Two Scriabin compositions are presented here for performance by the left hand only, with performance notes and practice suggestions included. For pianists of advanced proficiency these will represent a nice technical challenge, but also two beautiful examples of the romantic Russian styling of Scriabin.
This unique collaboration between a musicologist and two pianists – all experts in Russian music – takes a fresh look at the supercharged music and polarizing reception of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. From his Chopin-inspired miniatures to his genre-bending symphonies and avant-garde late works, Scriabin left a unique mark on music history. Scriabin’s death centennial in 2015 brought wider exposure and renewed attention to this pioneering composer. Music lovers who are curious about Scriabin have been torn between specialized academic studies and popular sources that glamorize his interests and activities, often at the expense of historical accuracy. This book bridges the divide between these two branches of literature, and brings a modern perspective to his music and legacy. Drawing on archival materials, primary sources in Russian, and recently published books and articles, Part One details the reception and performance history of Scriabin’s solo piano and orchestral music. High quality recordings are recommended for each piece. Part Two explores four topics in Scriabin’s reception: the myths generated by Scriabin’s biographers, his claims to synaesthesia or “color-hearing,” his revival in 1960s America as a proto-Flower Child, and the charges of anti-Russianness leveled against his music. Part Three investigates stylistic context and performance practice in the piano music, and considers the domains of sound, rhythm, and harmony. It offers interpretive strategies for deciphering Scriabin’s challenging scores at the keyboard. Students, scholars, and music enthusiasts will benefit from the historical insights offered in this interdisciplinary book. Armed with this knowledge, readers will be able to better appreciate the stylistic innovations and colorful imagination of this extraordinary composer.
Offering comprehensive coverage of classical music, this guide surveys more than eleven thousand albums and presents biographies of five hundred composers and eight hundred performers, as well as twenty-three essays on forms, eras, and genres of classical music. Original.
It's only been a short time since tragedy struck and genius pianist Akari Yuzuki passed away…but unknown to most, she lives on as the left hand of rough voiced and rough mannered delinquent, Shusuke Matoba! In an attempt to save Akari's best friend Neri Kuon, he frantically practices the piano, and though he only first touched the keys a month ago, thanks to instruction from Akari's father Mikage and his own natural ear, he's finally ready to surprise her at a piano competition! But can his awkward melody—and Akari's gentle accompaniment—save Kuon from despair?
Scriabin was the precursor of many trends in 20th-century music-chord clusters, melodic fragmentation, serialism, and the psychedelic combination of sounds and colors now called "mixed media." In this compilation of 30 contrasting pieces, the editor has included notations on fingering, pedaling and phrasing.
One-Handed Piano Compositions and Injury Awareness: History, Study of Selected Works, and Mindful Practice calls readers to dive into the realm of one-handed piano works so they can enrich their concert repertoire with new and original works and perform beyond the limitations of their injuries if they are in a period of recovery. Zheni Atanasova wrote this book as a guide meant to inspire fellow musicians in their search for unique musical works and help colleagues navigate their professional career in case of an injury so they can thrive in such a challenging period. The author provides solutions for those who aspire to build a career in music performance even when their professional development is hindered by an injury. She offers a single source that holds the answers to a broad spectrum of questions pertaining to piano performance, wellness, and practice.
Russian composer Alexander Skryabin's life spanned the late romantic era and the momentous early years of the twentieth century, but was cut short before the end of the first world war. In a predominantly conservative era in the Russian musical scene, he drew inspiration from poets, philosophers, and dramatists of the Silver Age, a period of radical artistic renewal in Russia. Possessed by an apocalyptic vision of transformation, aspects of which he shared with other Russian thinkers and artists of the period, Skryabin transformed his musical language from a ripe Romantic style into a far-reaching, radical instrument for the expression of his ideas. This newly translated collection of the composer's writings and letters allows readers to experience and understand Skryabin's worldview, personality, and life as never before. The Notebooks of Alexander Skryabin features commentary based on original materials and accounts by the composer's friends and associates, dispelling popular misconceptions about his life and revealing the dazzling constellation of philosophies that comprised his world of ideas, from Ancient Greek and German Idealist philosophy to the writings of Nietzsche, and Indian culture to the Theosophical writings of H. P. Blavatsky. Close textual readings and new biographical insights converge to present a vivid impression of Skryabin's thought and its impact on his musical compositions.
Vanishing Voices is neither a work of fiction nor a factual account of events in the French artistic world between 1900 and 1960, but instead falls somewhere in between. The ‘star’ of this story is the prodigiously talented but short-lived French composer Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), who left a small but significant legacy that leaves one to wonder what might have been had she lived even a few more years. Naturally, a story of Lili must include her sister Nadia, arguably the most famous music teacher of all time, as well as the likes of composers and musicians of the era – Debussy, Schmitt, Fauré, Ravel, etc. One of the few fictional characters in the tale is the pianist Claude-François Beaudoin, but even he is based in fact. His life and career are modeled on that of Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm in the First World War but carried onward as a left-handed pianist. Claude-François serves as the narrator of our tale and, in one of the few departures into pure fiction, the two fall in love, but cannot go far, as Lili’s health is too precarious.
