Alexander Scriabin (1871 - 1915)
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Fantasie in B minor Op.28 (1900)
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Vladimir Sofronitsky (1901 - 1961)
Recorded in 1959
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Often considered the pinnacle of Scriabin' s early period, Fantasie in B minor, Op. 28, was written in 1900. Featuring big Romantic themes and rich harmonies, the work conveys a sense of spontaneity in its seemingly loose structure. Yet it is cast in a sonata-like form, with an exposition, thematic development, and reprise. Scriabin wrote this piece during an otherwise compositionally unproductive period during his tenure at the Moscow Conservatory. The first edition was published by Belaieff.
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The piece's existence may have been forgotten by the composer. According to Leonid Sabaneyev, when Sabaneev started to play one of its themes on the piano in Scriabin's Moscow flat (now a museum), Scriabin called out from the next room "Who wrote that? It sounds familiar." – "Your Fantasie", was the reply. Scriabin said, "What Fantasie?" This story, told by Sabaneev and repeated by Faubion Bowers in his biography of Scriabin, may however be apocryphal.
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Requiring fast passage work, hands that can play massive chords with heft, having dense and contrapuntal textures that are extremely difficult
to voice, Scriabin's Fantasie contains some of his most difficult writing before his late period.
