The Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 64

Opus number

An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...

, subtitled White Mass, was written by Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...

 in 1911. As one of the late piano sonata

Piano sonata

A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...

s of Scriabin's career, the music is highly chromatic

Chromatic scale

The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...

 and almost atonal

Atonality

Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...

.

Background

The White Mass is closely related to its predecessor, the sixth sonata. Both works were written in 1911–12 and have structurally and stylistically more in common than any other pair of Scriabin sonatas. Scriabin reportedly feared the sixth sonata, considering the work to be corrupted by demonic forces and going so far as to refuse to play the work in public. Scriabin composed his seventh sonata as an exorcism against the darkness of the sixth sonata, subtitling the work White Mass in order to reflect its celestial nature. He intended the mood of the piece to be ecstatic, evoking images of winged flight, voluptuous rapture and overwhelming forces.

The composer was especially fond of the piece, likely due to its messianic

Messiah

A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...

 context and perfected structure which features more contrast, rhythmic and dynamic, than most of his work. Like the second sonata

Sonata No. 2 (Scriabin)

Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, took five years for him to write. It was finally published in 1897, at the urging of his publisher. The piece is in two movements, with a style combining Chopin-like Romanticism with an impressionistic touch...

 however, the White Mass gave him a great deal of trouble during its composition.

The White Mass Sonata is not structurally directly related to Scriabin's ninth sonata

Sonata No. 9 (Scriabin)

The Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68, commonly known as the Black Mass Sonata, is one of the late piano sonatas composed by Alexander Scriabin. The work was written around 1912–1913...

, which was composed in 1912–13 and would later earn the nickname Black Mass Sonata. This name, "Black Mass," was not invented by Scriabin.

Structure and content

The piece consist of a single movement, lasting around 10–13 minutes, and is marked as follows:

1. Allegro

Additional markings provide clues to the different moods Scriabin intended to convey throughout the work, such as "mystérieusement sonore", or "avec une sombre majesté". The sonata's recurrent harmony is first presented melodically by the theme marked "avec une céleste volupté". Like the sixth, the seventh sonata is full of violent contrasts, complex counterpoint

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

, advanced tritonal

Tritone

In classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones...

 harmonies, and rippling, incandescent arpeggios.

The chords imitating the ringing of bells were a favorite of Scriabin's. According to Leonid Sabaneyev

Leonid Sabaneyev

Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist.-Biography:...

, when Scriabin himself played these chords, the ringing sounded from near and afar at the same time; a part of them sounded very real, while another sounded like an echo.

Performance history

The White Mass sonata is one of Scriabin's more advanced sonatas. Notable Scriabin masters such as Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz    was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...

 and Vladimir Sofronitsky

Vladimir Sofronitsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky was a Russian pianist, best known as an interpreter of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, whose daughter he married.-Biography:Vladimir Sofronitsky was born to a physics teacher father and a mother from an artistic family...

 did not play or record the piece, the latter due to superstition. However, Sviatoslav Richter

Sviatoslav Richter

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Childhood:...

 performed it a number of times throughout his career, and played it on tours as late as 1994.

See also

• Synthetic chord
  Synthetic chord
  In music the mystic chord or Prometheus chord is a complex six-note chord, scale, or pitch collection, which loosely serves as the harmonic and melodic basis for some of the later pieces by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin...
  
  
• Mystic chord
• Atonality
  Atonality
  Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
  
  
• Romantic Music
  Romantic music
  Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
  
  
• 20th century classical music
  20th century classical music
  20th century classical music was without a dominant style and highly diverse.-Introduction:At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style. Composers such as Gustav Mahler and Jean Sibelius were pushing the bounds of Post-Romantic Symphonic writing...
  
  

External links

• Sonata no 7 performed by Jonathan Powell
  Jonathan Powell (musician)
  Jonathan Powell is a British pianist and composer. He was a student of Denis Matthews and Sulamita Aronovsky. He made his performing debut at the age of 20 in the Purcell Room in London....
  
   in Kiev
  Kiev
  Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
  
  , 30 March 2010