Symphony No. 2 (Scriabin)

The Symphony No. 2 in C minor, the Russian composer Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin ( 1872-1915 ) was born in 1901. The five movements was as his Opus 29 published.

Genesis, premiere and reception

Alexander Scriabin's Symphony No. 2 was largely in the summer of 1901 in Moscow during the semester break of the Moscow Conservatory, where the composer since 1898 held a piano professorship. The music composed in the previous year 's Symphony No. 1 was decided by a choral finale and the composer at first planned to open his new symphony with the same vocal parts. Scriabin's patron and publisher Mitrofan Belyayev However, we strongly advised him against it and suggested that he also premiered lack of experience, not - as provided by Scriabin only - to conduct themselves.

The premiere of the Symphony No. 2 took place on 12.jul. / January 25 1902greg. in St. Petersburg held under the leadership of Anatoly Ljadow. The work came in the audience in a rather helpless recording. After the Moscow premiere 1903 Vasily Safonov reported Scriabin's aunt Lyubov Alexandrovna: " The more one raged, the more the others clapped applause ". The premiere conductor Ljadow wrote, probably partly in earnest and partly in jest, to Belyayev, "The devil knows what that is! Scriabin may boldly Richard Strauss shake hands [ ... ] After Scriabin Wagner has become an infant with pleasant mumbling " Scriabin's former composition teacher Anton Arensky wrote of " nonsense " and said:". [ ... ] Instead of " symphony " should have been printed " cacophony " " [ ... ]. Yuri Engel, one of the first Scriabin 's biographer, stated that this was " music for the upper crust, away from the healthy expanse of fields and woods grown in the refined and edgy atmosphere of the sultry metropolis [ ... ] but you can feel the dawn to something new, striving to break the chains of the existing [ ... ] "

Instrumentation and Duration

The score includes the following cast before: 3 flutes (3rd piccolo ), 2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, cymbals and strings.

The Running time is approximately 50 minutes.

Characterization and sequence of movements

Had Scriabin's Symphony No. 1 still owned 6 sets, the second symphony is in five movements and can be interpreted as a classical 4- sätziges Symphony model with verselbstständigter slow introduction. Architecturally, it is characterized by a cyclical idea, especially first and last movements bracketed by a " theme", while 2nd and 4th movement also connects thematic relationship ( and also the main theme appears in the transformed shape). Only the third set as the center of the plant processed largely independent motivic material. However, this leitmotif clamping is not a new idea Scriabin, were similar as already César Franck ( Symphony in D minor ) and Pyotr Tchaikovsky ( Symphony No. 5 ) procedures. Scriabin's frequent use of high - and tiefalterierter chords blurred in places, the contrasts between major and minor, which may have contributed to the uncomprehending recording of the work by his contemporaries, which is also stylistically about the successor of Richard Wagner, Tchaikovsky and César Franck School.

I. Andante

The major parts of the symphony formative " theme" appears at the beginning of the sentence ( a Rondo ) in darkly elegiac form in the deep clarinet and also characterizes the further course of the movement stronger than the more episodic second theme, which is presented by the solo violin.

Allegro

The second sentence follows the first sentence attacca and uses at a regular sonata form, which combines a restless - urgent main theme with a lyrical second theme of the clarinet.

III. andante

In turn, the expressive, predominantly pastoral -looking middle movement uses the sonata form and can almost anticipate Olivier Messiaen in its differentiated - naturalistic bird calls in the flute to set the start (which also briefly hinted at the end of a sentence again ).

IV Tempestoso

A thematically related to the main theme of the 2nd movement surly string theme shapes the course of that sentence, which plays the role of the Scherzo. The system as Rondo is superimposed by Sonata elements.

V. Maestoso

The final attacca joins the 4th movement. The theme now appears march - like triumphant in C major of the full orchestra and leads to a formal sonata rondo forming set " in a tone of Wagner's Die Meistersinger " for the final apotheosis.