Ashkenazy plays Sonata No.7 Op.64 "White Mass"

A.Scriabin Sonata Op.64 "White Mass"

Vladimir Ashkenazy,Piano



The seventh piano sonata (opus 64) written by Scriabin in 1911 is entitled "White Mass". The piece, the most difficult of the Scriabin sonatas to play well, is highly chromatic and almost atonal like Scriabin's other late works.

Unlike the "haunted" sixth sonata that proceeded it, he intended the mood of the piece to be ecstatic. Most recorded performances are a bit over 11 minutes. Michael Ponti's clocks at 8:44. Notable Scriabin masters such as Vladimir Horowitz and Vladimir Sofronitsky didn't play or record the piece, the latter due to superstition. However, Sviatoslav Richter played it a number of times when touring.

It is one of Scriabin's more overlooked sonatas, lacking performances outside of the context of complete sonata recordings in the digital era. As compared to the more popular of the late sonatas, it is less accessible than the ninth, and harder-edged than the fifth and tenth. The composer was especially fond of the piece, likely due to its messianist context and perfected structure which features more contrast, rhythmic and dynamic, than most of his work. As with the second sonata, this sonata gave him a great deal of trouble during composition.

The chords imitating bell-ringing were a favorite of Scriabin. According to Leonid Sabaneev, when Scriabin himself played these chords, the ringing sounded from near and from afar at the same time; a part of them sounded very real, while another sounded like an echo.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Scriabin
• White
• Mass
• 64
• Sonata
• Ashkanazy
• Vladimir

[titusbeertsen]

That moment at 1:00 is so special, like you suddenly realise the whole world is empty around you...

[fisherroastedpeanut]

@titusbeertsen I agree. It is one of my favourite parts of this sonata.

[p0lyph0ny]

Thanks for the excellent & interesting information you provided in the video summary. The seventh and the eighth sonatas are all too infrequently played.

[fisherroastedpeanut]

to me it's just a great pleasure...:)

[malcuzynski]

I love this piece, and, for me, Ashkenazy is by far the best mainstream superstar interpreter of it.

How brilliant is it that someone like Scriabin could have walked this planet ( in a fetching dinner jacket) and committed to notation such fleeting glimpses of another warmer world?Thank God there were no computer games in his lifetime - and also that he wasn't an investment banker instead of a composer.

[sshuck]

Agreed, his version is my favorite.

I was just tempted to respond to your last remark - you can be BOTH an investment banker and a composer...if you're Charles Ives!

[justmercuriciodide]

Ashkenazy's best performance is of the 8th. Other highlights are the 1st, the concerto, Prometheus, and the third movement of the third. Try Glemser for this one. Ashkenazy's recorded performances of the Rachmaninov unrevised second sonata and the 2nd Prokofiev concerto's first movement are unparalleled. Many contemporary pianists have tried their hand at the Rach sonata and failed. Despite it being such a competition workhorse, high-quality performances of the piece are hard to come by.

[RWinkley02124]

What Ashkenazy achieves in this recording which many pianists with quicker 'clock times' don't is a sense of space occupying time and vice versa - Universe opening to universe

[SwiftAccipiter]

@MarcheseCadmio88 OK, I think I use the corrected edition so that I didn't find the D8 notes in the 7th sonata because the editor had corrected the D8 notes into C8.

[MarcheseCadmio88]

@SwiftAccipiter Also. Both in 6th and 7th.

[SwiftAccipiter]

@MarcheseCadmio88 Excuse me, I think the D8 note is in Scriabin's 6th sonata...

[rancodanca]

@malcuzynski who knows. maybe he would have been an excellent investment banker that would have solved poverty :p

[4785689]

vladimir horowitz played this in early 30's