Review Summary: balancing atonality and tonality
Piano sonatas don't easily draw interest, as they work with fewer musical devices, confined to one solitary instrument that's unadorned by symphonic possibilities - no boastful brass fanfares or dainty woodwind interludes. There's not even violin melodies, which quickly attain poignancy, instantly summoning tears even though totally unembellished. It's much harder, however, to furnish a compelling piano melody without assisting harmonies. When they do, though, they attain a kind of draw and class that orchestral pieces unintentionally neglect. Stripped and uncomplicated by design, they offer unclogged visions of their composers.
Sonata No. 5 is Scriabin's first of ten sonatas to reflect a disposition and vision specific to him, jumpstarting Scriabin's shift from stylistic imitation to his Scriabin-stamped creation. This sonata moves away from Scriabin's old Romantic tendencies, fully embracing atonality, yet slightly clutching traditional harmony still, thereby bridging the tonal spectrum.
Opening with smoggy, pounding at the piano's deep end,
Sonata No. 5 exudes prophetical Soviet vibes, churning out industrial qualities in its first few measures. After opening scurries to the top of the keyboard, it presses on parabolically, beginning slowly and ending even more sluggishly. The composition crescendos with easy and delightful spirit until turned frantic, which initiates the throbbing downward chord pattern that effectively actuates the diminuendoic descent, leading to a laggard end. The next section is unstructured for the reason that it often changes outside of itself, growing largely on spontaneity rather than recurring content, until it then recaptures former intensity by reusing prior motifs except with different expression, in this scenario - Romantic. Also, with heavier Romanticism in mind, the composition indulges at its end, finding itself fluid - the quick dynamic changes, impassioned composing, and speckled utilization of upper register keyboard bringing
Sonata No.5 to an abrupt climax.
The equivocal tonality on top of the sonata's form, which is equally ambiguous (both slow and fast, but never strictly locked in tempo), surrounds the sonata with roughness. As suddenly as the sonata commences, it finishes even sharper. Lacking resolution, want arises after listening to this composition, because combined with omnipresent atonality, remembering these scattered themes is challenging. Nonetheless, it is this want that asks you to return to
Sonata No. 5.
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH4p2-vGf64
