Mysterious Forces and Liberated Spirits in Scriabin’s Music

...

M. Ballard, Lincoln. A Russian Mystic in the Age of Aquarius: The U.S. Revival of Alexander Scriabin in the 1960s. American Music, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Summer, 2012), 194-227.

This article provides the historical performance and the first impressions of Scriabin’s music and what happened when the earlier U.S. audiences encounter Scriabin’s music, the depiction of the followers in his theosophical beliefs, and the declination of his music beliefs through the analysis of one of Scriabin’s later piano pieces Feuillet d’Album op. 58. And the romantic revival and the musician’s interpretation of Scriabin’s music after 1970s. I can have more details about Scriabin’s music beliefs and the different interpretation of his music through studying this article.

Morrison, Simon. Skryabin and the Impossible. Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Summer, 1998), 283-330.

In this article, scholar Simon Morrison provides the background of the Russian Symbolist movement and the manifestation of the involvement with the Symbolist in Scriabin’s works. Simon also provides the definition the Mysterium, the influence from Wagner, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Nietzsche, and the story of Scriabin’s devotion to the theosophical and Symbolist. The poems quotes by the author will give me lots of messages and sensation to better understand Scriabin’s philosophical thoughts in his music works.

Smith, Kenneth. “‘A Science of Tonal Love?’ Drive and Desire in Twentieth - Century Harmony: the Erotics of Skryabin.” Music Analysis, Vol. 29, No. ⅓ (March - October 2010), 234 - 263.

In his article, scholar Kenneth Smith examines theories about the psychoanalytic word ‘drive’, offering different versions of explanations from other studies and how those studies influenced Scriabin’s own philosophical thoughts and conception of ‘drive’. Smith convincingly makes a case for an understanding of “drive” as essential to the analysis of Scriabin’s music.

Wai-Ling, Cheong. Orthography in Scriabin’s Late Works. Music Analysis, Vol. 12, No. 1 (March, 1993), 47-69.

In this article, scholar Cheong Wai-Ling gives us the analysis of Scriabin’s late sonata from different approach like scale, harmony, chord, motive etc. It will be a supportive resource for my studying and analysis of Scriabin’s performance analysis.