Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin
The biblical legend of the Tower of Babel says that when people wanted to reach heaven, they were broken up as punishment. An attempt to unite humanity and comprehend the universal essence was undertaken by Alexander Scriabin, but a fatal accident in a matter of days interrupted his life, similar to a burning comet. The Russian composer, an exceptional personality, whom even those who were not a supporter of his bold innovative ideas were called ingenious. Being a representative of symbolism and possessing color-tonal hearing, he was the first to introduce such a concept as “light music”.
A brief biography of Alexander Scriabin and many interesting facts about the composer can be found on our page.
Short biography of Scriabin
Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin was born in Moscow on December 25, 1871. His father was a diplomat, his mother was a pianist. Shura was one year old when his mother, Lyubov Petrovna, passed away from consumption. The boy’s family was educated by his father’s grandmother and aunt, Lyubov Aleksandrovna, who became his first musical teacher.
Despite the fact that his father constantly worked in foreign diplomatic missions, they kept warm correspondence all his life, and Alexander Nikolayevich tried to visit his father at the place of service at the first opportunity. From the biography of Scriabin, we learn that at the age of 5 Shurinka, as his loving relatives called him, knew how to play the piano. At the age of 10 he was given to the Moscow Cadet Corps, in which he did not give up piano lessons and studied musical theory.
Enhanced classes gave the result - Shura enters the conservatory in composition and piano classes, but graduates from it only as a pianist. The reason is simple - he did not get along with the character of the composition teacher and was expelled from his class. Planning a career as a pianist, Scriabin rehearses a lot, takes on difficult things and replays his right hand. S.I. Taneyev, who knew Sasha Scriabin from an early age, helped organize a trip for treatment to Germany and Switzerland. The hand, indeed, restored the basic functions in order to play the instrument. The good genius Taneyev helped the composer to publish his first compositions. In addition, he recommended Scriabin to one of the largest philanthropists, M.P. Belyaev, who was absolutely delighted with his work, became their exclusive publisher and gave the young man an impressive fee.
In 1897, Alexander Nikolaevich married pianist Vera Ivanovna Isakovich. In the winter of 1897/98, young people spent abroad, where Scriabin wrote and performed his compositions in concerts. In 1898, their first daughter, Rimma, was born, over the next 4 years - two more daughters and a son. Since that time, Scriabin - Professor of the Moscow Conservatory.
The youngest son was barely a year old when Scriabin left the family for the sake of Tatyana Fyodorovna Schlozer. Despite the fact that the second union lasted until the end of his life, Vera Ivanovna did not give her husband a divorce, and three children from Schlozer bore the mother’s surname. From 1903 to 1909 Scriabin lived with his family in Italy and Switzerland, then he returned to Moscow. The composer was 43 years old when a blood poisoning developed from an unsuccessfully opened boil. A week later, on April 14, 1915, Alexander Nikolaevich died.
Interesting facts about Scriabin
- The composer was the personification of what is called creative kind - impractical and inattentive. Checking the accuracy of the musical notes of his compositions at the piano, he played the music, which was prompted to him by the inner ear, not paying attention to inconsistencies in the musical text. The composer was helped by A.K. Lyadov. Several concerts Scriabin in Paris did not take place due to the fact that he was unable to settle contractual issues. And to conspiracy love letters, Tatiana Schlötzer forgot to glue stamps, so the girl’s relatives received and paid for them, who disapproved of her relationship with a married man.
- From the late 1890s, Scriabin became close to the philosopher S.N. Trubetskoy, whose worldview fully divides. The only exception - Trubetskoy believed that love - is omnipotent and is the basis of everything ("God is love"), and Scriabin - that art is such.
- At some point, Scriabin realized that he was the Messiah, he was prepared for a special way to save humanity through art. This partly contributed to the date of his birth - December 25.
- The agreement on renting an apartment on Arbat Scriabin concluded for three years. The term expired on April 14, 1915, on the day of his death.
- In the finale of the Seventh Sonata, the composer placed a chord of 25 sounds. In order to play it accurately, you need three pianists.
- Prometheus was chosen to perform at a concert dedicated to the first anniversary of the revolution on November 6, 1918.
- According to the composer's music in 1962, Kasian Goleizovsky at the Bolshoi Theater staged the ballet Scriabinian.
Two wives of the music philosopher
Scriabin's personal life was rather dramatic - the parents of his first love, Natalia Sekirina, did not consent to their marriage. The same happened with his second bride. The composer deeply experienced a break in these relations when he met Vera Ivanovna Isakovich. Biography Scriabin says that in 1897 they were married, three daughters and a son were born in marriage. His wife became his faithful friend and constant promoter of his work, but the composer had no romantic feelings for her. They suddenly flared up to his 19-year-old student, Tatiana Fedorovna Schlozer, who was adoring him and during her travels in Europe followed. When Scriabin and his family moved to Switzerland, he had already decided to leave his wife and even rented a villa nearby for Schlozer. The latter spent their days away and tried in every way to hurt Vera Ivanovna. The environment of Scriabin, in front of whom the drama of the love triangle unfolded, disapproved of the composer's new passion. The final conversation took place between the Scriabins, and Alexander Nikolaevich left his wife.
Paris, where the couple originally settled, soon turned out to be beyond their means, and they moved to the Italian town of Bolyasco, where they rented three rooms in a house near the railway. Advances and bonuses of St. Petersburg philanthropists were almost completely spent on the maintenance of the first family. It so happened that the couple ordered one dinner for two. Soon Tatyana Feodorovna became pregnant, which Scriabin also informed his abandoned wife. In the summer of 1905, he was beaten by his first loss - the 7-year-old daughter Rimma dies. The grieving father goes to Switzerland for the funeral, and to the limit the jealous Schlötzer throws letters at him, complaining about his health and begging him to return. In her lives the fear that grief will bring together former spouses. This did not happen, Scriabin returned to Bolyasco, where in the fall he had a daughter, Ariadne.
Even after the birth of a child from a rival, Vera Ivanovna categorically refused to give a divorce, condemning both Tatyana Fyodorovna and her children to a disfranchised and scandalous existence. In addition, Scriabina returned to her profession, starting an active concert and teaching activity. She often performed the music of Scriabin, always emphasizing that he was his wife, that all the other participants in this family battle, including the composer himself, was extremely sensitive.
In 1908, the son of Julian was born, and in 1910 the composer’s eldest son, seven-year-old Leo, died. This time even this reason did not become a reason for meeting with the ex-wife, despite the fact that both of them already lived in Moscow. In 1911, a daughter, Marina, was born. There was always not enough money in the house, Scriabin wrote many piano pieces to somehow make ends meet, the spouse rewritten the notes. Sudden death Scriabin put the family in front of a financial collapse. The last thing he managed to do on the eve of his death was to sign a petition addressed to the emperor about the adoption of children from a second marriage. Vera Ivanovna did not hinder this. So, in 1915, all three got the right to bear the father’s surname. Tatyana Fedorovna this permission did not concern.
Julian was an extremely musically gifted child, and the mother tried to make him the creative heir and successor of his father's business. In Moscow, the boy studied at a music school, then at the age of 10 he entered the Kiev Conservatory. He managed to finish only one course, in the summer of 1919, Julian drowned in the Dnieper. Tatyana Fyodorovna, crushed by grief, survived her son by only 3 years, dying of brain inflammation in 1922.
Daughter Ariadne gave birth to 4 children, during the Second World War she was a participant in the French resistance and died in Nazi-occupied Toulouse with a turnout in a safe house in 1944. Daughter Mary became a famous theater actress.
Creativity Alexander Scriabin
There is no pianist in the world who would not perform Scriabin’s works. The composer’s legacy of volume - 10 sonatas, more than 100 piano preludes, nocturnes, poems, 5 symphonies.
According to Scriabin's biography, at the time of graduation from the conservatory, there were already two dozen works in the creative list of the young composer. One of the most popular to this day is Etude in C Sharp Minor. The mid-90s was associated with overcoming problems with the right hand. During this period, such unique works are born as Prelude and Nocturne for the left hand. At the same time, the composer's creative credo was formulated - the unity of the man-creator and the spirit of the universe, the belief in the possibility of art to transform people. This is the time of preludes. The composer had the idea to write preludes in every key. In the end, they gathered 47. They came out in the publishing house Belyaev in 1897. On January 3, 1896, Alexander Nikolayevich gave the author's overseas concert for the first time - in Paris, a few days later Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, The Hague and Cologne were waiting for him. The audience accepted the new author enthusiastically, and the criticism erupted with approving reviews - Scriabin's unusual talent was interesting. By the end of the 19th century, Scriabin’s works were included in the repertoire of the country's leading pianists. Him Third Sonata summarizes the first stage of creative activity. The development of talent requires more self-expression. Thus, together with the new century, the symphonic period in the composer’s works also begins.
Symphonies Scriabin is not only music, it is symbolism and philosophy. From 1900 to 1903, the composer wrote 3 symphonies. The first - formed a unique Scriabin style - its delicate elaboration of details, thematic connection of all parts. For the first time this essay was not completely performed, as it had a complex choral part, the text of which was written by the author himself. After the publication of the notes of the Second Symphony N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov called Scriabin "a great talent." The Third Symphony, entitled "Divine poem"is considered the pinnacle of creativity of the composer. The program for the work, which tells about the development of the human spirit, was written by T. Schloeser. The premiere of the symphony was held in Paris in 1905.
As soon as he gave the rewritten notes of the Third Symphony to a publishing house, Scriabin became interested in the idea of the next work - "Poem of ecstasy"The work on it took place in the most dramatic period of the composer's life, full of love, passion and erotic impressions, which are heard in this music. This work also has the author's verse text. The world premiere took place in New York in 1908, the Russian one - in several months later. The following years were filled with concert work, the composer composed relatively little, preparing for the next large-scale work - a symphonic poem "Prometheus"(Poem of Fire).
The legend of Prometheus could not be more than fit into the ideological concept of Scriabin about the greatness of human forces, overcoming the darkness, as it is overcome by the light of fire. Prometheus is not a program essay, it is an image poem. Scriabin formulated the theory of the relationship of color and sound and embodied it in his last symphonic composition. The score "Poems of Fire" has an additional note line for the light instrument Luce. Besides him, the performance involved a large orchestra with organ and solo piano and a choir singing without words. The premiere took place in 1911 in Moscow, but without light accompaniment, since the chamber instrument did not work for the large hall. In 1915, in New York, Prometheus was played as the author intended, although not without technical difficulties, which left the audience somewhat disappointed.
From the latest works of the master two sonatas pay attention - Seventh ("White Mass") and Ninth ("Black Mass"). The latter is permeated with infernal images and the theme of death. Toward the end of his life, Scriabin is working on "Mystery“- a unique multicultural event for orchestra, light and 7000 singers.“ Mystery ”was to be held in a temple specially built for her on the shores of the Indian Ganges. In preparation for this project, the composer creates sketches of“ Pre-action ”, to which he also writes the text.
Music Scriabin in the cinema
Such a bright biography, like Scriabin’s, is infrequent and quite worthy of getting its cinematic expression. However, for more than a hundred years that have passed since the composer's death, not a single biopic has been made about him. On the other hand, the name Scriabin already belongs to eternity, so future generations will be able to express in the language of cinema the world of his amazing talent.
As a soundtrack, the music of the composer has been used only in a few films, the most famous of which are: Thanks for Chocolate (2000), Madame Suzacka (1988), Pian (1987).
In the creative world there are few people who even contemporaries and colleagues would call geniuses. Scriabin was one of them. The genius of his writings was recognized even by those who did not understand his aesthetics. The composer was called a symbolist, but his life itself became a symbol of elevation above the commonplace and of finding high poetic images in its prose.
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