Three Etudes Op. 65

Completed in 1912 and published already that same year, these Three Etudes op. 65 are assigned to Scriabin’s final creative period. Tonally, they arguably number among the composer’s most original and visionary works. Marked by the intervals of the ninth, seventh and fifth as musical building blocks, they skirt the border to atonality – and in doing so sound not only modern and virtuoso, but also exceptionally colourful and at times downright sensual. Scriabin himself, it is reported, could not even perform the first etude of op. 65. His hands were not large enough to adequately play the procession of ninths that flit swiftly across the keyboard in a ghostly pianissimo. These effective pieces thus pose many a pianistic challenge for performers. The fingerings suggested by Scriabin expert Boris Giltburg in the Henle Urtext edition offer valuable assistance.