Scriabin Sonata No.7 performed by Joseph Villa

One of the rarer recordings, taken from an album CD that was given to me of Joseph Villa performing quite a few Scriabin piano works.

The White Mass is closely related to its predecessor, the sixth sonata. Both works were written in 1911--12 and have structurally and stylistically more in common than any other pair of Scriabin sonatas. Scriabin reportedly feared the sixth sonata, considering the work to be corrupted by demonic forces and going so far as to refuse to play the work in public. Scriabin composed his seventh sonata as an exorcism against the darkness of the sixth sonata, subtitling the work White Mass in order to reflect its celestial nature. He intended the mood of the piece to be ecstatic, evoking images of winged flight, voluptuous rapture and overwhelming forces.

Of all the recordings of the 7th Sonata, I still got back time and time again to listen to Joseph Villa's. There is something magical about this recording, the way he is able to play and the chords and sounds to make it sound like it's ringing from near and far, which is originally what Scriabin described it as. The way the running notes create this "searing" effect. Don't let me spoil anything, listen to it and judge for yourself.

I hope you all enjoy this rare recording.

Thank you again Hiroyuki for this gift!

Cheers!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Scriabin
• Sonata
• Number
• Alexander
• Joseph
• Villa
• Russian
• Piano
• White
• Mass

[gymgymgymgym]

Where can I get this CD ?

[sparkle1272001]

@gymgymgymgym

Unfortunately the record label Dante is now defunct, and the CD is no longer available.

[Sword1479]

This sheet music is just terrifying...

[guirlandes3]

@ewhguitarist Then the Ninth it is! You have your work cut out for you, but it will be well worth it. One thing, a bit of advice that Scriabin himself offered his interpreters of his music:: walk around the harmonies! Feel free to send me your emal address and I will send you a few articles about Scriabin that may interest you.

[ewhguitarist]

@guirlandes3 That much is clear at least! I feel a great connection with these pieces (particularly the 9th), and I'm definitely prepared to invest several months of hard work into learning it! I'm sure it will be a thoroughly rewarding journey. Thank you!

[guirlandes3]

@ewhguitarist Alas, all of the sonatas are complex, subtle, and incredibly difficult, requiring an enormous investment of time and and endless amount of thought, practice, and work. There's simply no way around it! I suppose the best advice I can give you, is to choose which of the sonatas you feel most connected to emotionally and identify with most strongly, and just dig in, so to speak. It's like embarking on a love affair, a total commitment to the loved one. Good luck!

[ewhguitarist]

@guirlandes3 You seem very experienced in playing these sonatas, which of the last five sonatas would you suggest is the least difficult to play in a recital? I'd love to play one but the 7th and 8th seem to me the most difficult. I have played a few late pieces and I am completely in awe of this incredible music! Thanks!

[guirlandes3]

One last thing about Joe's otherwise rich performance, and in response to your remarks that the Seventh is closely bound to the Sixth. While that is true to an extent, particularly in light of the dates of their creation, it is far closer in character and compositional strategy to the eighth sonata. In fact, I have always believed, and sometimes performed both together, with barely a break in between. Scriabin conceived of his late works, in fact, as a single, omni-composition.

[guirlandes3]

For example, like so many pianists, Joe rushes through the coda, even if he does so in spectacular fashion without dropping a note. But even here, the evocation is not only of large Russian bells -- which rely for their very life on a cumulative energy fueled by a steady tempo propelled from within -- but it is also a citation of the Coronation Scene from Musorgsky's Boris Gudonov. To move through this too quickly, and for the sake of virtuosity, and the majesty of it all is compromised.

[guirlandes3]

Joe was dead serious when, at one point when he was practicing the seventh at home, he swore to have seen a vision of Scriabin. That said, this is a fine performance, at once imaginative, febrile, and audacious. Even so, it doesn't quite measure up to his Liszt playing in some regards; it wants for a Russian accent if you will, a grasp of Scriabin's particular affective aesthetic, particularly the role of the "zov" . The work is all about Russian bells, of various sorts. (more to come)