Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 66 [Ashkenazy]

All audio rights belong to Vladimir Ashkenazy and UMG. The Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 66, by Alexander Scriabin, was composed between 1912 and 1913. As one of Scriabin&late piano sonatas, the eighth sonata features non-tertian harmony, though is arguably less dissonant than some of his other late works. Like Scriabin&other late piano sonatas, the eighth sonata reflects the composer&mystical interests. Scriabin saw some parts of this sonata, which, like the sixth sonata, he never performed in public, as "the most tragic episode of my creative work". The eighth sonata consists of a single movement (Lento - Allegro agitato), and performances range from 10 minutes (Michael Ponti) to 18 1/2 minutes (Vladimir Stoupel). This work is regarded as one of Scriabin&most difficult pieces. It is the longest of Scriabin&sonatas by pages, and many passages are written on three and four staves to a system, as opposed to the typical two staves, to accommodate the complex counterpoint and large intervallic spaces. The character of the eighth sonata is perhaps consciously less extreme than that of the Sixth and Seventh, with fewer aggressive dissonances than the former and climaxes that do not explode with the extreme reckless energy of the latter. The eighth sonata begins with almost disquieting placidity as a series of muted bell-like chords are sounded. This languid episode deciduates quite quickly into passages of agitated energy. There are none of the characteristic instructions common in...