Categories
20th Century Modernist Russian

SCRIABIN, Aleksandr

Born in Moscow, Jan 6, 1872 (O.S. Dec 25, 1871)
Died in Moscow, April 27, 1915 (O.S. April 14, 1915)

  • Russian composer Aleksandr Scriabin studied composition with Sergey Taneyev and Anton Arensky at the Moscow Conservatory. A few years after graduating, Scriabin taught at the Conservatory himself, a position he held until 1903 when he decided to devote himself to composing full-time.
  • Scriabin is best known for his orchestral music and piano pieces. His music became increasingly theosophical and modern, and while he had a devoted following of listeners during his lifetime, his music has only undergone proper analysis since the 1960s.1
  • Fun/macabre fact – Scriabin died at the height of his career… from a pimple. The pimple turned into a sore which became septic, killing the composer at the young age of 43.2

Biography from the Scriabin Association

Sources

  1. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Aleksandr Scriabin,” Encyclopedia Britannica (2023), accessed February 14, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aleksandr-Scriabin.
  2. Tom Service, “Scriabin: the agonies and the ecstasies,” The Guardian (2014), accessed February 14, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/mar/28/russian-composer-scriabin-gergiev-lso.

Pieces