April 27: The death anniversary of Alexander Scriabin, the composer who heard music in color
Alexander Scriabin died on April 27, 1915, in Moscow at the age of 43. He was one of the most daring innovators in the history of music: he rejected traditional tonality, invented light music, and dreamed of a "Mystery"—a work that would unite sound, color, scent, and architecture.
A child at the piano
Scriabin was born in 1872 in Moscow, the son of a pianist mother and a student father, a future diplomat. His mother died of consumption a year after his birth. He was raised by his father's relatives. At three, he spent hours at the piano, playing with one finger; by five, he was already playing with both hands. At seven, he composed his first opera, "Lisa." His grandmother lamented: her grandson spent so much time at the piano that he wore through his shoes.
Conservatory, Europe, glory
From the age of 16, Scriabin studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Rachmaninoff. In his early compositions, he imitated Chopin, writing études, waltzes, mazurkas, sonatas, and nocturnes. On stage, he performed only his own works. Music critic Alexander Ossovsky noted his rare ability to establish a "psychic connection" with the audience from the very first chords—a "nervous, hypnotic current" that "irresistibly captivated" the audience.
At 21, due to overzealousness, he injured his right hand—a condition called "overplayed wrist syndrome." His professional future hung in the balance. He soon recovered in the Caucasus.
At 22, he gave a scandalous concert at the St. Petersburg Conservatory: his music defied established conventions. At 23, the philanthropist and music publisher Mitrofan Belyaev sent him to Europe, where Scriabin became famous and his sheet music was in great demand. Boris Pasternak later wrote of Scriabin's Third Symphony, the "Divine Poem": the music "constantly crumbled and collapsed, like a city under artillery fire," and was "bold to the point of madness, to the point of boyishness."
Light in Music
One of Scriabin's most famous works, "Prometheus, or the Poem of Fire," became the first light and music work in world history. "I needed light in music, I needed a radiant harmony that would reflect the idea of light," he said. At the Moscow premiere, he failed to "play color"—the device proved too complex. However, at home, Scriabin constructed a model of the "Prometheus" light apparatus: a wooden circle with 12 multicolored bulbs, each note corresponding to its own color.
Unfinished "Mystery"
"Prometheus" was conceived merely as a preface to his life's central project, "Mystery": a work not only of sounds but also of colors, scents, movements, and resonant architecture. Scriabin never completed it. He gave his last concert two weeks before his death, at the Petrograd Conservatory. On April 27, 1915, Alexander Scriabin died of sepsis: he accidentally squeezed a boil on his lip, which led to blood poisoning.
