Vers la flame, Op.72 (Scriabin)
Movements
Notes
Vers la flamme (Toward the flame), Op. 72, is one of Alexander Scriabin’s last pieces for piano, written in 1914. The main motif of the piece consists of descending half steps or whole steps interspersed with impressionistic representations of fire. The piece was originally intended to be Scriabin’s eleventh sonata; however, he had to publish it early because of financial concerns, and hence the labelled it a poem rather than a sonata. Like many of Scriabin’s late works, the piece does not conform to classical harmony and is instead built on the mystic chord and modal transpositions of its tone centre. The piece is notorious for its difficulty, in particular the enormous leaps and long, unusual double-note trills in the final pages.
