Alexander Scriabin Essentials

With a career that bridged the 19th and 20th centuries, this Russian composer showed a natural affinity for Romantic melodists like Liszt and Chopin (whom he studied at the Moscow Conservatory). Meanwhile, he also managed to stretch the accepted conventions of harmony in ways that anticipated the new century's emerging modernism. The symphonic colors in works like “Promethée - Le Poème du Feu, Op. 60” show his talent for sneaking chromaticism into lush orchestrations. And his solo works for piano likewise prove his skill for memorable motifs balanced alongside dense and powerful writing.