Music to end the world

Two very different composers from the romantic era of music were born today. Max Bruch was born in 1838 in Germany. He is considered part of the more conservative tradition of German Romantic Classicism (along with Brahms) instead of the more radical experimentalists of the time, which included Liszt, Wagner, and Berlioz.

Bruch's most famous work is his Violin Concerto #1 in G minor, which is part of the standard violin repertoire. Listen to the 1st and 2nd movements here and here and 3rd movement here. It's quite an enjoyable piece of music, rightly deserving it's popularity.

Alexander Scriabin was also born today in 1872 in Russia. He studied piano with the same teacher as Rachmaninoff (who was 2 years younger), and wrote lots of piano music. In his early days, he injured himself playing Balakirev's Islamey (see previous blog entry). Scriabin had some very interesting beliefs that affected his music. He started out sort of Chopinesque in his style, but gradually his music became atonal. He had very grandiose mystical beliefs, and began work on a large orchestral/multi-media work called Mysterium that he planned on performing at the Himalayas that would bring about the end of our world. Fortunately for us who hadn't been born yet, he never completed the piece and the world didn't end.

Scriabin had a "Mystic chord" that he employed in some of his later compositions, made up of C F# Bb E A D, usually in inversions. He also associated the notes on a keyboard with colors.

A lot of his piano music (particularly the early stuff) is very interesting and beautiful. His many preludes, etudes, and 10 sonatas are very popular among pianists today, and some of them are quite difficult and are standard repertoire in competitions. Here are a few samples from his earlier period: Etude in D# minor, Op. 8 No. 12, probably his most popular piece (and quite difficult!), Etude Op. 2, No. 1, another very popular piece, Nocturne for the left hand, Op. 9 No. 2, a very beautiful piece that you wouldn't know was for the left hand alone if you weren't watching, and finally, his Sonata No. 2, Op. 19, 2nd movement.

From his middle period: Etude Op. 42, No. 5, another popular piece. It is still very romantic, and tonal, though perhaps edgier than the previous pieces. Also written during this time is the 4th piano sonata, Op. 30, a very jazzy and generally happy piece, though definitely pushing the limits of tonality more than before.

Finally, from his last period, one of his last piano works, "Vers la flamme" (Toward the flame), Op. 72. This is a rather disturbing piece, as are a lot of his later works. The name says it all - it starts out slow and cool, but gets hotter and hotter as it progresses, until by the end, the heat is actually quite uncomfortable. Listen to it here with pianist Vladimir Horowitz, one of the few to give this piece the proper fire. Horowitz is one of Scriabin's greatest intepreters and also interacted with him during his lifetime. Apparently Scriabin told Horowitz that this piece also could be called "Toward the Sun".