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Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin

Born: 6th January 1872, Moscow

Died: 14th April 1915, Moscow

Nationality: Russian

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed in a relatively tonal, late-Romantic idiom. Later, and independently of his influential contemporary Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed a much more dissonant musical language that had transcended usual tonality but was not atonal, which accorded with his personal brand of metaphysics. Scriabin found significant appeal in the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk as well as synesthesia, and associated colours with the various harmonic tones of his scale, while his colour-coded circle of fifths was also inspired by theosophy. He is often considered the main Russian symbolist composer and a major representative of the Russian Silver Age.

Further Reading: Scriabin

  • Bruce Liu on Lunaris

    20th Aug 2026by Matthew Ash

    The Canadian pianist discusses his new album Lunaris, a recent Presto Recording of the Week, and the unique path he has been carving since winning the Chopin competition in 2021.

  • Yevgeny Sudbin plays Scriabin

    9th May 2025by Matthew Ash

    Yevgeny Sudbin returns to the music of Scriabin in a new album of nicely selected solo piano works which demonstrate the variety of the composer's writing, and the pianist's open and incisive approach to understanding and expressing each piece on its own terms.

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