Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin

Episodes

SeriesTitleFirst
Broadcast
Comments
2007Beginnings20070528Donald Macleod follows the young Scriabin from a cossetted upbringing by '2 grandmothers and an aunt', via the Cadet Corps, to studenthood at the Moscow Conservatoire, where overpractising damaged his right hand. After graduating, he became a protegee of the great patron of Russian music, Mitrofan Beliaev.

Donald Macleod uncovers the early years of Alexander Scriabin.

2007Ecstasy And Mass20070531Donald Macleod explores the composer's obsessions with hair and cleanliness.
2007Fire And The End20070601Donald Macleod ends his week of programmes about Alexander Scriabin with an exploration of synaesthesia, and performances of Prometheus: Poem of Fire and the composer's final piano works, the Op 74 Preludes and his Tenth Sonata. He also visits Scriabin's Moscow flat and describes the composer's plans for his incomplete magnum opus Mysterium.

Donald Macleod ends his programmes about Scriabin with an exploration of synaesthesia.

2007Love And Belaiev20070529Donald Macleod continues his exploration of the life and work of Alexander Scriabin through his piano sonatas, recounting the story of the composer's often tempestuous relationship with his patron Mitrofan Belaiev, and his equally tortuous relationship with women, many of whom were teenagers. The music in this programme includes Scriabin's only song, and his only Piano Concerto.
2007Miniaturist And Symphonist20070530Exploring Scriabin's personal philosophy that prompted him once to exclaim 'I am God!'.