Prometheus, The Poem of Fire in F-Sharp Major

Scriabin’s Prometheus, composed between 1908 and 1910 and premiered in Moscow in 1911, was inspired by his fascination with theosophy. The work is based on the ancient legend of Prometheus who, alongside Lucifer and Satan, harnessed his active energy to create the cosmos and impart to humanity what the composer considered to be the “sacred spark which expands into the blossom of human intelligence and self-consciousness”. A hybrid composition that is partly symphonic, partly a piano concerto and partly a symphonic poem, Scriabin’s last completed and most daringly original orchestral work pushed the boundaries of musical language into entirely unprecedented and innovative directions. It opens with an extraordinary soundscape. Over a misty sustained chord, a sequence of distinctive fragmentary ideas float into the ether. These include dark murmurings from the horns, an imperious trumpet call, a more contemplative flute motif, and the first forceful if somewhat flighty entry of the solo piano. Various other solo instruments are then given the spotlight while the music moves seamlessly from depicting emotions of joy with those of pain. Out of this scene of primordial chaos, Scriabin begins to fashion a more sustained musical argument which eventually builds up to a massive climax in which the full orchestra is joined by a wordless chorus and organ in an orgiastic and hedonistic blaze of glory.