Scriabin - VERS LA FLAMME Op 72 - IGOR ZHUKOV

ALEXANDER SCRIABIN - Verse La Flamme OP 72

IGOR ZHUKOV : Piano ( Bechstein - Flügel)

recorded in 1980 (Recording engineers: I. Veprintsev & E. Buneyeva )
recorded by WATCHBLUESKIES from STEREO Vinyl LP made in russia by MELODIYA (1982)

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Vers la flamme, Op. 72 (Toward the flame) is one of Alexander Scriabin's last few pieces for piano, written in 1914.
The melody of the piece is very simple, consisting mainly of descending half steps.
However, the unusual harmonies and difficult tremolos create an intense, fiery luminance.
This piece was intended to be Scriabin's eleventh sonata; however he had to publish it early because of financial concerns. Hence, the piece is only labeled a poem, rather than a sonata.
According to renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz, the piece was inspired by Scriabin's eccentric conviction that a constant accumulation of heat would ultimately cause the destruction of the world.
The piece's title reflects the Earth's fiery destruction, as well as the constant emotional buildup and crescendo throughout the piece leading, ultimately, "toward the flame."
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Igor Zhukov (Born 1936) : pianist, conductor and sound engineer.

Igor Michailovich Zhukov was born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1936 but his family moved to Moscow in the following year. Four years later, they were evacuated to Vyatka (then known as Kirov) as a result of the second world war. After the war, they returned to Moscow, where Zhukov studied in the Conservatory in 1955, studying first with Emil Gilels and then, in 1955, with Heinrich Neuhaus. He graduated in 1960, having won second prize in the Long-Thibaud Piano Competition in Paris.

Apart from a career as a pianist, Zhukov also conducted his own ensemble - the Moscow Chamber Orchestra until his retirement from conducting in 1994, and was the pianist of the long-running Zhukov Piano Trio which was founded in 1963 and continued performing until 1980. (The other members were the violinist Grigory Feighin and cellist Valentin Feighin.) The trio was noted for its "Historic Concerts" which featured repertoire spanning the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Zhukov has made recordings on the Melodiya label among others (e.g. the complete Scriabin Sonatas). Zhukov also has a passionate interest in recording, and says of himself "I'm the best pianist among recording engineers, and the best recording engineer among pianists".
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Alexander Nikolajewitsch Skrjabin
Александр Николаевич Скрябин
Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin

Scriabine aurait écrit cette pièce à partir d'une vision apocalyptique qu'il aurait eue lors d'un voyage en train et dans laquelle il se demandait si "le feu, les flammes cosmiques étaient des vibrations, semblables à celles des sons et des couleurs, destinées à se rencontrer, à se fondre dans l'embrasement final de l'univers

『焔に向かって』（ほのおにむかって、フランス語：Vers la flamme）作品72はアレクサンドル・スクリャービンの最後のピアノ曲の一つ。1914年に作曲された。

作品の開始に現れる動機（C#-D）が繰り返されるうちに、徐々に息の長い旋律線に成長するよう作曲されており、ラヴェルの《ボレロ》に先駆けて、クレッシェンドが構成原理に利用されている。当初は「ピアノ・ソナタ第11番」として着想されたが、上記のように、従来のソナタ形式とは大きくかけ離れた楽曲構成法のため、ソナタではなく、スクリャービン自身によって「詩曲」に分類された。ホロヴィッツによると、スクリャービンは世界の終末を夢に見てから、この作曲を思い立ち、地球が灰燼に帰すという幻影からこのような題名を付けたという。曲全体がほぼ神秘和音で統一されている。