Alexander Scriabin - Towards the Light / Calculation and Ecstasy (1996)

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
  • This documentary on the unconventional life and ground-breaking music of the Russian pianist and composer Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) sheds light on the mystical ideas which inspired him. He became consumed by a vision of a union of the arts, a coalescence of music, words, movement, light, colour and ideas, to create transcendent experiences. Contributors to his fascinating exploration of the composer's life and work are musicians Vladimir Ashkenazy and Vladimir Horowitz; conductor Mikhail Pletnev; and Scriabin's daughter, Marina. The programme draws on Scriabin's writings, archive photographs and documentation, and footage shot in Switzerland, Italy and Moscow. Among a wealth of musical extracts, Scriabin himself is heard playing his Poem Op. 32 No. 1, recorded in 1908 on a Welte Mignon player-piano.
    A film by Oliver Becker

КОМЕНТАРІ • 145

  • @kenm.3512
    @kenm.3512 5 років тому +57

    This is a fascinating documentary about Scriabin. He is a composer whose music becomes greater with familiarity. Only recently have I begun to realize how remarkable a composer he was.
    With this documentary my interest in Scriabin's music, personality and artistic vision continues to grow. Thank you for posting it!

  • @EnriqueGiliOrtiz
    @EnriqueGiliOrtiz 6 років тому +33

    What an artist and personality. 4 decades is so short time, and he had yet so much to say... Rest in peace.

  • @ClarenceDoskocil
    @ClarenceDoskocil 4 роки тому +9

    He wrote those joyous words when he was in his most miserable times. A true Nietzschean! Pianist from this era I love: Scriabin, Ravel, Janacek, Debussy, Granados, and Mussorgsky.

  • @marinoscarpa895
    @marinoscarpa895 5 років тому +181

    Scriabin is still underrated, i think he's probably one of the greatest musical geniuses of all times

    • @nunyabusiness8538
      @nunyabusiness8538 5 років тому +30

      Marino Scarpa a vast majority of people’s mind’s aren’t ready for his music. it takes a lot of love for the piano to understand his music sometimes

    • @danielfeygin1216
      @danielfeygin1216 4 роки тому +8

      @@nunyabusiness8538 That's true. I'm a classical player student and although I love listening to music, I often find difficult to understand Scriabin's works the first time I listen to them, even in his earlier Style

    • @tchaffman
      @tchaffman 4 роки тому +1

      @@danielfeygin1216 Keep listening 👂

    • @originaltommy
      @originaltommy 4 роки тому

      I agree entirely.

    • @AsrielKujo
      @AsrielKujo 3 роки тому +2

      @@nunyabusiness8538 just like Sorabji

  • @fisherroastedpeanut
    @fisherroastedpeanut 8 років тому +18

    beautiful, informative documentary

  • @2silkworm
    @2silkworm Рік тому +3

    If you want to understand Scriabin better listen to Vladimir Sofronitsky's renditions of his piano works. He knew Scriabin personally and was married to his daughter. He captures the philosophy behind his works like nobody else.

  • @Damonm68
    @Damonm68 Рік тому

    Wow, so happy I found this hidden jewel

  • @happycreeper6923
    @happycreeper6923 3 роки тому +1

    Pour moi qui suis français, j'aimerais beaucoup retrouver les entretiens originaux des interviewés

  • @44y4l4
    @44y4l4 3 роки тому +1

    his performance of the poem 32/1 at the end exhibits such exaggerated rubato and, a couple extra notes that are not on this modern edition i'm looking at..
    maybe he was just winging it, lol

  • @eternalmariacallas2283
    @eternalmariacallas2283 3 роки тому +2

    3:13 Rachmaninoff was been mislabeled, Rachmaninoff was the 3rd boy in the back.

    • @eternalmariacallas2283
      @eternalmariacallas2283 3 роки тому

      @Nate Rogers Even with that mistake it’s still a very good documentary.

  • @RanBlakePiano
    @RanBlakePiano 3 роки тому

    Classic

  • @jacquelinecordeiro2991
    @jacquelinecordeiro2991 5 років тому +1

    Legendas em português please

  • @nenanoz2304
    @nenanoz2304 Рік тому

    Viele Grüße für unsere Kroatischlehrerin Mirjam Zaninović!

  • @Narragorth
    @Narragorth 16 днів тому

    31:49

  • @falamimire
    @falamimire Рік тому

    Je me contenterai de sa musique et mettrai son blabla mystique de côté.

  • @dijonstreak
    @dijonstreak 3 роки тому +1

    ...ok... i got it....i got it...

  • @vijaypothinn3345
    @vijaypothinn3345 5 років тому +2

    Everything is fine until you start reading comments.
    I did the same crime.
    #Realization

  • @johnappleseed8369
    @johnappleseed8369 8 років тому +116

    Really really really good documentary, thank you so much!!

    • @licenselessrider4486
      @licenselessrider4486 8 років тому +1

      am now compelled to watch this. three reallys is a good sign

    • @johnappleseed8369
      @johnappleseed8369 8 років тому

      licenseless rider watch it in your own time though, it is a portrait after all!
      Good day :)

    • @leviwhite3464
      @leviwhite3464 6 років тому +1

      *Very, very, very

  • @MikeyOnKeys
    @MikeyOnKeys 4 роки тому +34

    The whole purpose of Scriabin’s music is kind of weird, but I really like the music. Like, who writes music to drive demons out of people and start the apocalypse? Apparently this guy.

    • @TomCL-vb6xc
      @TomCL-vb6xc 4 роки тому +11

      AxilS Towards the end of his life his psychosis got much more extreme. He was a bizarre guy all round - his was all over the place in terms of philosophy. There is real joy and ecstasy in his music.

    • @benjamMin278
      @benjamMin278 3 роки тому +3

      Who's listening to this in 2020, year of coronavirus?

    • @misanthropeimmortel
      @misanthropeimmortel 3 роки тому +1

      @ Michael Nicht :
      Metal music so well ahead of time ! (And much more rich)

    • @grantveebeejay535
      @grantveebeejay535 3 роки тому +6

      His dedication to Theosophy makes him and his music far more interesting than so many other composers. It certainly brought an originality and a hard to define spiritual element in his music that few composers find and achieve so well. The pursuit of metaphysical ecstasy in music. A fantastic goal. So inspiring. My interest in Scriabin is off to a great start. Thanks for posting this terrific documentary.

    • @GAMLAPATTE
      @GAMLAPATTE Рік тому

      @misanthropeimmortel So there is at least one more person except me who can hear this 😊 Greetings fellow metal head 🤘☠️

  • @terryhammond1253
    @terryhammond1253 3 роки тому +24

    Scriabin was a total original. A towering musical genius. His music is absolutely gorgeous as well.

    • @aloziecnwachukwu1515
      @aloziecnwachukwu1515 7 місяців тому +1

      NOT totally original. He was highly influenced by Chopin. Even though later on he developed his own unmistakable sound.

  • @IgnatzKolisch
    @IgnatzKolisch 7 років тому +29

    I'd never known of this documentary. Terrific! And so many people who knew Scriabin in person, I didn't expect that!!!

  • @JamesNathanielHolland
    @JamesNathanielHolland 6 років тому +44

    I have heard of Scriabin and the mystic chord before, but learned a lot with this documentary. It took me a while to think what I wanted to say. Scriabin is Scriabin, trying to imitate what he composed, would be like admiring someone and trying to imitate someone's personality, that one is simply not. One should follow their own path. Also some pretty nasty comments on this video, people should learn to be more respectful and not so full of themselves, or arrogant that they know everything there is to know about art. All musical styles are valid.

  • @WashougalNine
    @WashougalNine 3 роки тому +8

    Not to overshadow the greatness of Scriabin and his music (I first heard & loved the Poem of Ecstasy played by the Calgary Philharmonic back in about 1979 or 1980)--but why does the narrator sound like John Malkovich?

    • @Dionysus_333
      @Dionysus_333 4 місяці тому

      Lmao wait it does sound like him

  • @prestopiano88
    @prestopiano88 2 роки тому +9

    What a beautiful movie in conception and execution. I was so moved by how you ended with his piano roll. Thank you for bringing us toward the light

  • @d.dedrick7991
    @d.dedrick7991 6 років тому +15

    Vers le Flame Opus 72 brought to mind McCoy Tyner for me big time! In particular parts of the staggering piece "Land of the Lonely" off his excellent Trident album, and also some of Tyner's stylistic characteristics in general. I wonder if the master jazz pianist was influenced by this amazing composer and avantgarde thinker ( who is completely new to me! ) Scriabin? I will have to look into it...🤔🎹 Love it...Thanks so much 🎼🎶

  • @Likes_Trains
    @Likes_Trains 4 роки тому +9

    Just handed in a 4,000 word essay on Scriabin's Prometheus today. I didn't know this documentary existed until now, I guess watching this is a nice debrief activity :)

    • @RanBlakePiano
      @RanBlakePiano 3 роки тому

      How could I get copy. Ran at ran Blake . Com

  • @terryhammond1253
    @terryhammond1253 Рік тому +4

    Scriabin's harmonic palette is the most seductive in all music.

  • @happycreeper6923
    @happycreeper6923 3 роки тому +10

    Scriabine est un compositeur de génie
    Je regrette qu'il n'en ait pas fait encore davantage
    Il touche du doigt le sommet de la musique

    • @ThomasSourbutts
      @ThomasSourbutts Місяць тому

      Such a shame he died in such an obscure way

  • @kimsteel366
    @kimsteel366 5 років тому +11

    Yow. Scriabin was OUT THERE. Psychadelic before it became a thing decades later in the 1960s... Fueled by ego, mysticism, elements of the occult, maybe even a manic/depressive condition of some sort... A very interesting person, let alone composer, to say the least...

  • @rittelmann
    @rittelmann 6 років тому +11

    one of my favorite composers of the XXth century excellent documentary

  • @OE1FEU
    @OE1FEU 5 років тому +7

    Can I apply for a job as fact checker for you next time?
    Rachmaninov died in 1943, not in 1944 and he is second to right in the picture of Sabanew's class at the Moscow conservatory, not the rightmost.

    • @jgiles2016
      @jgiles2016 4 роки тому +6

      If the other 56 minutes of this is accurate I think they did pretty well lol

    • @SonofFrenzi
      @SonofFrenzi Рік тому +2

      I noticed that but let it pass - Nit pickers don't make movies - they only pick nits.

  • @nyc88s
    @nyc88s 5 років тому +9

    I didn't know of this documentary until now. Fabulous! I love Scriabin.

  • @josephmarcello7481
    @josephmarcello7481 2 роки тому +13

    Why has nobody realized how profoundly Stravinsky has been nourished and influenced, even to the extent of almost outright theft, by the harmonic genius of Scriabin.... Almost the whole of the Firebird is born out of Scriabin's aesthetic.

  • @randompianistis4670
    @randompianistis4670 8 років тому +8

    what is the version of Prometheus that we can hear at the very beginning of the documentary ?

  • @PaulRx4
    @PaulRx4 8 років тому +18

    Better than expected, some historic footage here also.
    I have many Scriabin-based playlist myself. Only the title lacks!

  • @metteholm4833
    @metteholm4833 2 роки тому +3

    I wonder why he was considered to be a bit "odd" - just because of his synesthesia. Nothing wrong with that! Quite common in artists. Furthermore - sound and light move on the same frequencies.

  • @johannesbrahms7414
    @johannesbrahms7414 3 роки тому +3

    The first time I heard his music it was on the radio. I did know whose music was being played. Instantly, I remarked to myself: "What an original way of thinking, and, feeling! It's fabulous! I love it! He isy favorite composer!!!!+

  • @SCRIABINIST
    @SCRIABINIST 5 місяців тому +1

    I have revisited this video every year for 3 years now...

  • @azolioeroach3253
    @azolioeroach3253 6 років тому +10

    Enchanting!!!! Too bad Russia persecuted such beauty out of their culture. A loss to all!!!! 😔

  • @AsrielKujo
    @AsrielKujo 3 роки тому +3

    Watched the full documentary! Very interesting! I love Scriabin!

  • @DevonMarlinHenderson
    @DevonMarlinHenderson 7 років тому +5

    Lovely and exhilarating!Many,Many Thanks.

  • @IrishGoat2828
    @IrishGoat2828 5 місяців тому +1

    Guys. He was satanic

  • @SonofFrenzi
    @SonofFrenzi Рік тому +2

    Wonderful documentary. Really beautifully done.

  • @jamesmiller4184
    @jamesmiller4184 7 років тому +21

    If he had lived longer, might he have become a danger unto Humanity or . . . a deliverance?
    For better or worse, by The Fates themselves were we robbed of the opportunity to ever know.
    It was just splendid, this presentation!
    I think it worth several of re-views.
    Also, how very fitting it was that this work concluded with Alexander Nikolayevich's own hand rendering by means of his Welte-Mignon record-rolls. It sounded quite good indeed, and displayed individuality of key expressive factors undoubtedly.
    The potential for further extended expression of play, seems thus unlimited.
    J.M.

    • @leviwhite3464
      @leviwhite3464 6 років тому +4

      born on Christmas, died on Easter. He coincidentally dies just before Mysterium was complete: a piece in which completed his series of symphonies that had such great importance to him that humanity needed to be prepared for this shift into Euphoric state.

    • @juicedelemon
      @juicedelemon Рік тому +2

      imagine if he did the himalayan thing and the world isn't destroyed. he would be so disappointed

    • @jamesmiller4184
      @jamesmiller4184 Рік тому

      @@juicedelemon Ha! Likely the case!

  • @aflightofbumblebee749
    @aflightofbumblebee749 5 років тому +3

    “Little wing”!..,,,,walking through the clouds!...

  • @stevebartley8902
    @stevebartley8902 3 роки тому +3

    The glorious madness of it all.

  • @metteholm4833
    @metteholm4833 5 років тому +4

    Fascinating documentary!

  • @mauriziosorelli9566
    @mauriziosorelli9566 3 місяці тому

    Sì, credeva nella Ekpürosis, la Conflagratio finale

  • @jonathansamir8351
    @jonathansamir8351 5 років тому +3

    Great documentary

  • @JasonMartineauMusic
    @JasonMartineauMusic 9 місяців тому

    Where can one find the piano part or similar of the Prefatory Act, as heard in this video? I'm only able to find sketches.

  • @dz6374
    @dz6374 2 роки тому +1

    Which recording of Poem of Ecstasy is used?

    • @Apostol9
      @Apostol9 2 роки тому

      Stokowski's rendition on the Classical Music/Reference channel seems close.

  • @arastoomii4305
    @arastoomii4305 7 років тому +3

    WoW

  • @CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji
    @CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji 2 роки тому +1

    I'm so glad I found this now!

  • @marinoscarpa895
    @marinoscarpa895 9 місяців тому

    Would be very cool to have timestamps with the names of the pieces...😌

  • @matthewbyronlewismusic9625
    @matthewbyronlewismusic9625 3 роки тому +1

    what Scriabin piece is played at the beginning of the whole thing? Thanks!

  • @stephenjablonsky1941
    @stephenjablonsky1941 3 роки тому +3

    He who attempts to understand genius is on a fool's errand. Just enjoy the music and let that speak to you of love and madness. Or, sit quietly and find your own inner peace and tranquility.

  • @andreoliveira685
    @andreoliveira685 10 місяців тому

    Great documentary! Thank you so much!

  • @thibomeurkens2296
    @thibomeurkens2296 2 роки тому

    Thanks you very much for the great documentary!

  • @tilt12345678
    @tilt12345678 9 місяців тому

    A great documentary!

  • @georget840
    @georget840 3 роки тому

    Happy birthday!!

  • @espectro3914
    @espectro3914 5 років тому

    thanks for share

  • @rmiddlehouse
    @rmiddlehouse 4 роки тому +4

    11:45 etudes op.8, no. 12
    No name? This is possibly the most incredible piece of music (and performance) ever.

  • @sethfry9788
    @sethfry9788 6 років тому +3

    the only reason I watched this all the way through was so I could present it to my composition recital class. Other people might like this music, but I don't. oh well, thank you for posting this.

    • @nicholas72611
      @nicholas72611 5 років тому +4

      youre not listening to it with an open mind

    • @TheSangson
      @TheSangson 4 роки тому +1

      @@nicholas72611 My goodness

    • @nicholas72611
      @nicholas72611 4 роки тому +1

      @@TheSangson What does this even mean

    • @dz6374
      @dz6374 3 роки тому +3

      Unnecessary comment

    • @disinformationworld9378
      @disinformationworld9378 6 місяців тому

      One of the greatest musical geniuses of all time. This music changed my life.

  • @SaccidanandaSadasiva
    @SaccidanandaSadasiva 6 років тому +3

    If I was in a deserted island I would take the complete works of J.S.Bach, A.Webern and Stockhausen. I need nothing else than the divine music of bach, the minimalism of webern and the grandeur of Stockhausen . You?

    • @asdfasdf-gm5uk
      @asdfasdf-gm5uk 6 років тому +1

      I would take Rachmaninoff, Schiele and piano.

    • @scriabinismydog2439
      @scriabinismydog2439 5 років тому +2

      I would pick Beethoven, Mahler and Scriabin

    • @cosmicman621
      @cosmicman621 5 років тому

      Om Sadasiva me...Kenny g....all the way.....

    • @Cosimo-composer
      @Cosimo-composer 5 років тому +4

      only idiots will enjoy stockhausen

    • @p-y8210
      @p-y8210 4 роки тому

      Well I want some ravel,rachmaninoff,chopin,liszt and alkan. And beethoven

  • @ethanfoss5601
    @ethanfoss5601 5 років тому +6

    That horowitz performance was awful

    • @Musicienne-DAB1995
      @Musicienne-DAB1995 5 років тому

      In what way?

    • @pianoman598
      @pianoman598 4 роки тому +5

      Awfully amazing

    • @Συναισθησις
      @Συναισθησις 4 роки тому +8

      Dude must like Kissin/Wang/that kind of boring garbage

    • @felixbonigk9162
      @felixbonigk9162 3 роки тому

      Why?

    • @MikeyOnKeys
      @MikeyOnKeys 3 роки тому +1

      Other than the abundance of wrong notes, Horowitz exemplified the drama and tragic nature of the piece. I know it’s hard to hear all the visits to “neighbors” on the keyboard.