin and Liszt... they both lead to Scriabin, Debussy and Ravel etc... then the rest came after. Plus i don't think it's overshadowed, there must be shadows only delusional people only think those in the light matter.

[skryabyn]

well said, ragtimemarkbirnbaum

[maurofoil]

come mai lo eseguiva così lento?

[ragtimemarkbirnbaum]

HYPNOTIC AND BEAUTIFUL -

THX

[supersmashmike45]

it sounds strange and dizzy,

[wolkowy1]

No matter all the discussion. It's amazing music and playing. Thanks for uploading.

[voolare]

At 2:42, before the second "inaferando" he plays totally different notes than what the published score. to me it sounds like a mistake from which he recovered with great improvising skills

[ChrisWatch]

I don't think he would allow a mistake with a recording. Perhaps he found a better use. Or someone played his piece back to him and favored his markings. You never know.

[voolare]

On the contrary, in old recordings you had only one shot to play, and if there were mistakes.. well.. tough luck!

[2ndviolinist]

There were often retakes - each one limited to straight through for one side or cylinder or whatever. These guys had few technical problems and would not usually need retakes for mistakes. Some would leave wrong notes, like Cortot, but who cares?

[OrnishMathe]

Is this a piano roll? That does not account for the static. Is this perhaps a cylinder recording?

[beeteep60]

sounds like its from record

[stienwayz]

You have a good recording of this too. Do you know what type of piano it is being recorded on?

[truecrypt]

Do you mean the piano brand it was recorded on or reproduced? Probably it was recorded on Welte-Mignon, but what brand was used to reproduce... I personally saw old Bechsteins and Steinways made for Welte-Mignon system. Almost bought one, but it looked too strange and mechanics are complicated - plus heavy touch.

[stienwayz]

Sorry I was not clear about that... I meant do you know what piano brand is reproducing the roll?

[truecrypt]

No... I will try to find out. Probably they will have this info in Scriabin's Museum.