Alexander Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist, born on January 6, 1872, in Moscow1. He is known for his innovative and influential contributions to music, particularly in the late Romantic period. Scriabinโs early works were influenced by the music of Frรฉdรฉric Chopin and composed in a relatively tonal, late-Romantic idiom1.
However, Scriabin later developed a much more dissonant musical language that transcended usual tonality but was not atonal. This new style was deeply connected to his personal brand of metaphysics and his interest in synesthesia, where he associated colors with the various harmonic tones of his scale1. He also created a color-coded circle of fifths inspired by theosophy1.
Scriabinโs music often included elements of mysticism and Russian Cosmism, and he sought to create a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, that would combine music with other art forms1. His most famous work is โPrometheus: The Poem of Fire,โ which was the first composition in history to include notation for lights and colors based on his scale of synesthetic colors2.
Despite his fame during his lifetime, Scriabinโs importance in the Russian (subsequently Soviet) musical scene and internationally declined after his death. However, his musical aesthetics have been reevaluated since the 1970s, and his works have garnered significant acclaim in recent years1. He passed away on April 27, 1915, in Moscow.