For Scriabin the true reality of music lies in the notation, which reflects a metaphysical order, not in the execution, which reflects a contingent moment.
The recordings of his compositions performed by Alexander Scriabin (Moscow, 1972-1915) in 1903 for mechanical piano testify to a great diversity compared to the written page.
We are blessed by the existence of the mechanical piano for having preserved at least one spark of the "true" way of conceiving them.
The Russian pianist Julius Isserlis says that, having heard a Prelude of Op. 11 performed by Scriabin, he tried to reproduce the author's performance and then let him listen to it. Scriabin called him indignantly about the respect of spelling and so he justified himself: "That is my interpretation of music, but music is mine!"
For Scriabin, therefore, the true reality of music lies in the notation, which reflects a metaphysical order, not in the execution, which reflects a contingent moment.
The pianist N.N. Cherkass wrote in 1916: "Scriabin was a bad pianist. He was clearly a sick man, with an inner illness that disturbed his entire nervous system and made his musculature abnormal. When he played he held his entire body tense (so he was so physically exhausted after the concert) and looked for muscle compensations that distorted not only his appearance but his sound. His fingers moved incorrectly and this attenuated and obscured his sonority. The improper tension and muscular contraction of the hands and arms prevented an appropriate connection of the sounds according to the legato and also a correct staccato. One way to compensate for these muscular defects was the excessive rubato. He didn't know how to play metrically well even a single bar. Because of his defective legato he removed the foot of the pedal just to put it back on. If he was capable of a correct legato, he would not have used so much pedal."
Reverse the sense of these drastic judgments and the relationship between muscular tension and such sound intensity becomes clear to us.
The colors of the tonality circle according to Scriabin.
Scriabin plays Scriabin:
- Preludes Op. 11 N. 1, 13, 14
- Etude Op. 8 N. 12
- Poème Op. 32 N. 1