From Romance to Transcendence: Scriabin's Musical Adventure | Yang Yandi

Scriabin (1872-1915)

Regarding the remarkable literary development of Russia in modern times, there have always been divisions and titles for the "Golden Age" (the 19th century after Pushkin)) and the "Silver Age" (late 19th to early 20th century). Russian music generally does not use the golden and silver age, in fact, it may be useful to learn from it. After the great achievements of Glinka to the "Powerful Group" and Tchaikovsky in the 19th century, the "trans-century" Scriabin (1872-1915) and Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), as well as roughly contemporaries Ryadov (1855-1914), Tanieev (1856-1915), Alensky (1861-1906), Glazunov (1865-1936), The likes of Metternich (1880-1951) and Stravinsky (1882-1971, the Russian period for which they were composed before 1919) were also enough to prop up a musically Russian "Silver Age".

Needless to say, the most striking musical figures of this Silver Age were Scriabin and Rachmaninoff. By providence, the two were classmates of the Moscow Conservatory (when they graduated from the Academy in 1892, Rashi won the first place in composition and Si Shi won the second place), and they were also close friends who cherished each other (after Si Shi's untimely death, Lashi held a special concert of Si Shi's piano works to mourn). On the other hand, the two men are quite different in temperament, point of view and musical direction, even diametrically opposed: compared to the pathos, gloom, ruggedness and intensity of Rasch's music, Szcze is more introspective, subtle, enthusiastic and agile, more neurotic, more stylistically developed, and the rate of conceptual and technological renewal is faster – as a result, Rasch spent his life as a musical "conservative", and Szs started from Chopin's romantic tradition and eventually grew into a self-contained artistic adventure "avant-garde".

Both were first-class masters of piano playing, so it was logical to start with the piano as the center (and later became a master of orchestra writing). But their starting points were markedly different from the start, especially in contrast: the Rasch piano style was based on the Lisztian Russian tradition, with large spans, heavy chords, full weaves and intricate lines; while Szczes debuted as a complete believer in Chopin, and his early compositions even imitated Chopin without concealment, writing many etudes, preludes, mazuka, improvisations and round dances – the all-in-one Chopin genre. This is a tribute to Chopin as a piano poet of his predecessors, and also through Chopin's creative approach. A set of piano "24 Preludes" Op.11 (1888-1896) is Chopin's eponymous work Op.28 (1835-1839) of the space dialogue and imagination should be combined, put together to compare and listen, can not help but make people think of it. Chopin's prelude, as the pinnacle of piano sketches, has yet been surpassed, but Sches dared to face the challenge and still showed flexibility and creativity in harmony, rhythm and texture. This is the Russified Chopin, or Chopin being injected into the soul of Russia.

Si Shi is different from Rasch, but the wonder of art is that at certain moments, the special path is temporarily the same. Two early etudes that do not represent the pursuit of Szes's typical style are popular because of their "Rachmaninoff flavor" that cannot be mistaken for "Rachmaninoff flavor"—this is an interesting historical fact of The musical convergence of Si Shi to the "orthodoxy" of Russian music represented by Las' representatives, and from another point of view, it may be said that this is an artistic testimony that Si Shi did not forget his russian native identity in the process of learning Chopin. When Si Shi was less than 16 years old, he wrote a soothing and moving Piano Etude in C minor (1887), and his mood of sorrow and lingering pity, as well as the practice of outlining the melody of the song on the piano with a thick column harmony, are reminiscent of La's pen. A few years later, op.8 no. 12 (1894), op.8 etudes in ascending D minor, sings with the rhythmic dynamics of the long span of the left hand and the passionate melody of the right hand octave jumping in, vividly presenting the listener with a picture of the Russians in a drunken state of wild and eager talk. This is the closest thing to Therass, especially when the theme of the song is reproduced, which covers all the ranges of the piano keyboard, and the chord climax like a grand bell is typical of the Radze sound, even more so.

But the above attempts to move closer to Lashi were only occasional, and he had a more ambitious and forward-looking appeal. A spark that had been vaguely buried in early creation began to sprout, eventually contributing to Si's transformation—a desire for infinity, an artistic mystical ideal of ecstasy, which became more and more Si's obsession. This is not only the preference of the composer's personal nature, but also the specific zeitgeist and atmosphere of the time - the "end of the century" came, and the social development and cognition of human nature seemed to be undergoing unprecedented evolution and mutation. Nietzsche's theory of the superman left an unforgettable impression on Schein, who was closely associated with the Silver Age Russian symbolist poets such as Vivianov, Balmont, Beret, and others, and thus associated artistic creation with higher religious revelations. The "theosophical" philosophy that was all the rage at the moment also fascinated Si, so that music and art no longer had only aesthetic value, but shouldered a more important mission - to lead to the other world and the transcendental realm. Pasternak, the future Nobel laureate in literature in the Soviet Union, had a friendship with Si Shi at a young age, and many years later left the most insightful memories of the later Si Shi in his autobiography.

Skes's musical adventures and transformations, initiated at the turn of the century through interaction with the latest currents of thought in philosophy, literature and art, were unattainable. The six-movement tome "The First Symphony" (1899-1900) begins with the mysterious meaning and grandeur of Wagner's sound world, showing the reverse posture and arrogance of Si's general rejection of Wagner in response to the Russian music industry at that time; and the final movement of this work adopts the composer's own poem, praising the sacredness and spiritual transcendence of art, highlighting the composer's concept and intention to transform mankind and renew society through art. However, I highly recommend Si's Piano Sonata No. 4 (1903) and Piano Sonata No. 5 (1907). They are condensed and concise masterpieces, the former is a vivid portrayal of the traditional tonality and sound range but has made bold breakthroughs, and the latter is an interesting example of Si's departure from tradition but not too far away. For listeners familiar with the traditional path of classical music, the "fourth" appears even more "good", and the continuous "seventh chord" and the beautiful melody with a sense of longing that are not solved in the introduction of the song immediately remind people of Wagner's sound, but here it is given a purer and more introspective charm - this music reappears in the final climax of the whole sonata, with an almost crazy high-fold chord weave, allowing us to see the unique passion of the Russians reaching "ecstasy" The realm of involuntariness and overwhelmingness. The appearance of "Fifth" is astonishing - it is an out-and-out "modern music", with strange sound and mysterious imagery, and the music twists and turns in the trance of the soul out of the soul and the dance of the awakened elves, but in the end it is the high, crisp, and exciting "natural sound" that occupies the main seat. At the end of the song, the flying sound of the struggle upward seems to take people into space and merge with them...

Looking at the musical scores created by Si Shi in his later period, we will find many literary descriptions of musical expressions and psychological states such as "ecstasy", "excitement", "trance", "fascination", and "out of mind"—this is not only a hint of performance and performance written by the composer himself, but also a hint and reminder of the spiritual connotation of music. In addition to continuing his exploration of piano sonatas (ten in total) and a large number of piano sketches titled "Musical Poems", the focus of Si's late work shifted to the large works of the orchestra—following the Third Symphony "Sacred Poem" (1902-1904), he wrote important large orchestra works such as The Poem of Ecstasy (1905–1908) and Prometheus: The Poem of Fire (1910). The poetic depiction of "sacred", "ecstatic" and "fire" by audio means, but the composer's intention here is not the traditional "title content music", but to achieve a transcendental realization of the two things and the fascination in the wonderful roar of the mysterious music - even, beyond to another ideal situation that cannot exist in this world. These three searing orchestral poems end with examples of the use of ultra-large-scale acoustic means to create a mysterious, self-forgetful state — they are transcendental companion pieces to the same kind of sound as Bruckner, Mahler and Richard Strauss, and at the same time inspire the optimistic and joyful Musical Praise of the future French modern composer Messien (1908-1992).

In just over a decade, Si shi established his unique "mystical" musical concept and technical system in his later period. Because of his artistic conception and unique inner experience, he stood at the forefront of the development and advancement of musical language at that time, along with his contemporaries such as Mahler, Debussy, Richard Strauss, Schoenberg, Ravel, Bartók and Stravinsky. The average listener may not need to care about the technical essentials of Si's "mysterious chords" (the central hub of Si's composition system, based on the extremely complex treatment of the seven chords, and finally breaking through the tonality and entering the territory of "atonality"), and by hearing perception alone, ordinary music lovers can also experience the unique scenery brought about by Si's musical adventures. Plekhanov, a close friend of Szczess's and a pioneer of Russian Marxism, spoke highly of the seminal significance of his music as a symbol of social revolution. Lunazarsky, the cultural leader of the Soviet Union after the October Revolution, also praised it, and Szczes translated the vision of social change into music. For the Musical Arts of Russian and World Significance, Szes has become a symbol: Russia has become an important frontrunner (since the 20th century) by consumers of music (18th century to early 19th century) and producers (after Glinka) – this is a major change in the development pattern of music and art in the world, and its significance is self-evident.

Written on February 19, 2022 in Bingcheng Linjiang Pavilion

Author: Yang Yandi

Editor: Xie Juan

Editor-in-Charge: Shu Ming

*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.