Scriabin @ 150 Conference and Celebration

Keynote Speaker

Marina Frolova-Walker is Professor of Music History at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, where she is Director of Studies in Music. She is also currently Professor of Music at Gresham College, London. One of the world’s leading authorities on Russian music, Professor Frolova-Walker has introduced international audiences not only to new repertories, but also to new ways of thinking about established works.

Demystifying Scriabin

As part of the conference and celebration of Scriabin’s music, there was a book launch promoting Demystifying Scriabin, Edited by Kenneth Smith & Vasilis Kallis.

The book, containing 16 new essays, was launched during the conference.

This book is an innovative contribution to Alexander Scriabin (1875-1915) studies, covering aspects of Scriabin's life, personality, beliefs, training, creative output, as well as his interaction with contemporary Russian culture. It offers new and original research from leading and upcoming Russian music scholars. Key Scriabin topics such as mysticism, philosophy, music theory, contemporary aesthetics, and composition processes are covered. Musical coverage spans the composer's early, middle and late period. All main repertoire is being discussed: the piano miniatures and sonatas as well as the symphonies. In more detail, chapters consider: Scriabin's part in early twentieth-century Russia's cultural climate; how Scriabin moved from early pastiche to a style much more original; the influence of music theory on Scriabin's idiosyncratic style; the changing contexts of Scriabin performances; new aspects of reception studies. Further chapters offer: a critical understanding of how Scriabin's writings sit within the traditions of Mysticism as well as French and Russian Symbolism; a new investigation into his creative compositional process; miniaturism and its wider context; a new reading of the composer's mysticism and synaesthesia. Analytical chapters reach out of the score to offer an interpretative framework; accepting new approaches from disability studies; investigating the complex interaction of rhythm and metre and modal interactions, the latent diatonic 'tonal function' of Scriabin's late works, as well as self-regulating structures in the composer's music.

Universities Represented

Seoul National University

University of Glasgow

University of Manchester

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf

Peabody Institute, John Hopkins University

Louisiana State University

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dallas College

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

ISSM Boccherini, Lucca – Italy

Guildhall School of Music

Duke University

Shenandoah University

University of Georgia, Athens

University of Nicosia

Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music

University of Copenhagen

University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany

Hodgson School of Music

Texas State University

Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, Roma

Heidelberg University

Princeton University

Yale Univertsity

Eastman School of Music

University of Southampton

The evening’s recital focused on Scriabin’s early piano works:

Recital Programme

Sonate-Fantaisie (Sonata no.2), op.19

I Andante

II Presto

Sonata no.3, op.23

I Drammatico

II Allegretto

III Andante

IV Presto con fuoco

Deux Poèmes, op. 32

I Andante cantabile

II Allegro. Con eleganza. Con fiducia

Fantasie in B minor, op.28

Etudes:

C sharp minor, op.2, no.1

D sharp minor, op.8, no.12

Music and Colour Workshop, Ian Costabile & "Insekta"

Dr Ian Costabile is a composer and sound artist based in Liverpool. Participants at the workshop will explore Scriabin's concept of Light-Music. Using a modern day "colour-organ" (using Midi / MAX/MSP) you will have the chance to project colours while musicians play Scriabin's music. Ian's installation, Insekta, will be demonstrated. First designed for a performance of Scriabin's 10th Sonata (the "sonata of insects", these two scultupres come alive with lights.

The conference was supported by: Queen Anne's School, Caversham; The Scriabin Association; The A.N Scriabin Museum, Moscow; The Society for Music Analysis; Brain Can Do.