Scriabin: Poème tragique, Op.34

Introduction

Roughly contemporaneous with the striking Fourth Piano Sonata (in which the composer first really begins to spread his wings beyond his Chopin/Liszt heritage), the Poéme tragique for piano, Op.34 is a three-minute, B flat major excursion into a lush world of pianistic delight. Its title gives little indication of the sweeping, basically optimistic character of the work, which features robust figurations and fluid arpeggiations.

While Scriabin's supporters are often loathe to admit their similarities, the Poéme is a testament to how closely allied in technical style and melodic flow Scriabin and Rachmaninov can be (especially Scriabin's early works) -- just the way that the melody is grouped in and around the accompaniment figure is enough to justify such a claim. The Poéme tragique might not stand out in the way that the Fourth or, certainly, Fifth Sonatas do, but the degree to which Scriabin's highly personal rapture is burnt into the score has earned the piece a place in the repertories of countless pianists. Throughout the work Scriabin makes colorful use of the raised fifth of the dominant ninth chord -- one of his stylistic hallmarks; the close is brought about by a typically pianistic flourish.