Sound Strokes. January 2023

2 Poemas, Op.32 

1. Andante cantabile

2. Allegro, con eleganzza, con fiducia

Piano Sonata No.2, Op.19

1. Andante

2. Presto

Aleksandr Skriabin is one of the most peculiar composers in the history of music. His compositional style is considered an evolution of romanticism inspired by the Italian bel canto, as in the case of his admired predecessor Chopin.

The most characteristic feature of his catalogue is this composer’s very own trait: synaesthesia, understood as the ability to experience sensations that involve several senses, for example, people who “hear colours”. For Skriabin, this condition clearly influenced his way of composing, using the synaesthetic resource as the primary means to create very ethereal and sometimes even spiritual musical pieces (as in Op. 54 The Poem of Ecstasy, a symphonic poem with religious symbology, like the paintings in this room).

Both the second Sonata and Poems, Opus 32 are made up of two contrasting pieces: the first represents delicacy and a dreamlike soundscape, and the second represents fury and betrayal (like the figure of Judas in the painting The Last Supper by Juan de Juanes on display in this room).

This composer is the one we can probably best relate to the art of painting, since he himself acknowledged that he saw a colour with each musical note and this served as the basis for his compositions. As such, his works are clearly paintings, pictorial images that he recreated in his head and later transferred to music. His figure undoubtedly represents the great link between the arts of painting and music.