Aesthetic and Style for Vers La Flamme or Poem of Fire - Assignment Example

Scriabin: Aesthetic and Style for "Vers La Flamme" or "Poem of Fire" Introduction Alexander Scriabin’s "Vers La Flamme" is a piece was written in 1910. It is among the most popular of the many symphonies that were written by the artist, and was intended to be played, just like a piano. Though "Vers La Flamme” appears to be a simple piece, it employs poetic structure, symbolism and other musical devices to develop aesthetics and thematic concerns of the piece as well as the philosophical and spiritual motive of the composer. Composer Bibliography Alexander Scriabin, a native of Moscow remains one of the greatest composers of his time. Although he had small hands, Scriabin became a recognized pianist; he was so fascinated with piano and even ended up damaging his hands at one point because of practicing pieces, which were meant for greater hand spans than his. Scriabin was interested in both Nietzsche's ubermensch theory and theosophy and this played a great part not only in his musical thoughts but also in his music. He also gained interest in Delville's Theosophist movement when he lived in Brussels between 1909 and 1910. Scriabin is believed to be “the one great pioneer of the new music of a reborn Western civilization, the father of the future musician," (Garzia 277). Alexander Scriabin wrote his poem, Vers la flame (piece 71), towards the end of his life. The piece has very simple melody mainly made up of descending half steps. However an intense, fiery luminance is achieved by the use of remarkable harmonies and complex tremolos. For this reason the piece is considered a poem and not a sonata (Tatarkiewicz 13). Although the piece was meant to be Scriabin’s eleventh sonata, he was forced to publish it much earlier due to financial reasons. Impression when Performed with Accompaniments Scriabin’s compositions in "Vers La Flamme", like his other works, tend to be very unique owing to the artist’s special attention to accompaniments and instruments in the course of his composition. Many of the occasions, symphonists often reflect special emphasis and attention on the symphonic bit of the music as compared to the instrument, in order that it is not dominated by the instrument. On the other hand, Scriabin’s “Vers La Flamme" and "Poem of Fire” are largely influenced by the composer’s fascination with piano, reflecting more of his piano thinking and still leave a good sense of balance between the instrument and the symphony. According to Leonid Sabaneev (32), Scriabin had designed the symphonies such that they turned out to be so clear and impressive when performed on the piano. He states: “The impression was unforgettable, and it sounded much better than with an orchestra."(Sabaneev 32). Thus, these symphonies have been described as having been written and best meant for a piano solo by Scriabin when he was doing the composition (Bowers 335). According to Vladimir Horowitz, a prominent pianist, Vers la flame was inspired by Scriabin’s unconventional belief that the world would be destroyed by accumulation of heat. The title itself, coupled with the emotional upsurge throughout the poem points to the sizzling destruction of the earth. As already pointed out, Scriabin was interested in both Nietzsche's ubermensch theory and theosophy and this played a great part not only in his musical thoughts but also in his music. Vers la flame therefore expresses and reflects Scriabin’s intensifying and deep philosophical convictions, particularly as at the time that the symphony was being composed. Macdonald thus comments that “… he (Scriabin) later saw every composition as the expression of his mental world and attached much importance to the meaning, whether mystical, philosophical, or fantastic, of each piece” (33). The incorporation of philosophical aspects, intense, fiery luminance achieved by the use of remarkable harmonies and complex tremolos in the poem lends it a high degree of aesthetic appeal and makes the song to be more captivating. Thus, much as he was principally a writer, Scriabin reflected his ability to act as a great thinker, who was able to manipulate his compositions to end up with simple yet sophisticated and unique compositions. The title of the poem, the content with spiritual tone and symbols (such as fire, flames and burning earth) all clearly delineate spiritual states and thus contributing to a sense of deep sense of solemnity to the work. Generally, spiritual matters are treated with higher level of reverence and thus call for a deeper and keener attention, while at the same time evoking the interest of the audience as well as the performer. A part from developing the somber tone, incorporation of serious philosophical and spiritual issues in the symphony eventually depicts the background, heritage and beliefs of the society from where the composer hails, or his philosophical and religious affiliation. Issues of heritage and religion are very central to development of aesthetics, and it is what Scriabin opted to tap in making these memorable symphonies. Use of Poetry, Poetic Language and Devices Tatarkiewicz (13) points out that Vers la flamme piece is considered a poem and not a sonata and that Scriabin did so as a matter of choice and not by a mere accident. He even notes that in the context of the thematic concerns of the work, poem was the most perfect genre that was to be adopted by the composer even when he would have been given a second option to review his genre choice. Poem as a genre has a literary origin and literary connotations. Poetry originates from a Greek word poesis , meaning to create or to make . In the literary context, poetry entails a reflection and depiction of state of minds, state of affair, objects or subjects of any sort in a deep and captivating language. More often, poetry employs the use of images and figures of speech to pass across the subject matter and themes of the poet, so as to entrench deeply the message that is intended to be passed. In view that poetry is fairly versatile and can more easily accommodate idea of whatever sort, Scriabin opted to employ it in "Poem of Fire." Moreover, poetry would most profoundly and capture his strong philosophical and religious message that he intended to pass across in the symphony. Matlaw (5) emphasizes that the principle role of poetry in a non-literary context, more so in the context of music, is to express the speaker’s or the composer’s state of mind to the outside world (the readers and audience). Thus, just by the virtue of the work being in the poetic form and possessing poetic content, a high degree of evocative qualities and aesthetic appeal will be achieved. Besides, poetry opens a wide room for ambiguity in word, phrasal and image usages, allow for employment of symbolism, imageries, symbolism as well as many other devices that would eventually leave a wide and more open room for multiple interpretations. The liberal nature of poetry also creates an opportunity that allows images that are otherwise unrelated to be employed in the same piece of work and still result in a good resonance, in view of images thereby employed as well as the thematic concerns that are passed. As such there will be compilation and layering of connotations and denotations, thereby forming connections that might not have been perceived, even by the composer himself. Therefore, just by the virtue of employing poetry, even before going into the deeper details and merits of the work, a greater level of aesthetics, philosophical appeal and related effects are already achieved. There are evidence to the effect that Scriabin found the above highlighted features of poetry very fascinating and appealing and looked for a way of incorporating them in his work to achieve their effect. He is said to have felt that it was virtually impossible to ensure that he imparted his mystic message using the traditional means of arts that he had studied. He is said to have asked Subaneeve , another gifted symphonist of his time the following question: “How can you express mysticism with major and minor? How can you convey the dissolution of matter, or luminosity?”(Bowers 2:107). This strong desire for a comprehensive, unique and personal expression resulted into Scriabin developing an unusual and highly personalized harmonic language that was hardly existent during his time. In the long run, Vers la flame, like many other latter works of Scriabin, ended up depicting a changed technique, form and texture. Bowers comments, of Scriabin’s work, in the context of the Vers la flame, as thus: “It is self-evident that his system was an obligation, a law and a discipline to which composer subordinated himself…but not for the sake of the system did Scriabin work.” (Bowers 133-134). The artistic nature of his work therefore dictated the work that resulted in this work. Of the role of ideas along with employment of poetry and poetic language as a style of capturing the content and motive of the author, Schloezer comments “That’s why it should be almost illicit to analyze Scriabin’s works without engaging his ideas as his thought neither followed in the shadow of his art, nor did it precede it like a guidebook. Both activities were equal, direct, original, and single conditions of two purposes. They hinged on a personal and intuitive center” ( Schloezer 71). Some critiques have argued that poetry is quit illogical, and that Scriabin had did not make a very good choice in employing poetry in his works , and in particular Vers la flame (Barthes 24 ). The argument behind this criticism is that poetry lacks narration and as such cannot easily engage a logical the listeners’ or reader’s logical reflection and thought process (Barthes 24). Generally, in music as discipline, narrative function often belongs to the melody. By asserting that employment of poetry in Vers la flame rendered it devoid of narration, such critics imply that the melody of the work was highly diluted. This condition is generally describes as melodic poverty. However, Schloezer (71) among other supporters of Scriabin have argued that the poetic nature of Vers la flame do not in any way weaken its melodic aspect, rather, it enhances it and adds much value to its aesthetics. Schloezer (71) argues that Scriabin’s style is a very mature one and which was rather characterized by heavy incorporation of motives. As such, he argues that Scriabin merely took a break from the popular school of thoughts, and opted to be unconventional with regard to the harmonic functions of his time. Taruskin (347)argues as thus: “Scriabin did not ignore the melody, but transformed the very idea of it. The melody became ‘unfurled harmony,’ and harmony – ‘furled melody.’ By dissolving harmony and melody in one whole, he completed an eschatological revelation: the full collapse of time and space” (347). It may therefore be safe to conclude that the use of poetic form, language and devices , he strongly, yet uniquely gave aesthetic appeal to these works, along with being able to build a complex and mentally intriguing piece of work. On who understands the philosophical, spiritual and historical background of the matter will be able to appreciate the role of poetic model of these poetic works ("Vers La Flamme" and "Poem of Fire") Symbolic Vocabulary and Gestures as Major Devises Scriabin A very vital device t hat Scriabin employed in “Vers La Flamme" is symbolism. Symbolism in this work basically stems from its oetic nature, but is so central to the work that it calls for a detailed attention. To appreciate the role of symbolism in this work, and its contribution in developing the aesthetics in developing the symphonic and thematic components of the work, it would be vital to expound briefly on the meaning and significance of symbolism. Once again, symbolism is traditionally a literary devise, although it is equally common in music and other genres. It involves the use of objects, words, processes, images or any other means of depiction in a manner that results in a broader and more than obvious meaning of the of the of objects, words, processes, images etc. The essence of using symbolism is to ensure that a relatively abstract ideas is more vividly conveyed to the listeners, readers or any other audience, in a manner that make them much easier to conceptualize and visualize. Thus, by using symbolism, the artist’s message is moire quickly and sharply grasped, even for I information that would otherwise remain insensible to the reader. The artists who opt to use symbolisms will always pick symbols that the readers, listeners and another primary audience are acquainted with. As such, the audience will find it easier to understand deeply the symbols and then map the symbols to their meanings, leaving the message deeply and coherently conveyed while being able to draw a parallelism and connections between the clearly understood symbols and the author’s abstract and ideas which if were left independent would have turned out a hindrance to understanding the information. These functions of symbolism cuts across disciplines, whether poetry or music. Scriabin to a large extent and very repeatedly used and conjoined a number of figurative and expressive languages that qualifies to fit within the above definition of symbolism. For instance, flame and fire has been repeatedly and constantly used, virtually throughout the in “Vers La Flamme" and “Poem of Fire". Even the title itself reflects this symbolism. The fact that they keep repeating suggest that they are central to the poem and should shape the interpretation that will be developed. According to Susan Garsia (227) these symbols eventually creates a system of corresponding music symbols. While developing its symphony Scriabin appears to have taken into account these symbols, as reflected by use of and constant shift in multiple pianist devices. Among pianist devices that he employs include double notes, skips, and thumb melodies rolled chords among others. These devices have a bearing on symbolism or their interpretations in “Vers La Flamme”. As so far pointed out, the major symbols used in this work along with these devises are not only serving vocabulary and mere technical purposes, but have inner purposes that the reader, singer or the audience need to take into account. In the in “Vers La Flamme", the major musical symbol that has been employed Motive of light (Garsia , 227). Whereas flame acts as a poetic symbol in the poem, Scriabin uses corresponding musical symbols such as tremolos, trills, and other fiorituri so as to allude to light, and in effect , divine illumination. As Garsia puts it “He uses trills incessantly for luminosity. Trills to Scriabin were palpitation, trembling, the vibration in the atmosphere and a source of light” (227). In “Vers La Flamme" illumination is equally depicted by a masterpiece with fragments that run up scale. In this work, illumination plays a greater symbolic role. Illumination here takes the form of sorcery and bewitchments so as to reflect divine illumination in a work that Scriabin associate with Satanist (Garsia 277). Examples 1 and 2 illustrate the use of musical symbolism in Vers la flame. Example 1: Poeme Vers la flamme op. 72. (See the piece below) Example 2 Poeme Vers la flamme op. 72. As may be reflected, Scriabin’s masterpiece in Vers la flame is characterized by flights. Matley describes this shift as a movement from “Scriabin was obsessed with one principle: “From the greatest delicacy, via active efficacy [flight] to the greatest grandiosity” (5) . Randlet (145) perceives this flight as a music symbol, depicting a link or change in two states, namely, from material state to a spiritual state. Scriabin’s Vers la Flamme piece, as indicated above, has quit simple melody , basically made up of descending half steps. However, it has fairly difficult tremolos and unusual harmonies, which have been described as accumulating to develop a fiery intense luminous (Turuskin 347). The piece is equally characterized by series of crescendo almost allthrough it. Since the theme of the poem is bout heat accumulation in on the earth, which threatens to cause eventual destruction, not unless a prevent step is taken, it has been argued that the crescendos that do occur all through the piece depicts constantly building emotions or heat which are ultimately headed towards busting into flame. Conclusion Alexander Scriabin’s "Vers La Flamme" is a piece is a wonderful composed artistic and poetic piece with profound aesthetic appeal. Though it has a simple melodic structure, it has a sophisticated poetic structure and employs symbolism and other musical devices such as remarkable harmonies and complex tremolos to advance aesthetics and thematic concerns of the piece. It succeeds in delivering the philosophical and spiritual motive of the composer. Criticism of the piece being simplistic or having melodic poverty may be due to lack of appreciation of the Scriabin’s deviation from the conventional symphonic approaches of his time. Works Cited Barthes, Roland "Death of the Author" in Image-Music-Text . New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1978. Bowers, Faubion. Scriabin: A Biography. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1996. Garcia , Susanna. “Scriabin’s Symbolist Plot Archetype in the Late Piano Sonatas”, 19th- Century Music 23 no. 3 (Spring, 2000): 277-286. Gray, Cecil . A Survey of Contemporary Music, 2nd ed. (London: Oxford University Press, (1927), 156-157. Macdonald, Hugh. Skryabin. London: Oxford University Press, 1978. Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism,” Comparative Literature, 31 no. 1 Winter, (1979): 5. Randlett , Ludwick, Samuel, “The nature and development of Scriabin’s vocabulary” (Northwestern University, DMA diss., 1966) Sabaneev, Leonid. Erinnerungen an Alexander Skrjabin, (Verlag Ernst Kuhn 1925/2005), 32. Schloezer, Boris de. Scriabin: artist and mystic. Translated by Nicolas Slonimsky, with introductory essays by Marina Scriabine. Berkley: University of California Press, 1987. Tatarkiewicz, Wladyslaw. "The Concept of Poetry", Dialectics and Humanism 2, no. 2 (Spring 1975): 13. Taruskin, Richard. Defining Russia Musically. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997. Read More