thumb|[[Alexander Scriabin in 1909]]

The Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 64, subtitled Messe Blanche (White Mass), was written by Alexander Scriabin in 1911. The idea and the first sketches of the Sixth Sonata by A. N. Scriabin originated in a country house on the estate of Obraztsovo-Karpovo, Serpukhov district, Moscow province (now Bolshoe Obraztsovo, Stupino city district, Moscow region).

As one of the late piano sonatas of Scriabin's career, the music is highly chromatic and almost atonal. George Perle says that, "the primary set upon which the Seventh Sonata is based," is, in linear order as spelled by Scriabin, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, and that the mystic chord may be derived from the quartal spelling of this set (with D and without G).

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.

There is also a significant five-octave arpeggiated chord at the end, representing a flash of blinding light. The music that follows surges upward in register until the end of the sonata where it dissipates, representing "enervation and nonexistence after the act of love."

Performance history

The White Mass sonata is one of Scriabin's most advanced works. Notable Scriabin masters such as Vladimir Horowitz and Vladimir Sofronitsky did not play or record the piece. However, Sviatoslav Richter performed it a number of times throughout his career, and played it on tours as late as 1994.

See also

  • Synthetic chord
  • Romantic music
  • 20th-century classical music

Notes

References

  • Sonata no 7 performed by Jonathan Powell in Kyiv, 30 March 2010