Etude, Op. 2 No. 1

Description

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) was a Russian composer and pianist best known for perfectly spun miniatures where his novel harmonic and pianistic ideas were most brilliantly worked out. His early works are in the style of Chopin. Later compositions show the chromatic influences of Wagner and Liszt and the methods of impressionism, eventually evolving into a complex harmonic vocabulary all his own.

Stylistically, Scriabin defies classification, but he is unique among Russian composers of his era because his music is in no way nationalistic. His most typical compositions, aside from the late piano sonatas are two large orchestral works, the Poem of Ecstasy (1907) and Prometheus (1910).

This Etude was composed for the piano in 1887, when the composer was fifteen years old. Already his harmonic writing is quite complex. The original key of c-sharp minor has been transposed to make this music more playable for strings without losing the warmth of the original.

Published by: String Instrument Specialists