Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 6

Composer: Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (6 January 1872 -- 27 April 1915)
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy
Year of recording: 1982

Piano Sonata No. 6, Op. 62, written in 1911.

One movement, marked: Modéré: Mystérieux, concentré

Although it is numbered Scriabin's sixth sonata, the sonata was preceded by the Sonata No. 7. As it is one of the late piano sonatas of Scriabin's career, the music consists of a single movement, and is almost atonal.

The mood of the piece is marked "mystérieux" by the composer, but the most striking aspect of the sixth sonata, are the sudden moments of horror which interrupt its dreamlike atmosphere, and were explicitly marked "l'épouvante surgit" (surge of terror), by Scriabin. The final passages are colourful and languid, like an elaborate Debussy prelude, but darker forces are released at the end.

It is one of a few pieces Scriabin himself never played in public, because he felt it was "nightmarish, murky, unclean and mischievous". Scriabin reportedly feared the sonata, its darkness, and considered the work to be corrupted by demonic forces. He often started shuddering after playing a few measures to other people.