This Week in Classical Music: January 6, 2025. Scriabin. We’re not sure if we completely share the enthusiasm of Grove Music, which writes that Alexander Scriabin was “[o]ne of the most extraordinary figures musical culture has ever witnessed, Skryabin has remained for a century a figure of cultish idolatry, reactionary yet modernist disapproval, analytical fascination and, finally, aesthetic re-evaluation and renewal.” It is clear, though, that Scriabin was very influential, and both his music and his persona evoked passionate reactions; moreover, the cultural life of Russia during his adult life, from the last decade of the 19th century through 1915, was at its peak, which amplifies Scriabin’s significance.
Alexander Scriabin (sometimes transliterated as Skryabin) was born in Moscow on January 6th of 1872 (December 25th of 1871, Old Style). Scriabin had a turbulent and complicated life, with ups and downs, both artistic and personal. There's no way we could describe it in any detail in the allotted space, so instead we'll try to untangle his complicated relationship with the Schloezer family and with his wives, relationships that so often intersected.
The Schloezers were of either German or, as some of Scriabin's friends presumed, Jewish descent. Two brothers, Teodor (Fyodor) and Paul (Pavel) settled in Russia, the former in the provincial city of Vitebsk, the latter in Moscow. Teodor became a successful lawyer, while Paul, a pianist, became, sometime around 1892, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. With his French wife, Teodor had two children, Boris and Tatiana. We don’t know anything about Paul’s children, but what we do know is that among his pupils were Leonid Sabaneyev, who would become an important music critic and Scriabin’s good friend, Elena Gnessin, a founder of several music schools, and one Vera Isakovich, Scriabin’s future wife. Vera, an accomplished pianist, was one of Professor Schloezer’s favorite students and for a while even lived in his house. In 1892, Scriabin graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with a Little Gold Medal, as opposed to his rival Rachmaninov’s Great Gold Medal, mostly because of Alexander’s disagreements with Anton Arensky, a composer and Conservatory professor.
In his youth Scriabin had many affairs, some pretty scandalous; he met Vera Isakovich through Paul Schloezer in 1897. By then Scriabin was a struggling composer and a successful pianist. Vera and Alexander married, against the wishes of his family, in April of that year; he was 25 years old, she was 22.
In the meantime, Tatiana Schloezer, who was 11 years younger than Scriabin (she was born in 1883), grew up in Vitebsk, learned to play the piano, and fell in love with Scriabin’s music -- so much so that she would play only his compositions and nothing else. Sabaneyev also remembers seeing her at the Moscow house of Paul Schloezer while Vera was living there. In the meantime, Vera and Alexander’s marriage was having difficulties, mostly, in Alexander’s mind, on account of Vera not appreciating his music – and his genius – deeply enough. In 1902, Boris Schloezer and his sister Tatiana were staying in a hotel in Moscow (Tatiana, then 19, came with the specific goal of meeting Scriabin). Boris invited Alexander, who played his new compositions late into the night; Tatiana announced that she wanted to be his pupil. Later into the night, they moved to Scriabin’s house where Alexander continued to play; he was taken by Tatiana's deep understanding of his music. Sometime later Scriabin wrote a letter to Paul Schloezer praising his children and how happy he was to have met them.
We’ll stop here, even though we understand where this is leading. We’ll finish this story, just a small part of Scriabin’s biography, next week. In the meantime, some of Scriabin’s music from around that time. Soon after their marriage, Alexander and Vera moved to Paris, where he started working on his Third Piano Sonata. Here it is, in the 1988 performance of Grigory Sokolov.
Scriabin, 2025
This Week in Classical Music: January 6, 2025. Scriabin. We’re not sure if we completely share the enthusiasm of Grove Music, which writes that Alexander Scriabin was “[o]ne of the
most extraordinary figures musical culture has ever witnessed, Skryabin has remained for a century a figure of cultish idolatry, reactionary yet modernist disapproval, analytical fascination and, finally, aesthetic re-evaluation and renewal.” It is clear, though, that Scriabin was very influential, and both his music and his persona evoked passionate reactions; moreover, the cultural life of Russia during his adult life, from the last decade of the 19th century through 1915, was at its peak, which amplifies Scriabin’s significance.
Alexander Scriabin (sometimes transliterated as Skryabin) was born in Moscow on January 6th of 1872 (December 25th of 1871, Old Style). Scriabin had a turbulent and complicated life, with ups and downs, both artistic and personal. There's no way we could describe it in any detail in the allotted space, so instead we'll try to untangle his complicated relationship with the Schloezer family and with his wives, relationships that so often intersected.
The Schloezers were of either German or, as some of Scriabin's friends presumed, Jewish descent. Two brothers, Teodor (Fyodor) and Paul (Pavel) settled in Russia, the former in the provincial city of Vitebsk, the latter in Moscow. Teodor became a successful lawyer, while Paul, a pianist, became, sometime around 1892, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. With his French wife, Teodor had two children, Boris and Tatiana. We don’t know anything about Paul’s children, but what we do know is that among his pupils were Leonid Sabaneyev, who would become an important music critic and Scriabin’s good friend, Elena Gnessin, a founder of several music schools, and one Vera Isakovich, Scriabin’s future wife. Vera, an accomplished pianist, was one of Professor Schloezer’s favorite students and for a while even lived in his house. In 1892, Scriabin graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with a Little Gold Medal, as opposed to his rival Rachmaninov’s Great Gold Medal, mostly because of Alexander’s disagreements with Anton Arensky, a composer and Conservatory professor.
In his youth Scriabin had many affairs, some pretty scandalous; he met Vera Isakovich through Paul Schloezer in 1897. By then Scriabin was a struggling composer and a successful pianist. Vera and Alexander married, against the wishes of his family, in April of that year; he was 25 years old, she was 22.
In the meantime, Tatiana Schloezer, who was 11 years younger than Scriabin (she was born in 1883), grew up in Vitebsk, learned to play the piano, and fell in love with Scriabin’s music -- so much so that she would play only his compositions and nothing else. Sabaneyev also remembers seeing her at the Moscow house of Paul Schloezer while Vera was living there. In the meantime, Vera and Alexander’s marriage was having difficulties, mostly, in Alexander’s mind, on account of Vera not appreciating his music – and his genius – deeply enough. In 1902, Boris Schloezer and his sister Tatiana were staying in a hotel in Moscow (Tatiana, then 19, came with the specific goal of meeting Scriabin). Boris invited Alexander, who played his new compositions late into the night; Tatiana announced that she wanted to be his pupil. Later into the night, they moved to Scriabin’s house where Alexander continued to play; he was taken by Tatiana's deep understanding of his music. Sometime later Scriabin wrote a letter to Paul Schloezer praising his children and how happy he was to have met them.
We’ll stop here, even though we understand where this is leading. We’ll finish this story, just a small part of Scriabin’s biography, next week. In the meantime, some of Scriabin’s music from around that time. Soon after their marriage, Alexander and Vera moved to Paris, where he started working on his Third Piano Sonata. Here it is, in the 1988 performance of Grigory Sokolov.