Uploaded April 2012 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
In the summer of 1913, Scriabin took some time off from his studies, and his majestic project to transform the world, and did us all a favor by writing his last three sonatas, numbers 8 thru 10.
Sonata No. 8, Op. 66 was the last to be completed. This one piece is probably the pinnacle of Scriabin's art. He never performed it in public, supposedly because he could not commit it to memory. Unlike much of his later work, there are only a couple of poetic instructions in French (such as "avec une joie débordante"), just the standard Italian tempo/character instructions (Lento, Allegro, etc.). One exception is the use of "Tragique". He called this sonata his most tragic piece. This sonata is sometimes referred to as "the enigmatic".
The sonata opens with a slow sequence of hexachords, dissolving into five-point counterpoint (Scriabin was well educated, and proud of it). To these themes, Scriabin apparently attached attributes having to do with the natural world; fire, air, water, earth. After the slow introduction, we are in to a tightly constructed sonata allegro, alternating a two-note motif, a "rippling" motto, trills and more trills, and scherzos.
Günter Philip, who edited the 1970 Peters edition wrote, "The individual interpretation will in every case be able to do no more than to emphasize one part of the components and aspects at the cost of others; a comprehensively perfect rendering appears to be beyond what is humanly possible, at least in the last sonatas."
A million thank yous to jricket and bachopinberg for spotting errors. I hope I've corrected them all! This is my third attempt to get it right. I will probably never be done with this...
Created, edited and mastered on a Mac Mini, Digital Performer 5.13 (MOTU), Ivory sound banks (Synthogy).I worked on this on and off for Years! Thanks for all the nice comments!
In the summer of 1913, Scriabin took some time off from his studies, and his majestic project to transform the world, and did us all a favor by writing his last three sonatas, numbers 8 thru 10.
Sonata No. 8, Op. 66 was the last to be completed. This one piece is probably the pinnacle of Scriabin's art. He never performed it in public, supposedly because he could not commit it to memory. Unlike much of his later work, there are only a couple of poetic instructions in French (such as "avec une joie débordante"), just the standard Italian tempo/character instructions (Lento, Allegro, etc.). One exception is the use of "Tragique". He called this sonata his most tragic piece. This sonata is sometimes referred to as "the enigmatic".
The sonata opens with a slow sequence of hexachords, dissolving into five-point counterpoint (Scriabin was well educated, and proud of it). To these themes, Scriabin apparently attached attributes having to do with the natural world; fire, air, water, earth. After the slow introduction, we are in to a tightly constructed sonata allegro, alternating a two-note motif, a "rippling" motto, trills and more trills, and scherzos.
Günter Philip, who edited the 1970 Peters edition wrote, "The individual interpretation will in every case be able to do no more than to emphasize one part of the components and aspects at the cost of others; a comprehensively perfect rendering appears to be beyond what is humanly possible, at least in the last sonatas."
A million thank yous to jricket and bachopinberg for spotting errors. I hope I've corrected them all! This is my third attempt to get it right. I will probably never be done with this...
Created, edited and mastered on a Mac Mini, Digital Performer 5.13 (MOTU), Ivory sound banks (Synthogy).I worked on this on and off for Years! Thanks for all the nice comments!
