The Influence of Chopin on Scriabin’s Early Works: É tudes, Op.

8,
No. 11 and 12, Second Sonata, Op. 19, and Fantasy, Op. 28

By
Copyright 2021
Taeri Lee

Submitted to the graduate degree program in Music and the Graduate Faculty of the University
of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts.

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IE Chair: Dr. Michael Kirkendoll
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Dr. Scott McBride Smith

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Dr. Yi-Yang Chen

Dr. Martin Nedbal

Dr. Eungsik Kim

Date Defended: 30 August 2021

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The dissertation committee for Taeri Lee certifies that this is the
approved version of the following document:

The Influence of Chopin on Scriabin’s Early Works: É tudes, Op. 8,

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No. 11 and 12, Second Sonata, Op. 19, and Fantasy, Op. 28
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Chair: Dr. Michael Kirkendoll

Date Approved: 30 August 2021

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Abstract

In his youth, Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915) called himself a “Chopinist,”1 and

Chopin’s works significantly influenced his own early works. Scriabin’s Chopinesque idiom was

based on Chopin’s lyricism and Romantic musical language, creating a developed imitation of

Chopin’s musical elements. For this thesis, I have selected four works from different stages of

Scriabin’s early period (1885–1902): two É tudes, Op. 8, No. 11 and 12 (1894), Second Sonata,

Op. 19 (1892–1897), and Fantasy, Op. 28 (1900). I examine the similarities between Scriabin

and Chopin, exploring how Scriabin transforms Chopin’s musical elements such as musical

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form, structure, melody, and rhythm.

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1
Faubion Bowers, Scriabin, vol. 1 (Palo Alto: Kodansha International LTD, 1969), 83.
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Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to my committee members; their guidance and

support helped me through this tough period. I would also like to thank my major professors Dr.

Steven Spooner and Dr. Eric Zuber, both of whom enthusiastically guided me during the time

when I was pursuing my degree at the University of Kansas. I am also grateful to Dr. Michael

Kirkendoll, Dr. Jack Winerock, Dr. Scott McBride Smith, and Dr. Yi-Yang Chen—their support

helped me to succeed. I would like to especially thank Dr. Martin Nedbal, whose kindness,

patience, and guidance was essential in the completion of this document.

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Table of Contents

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v

List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter 1: The Inspiration by Chopin and Scriabin’s Early Works ............................................... 2

Chapter 2: É tudes, Op. 8 ................................................................................................................. 7

No. 11 in B-flat Minor ............................................................................................................ 8

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No. 12 in D-sharp Minor ....................................................................................................... 15
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Chapter 3: Second Sonata in G-sharp Minor, Op. 19 ................................................................... 21

Chapter 4: Fantasy in B minor, Op. 28 ......................................................................................... 30

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Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 39

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 40
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List of Figures

Figure 2.1: Scriabin’s É tude, Op. 8, No. 11, mm. 1–2 ................................................................... 9

Figure 2.2: Chopin’s É tude, Op. 25, No. 7, mm. 2–3 ..................................................................... 9

Figure 2.3: Scriabin’s É tude, Op. 8, No. 11, mm. 15–16 ............................................................. 10

Figure 2.4: Scriabin’s É tude, Op. 8, No. 11, mm. 18–22 ............................................................. 10

Figure 2.5: Scriabin’s É tude, Op. 8, No. 11, mm. 27–28 ............................................................. 11

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Figure 2.6. Chopin’s É tude, Op. 25, No. 7, mm. 22–27 ............................................................... 11

Figure 2.7: Scriabin’s É tude, Op. 8, No. 11, mm. 36–46 ............................................................. 12
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Figure 2.8: Chopin’s É tude, Op. 25, No. 7, mm. 30–37 ............................................................... 13
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Figure 2.9: Scriabin’s É tude, Op. 8, No. 11, mm. 47–54 ............................................................. 14

Figure 2.10: Chopin’s É tude, Op. 25, No. 7, mm. 61–69 ............................................................. 14
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Figure 2.11: Scriabin’s É tude, Op. 8, No. 12, mm. 1–2 ............................................................... 16

Figure 2.12: Chopin’s Étude, Op. 10, No. 12, mm. 61–62 ........................................................... 16

Figure 2.13: Chopin’s Étude, Op. 10, No. 12, mm. 10–15 ........................................................... 17

Figure 2.14: Scriabin’s Étude, Op. 8, No. 12, mm. 1–5 ............................................................... 17

Figure 2.15: Chopin’s Étude, Op. 10, No. 12, mm. 25–27 ........................................................... 18

Figure 2.16: Scriabin’s Étude, Op. 8, No. 12, mm. 43–48 ........................................................... 19
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Figure 2.17: Scriabin’s Étude, Op. 8, No. 12, mm. 51–55 ........................................................... 20

Figure 2.18: Chopin’s Étude, Op. 10, No. 12, mm. 81–84 ........................................................... 20

Figure 3.1: Scriabin’s Second Sonata, Op. 19, m. 1, “Knocks of Fate” ....................................... 23

Figure 3.2: Scriabin’s Second Sonata, Op. 19, movement I, m. 1 ................................................ 24

Figure 3.3: Chopin’s Second Sonata, Op. 35, movement I, mm. 1–2 .......................................... 24

Figure 3.4: Scriabin’s Second Sonata, Op. 19, movement I, mm. 38–41 ..................................... 25

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Figure 3.5: Chopin’s Second Sonata, Op. 35, movement I, mm. 57–60 ...................................... 25

Figure 3.6: Scriabin’s Second Sonata, Op. 19, movement I, mm. 83–85 ..................................... 26
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Figure 3.7: Chopin’s Second Sonata, Op. 35, movement I, mm. 93–97 ...................................... 26
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Figure 3.8: Scriabin’s Second Sonata, Op. 19, movement I, mm. 23, 30, and 97 ........................ 27

Figure 3.9: Scriabin’s Second Sonata, Op. 19, movement II, m. 1............................................... 28
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Figure 3.10: Chopin’s Second Sonata, Op. 35, movement IV, m. 1 ............................................ 28

Figure 3.11: Scriabin’s Second Sonata, Op. 19, movement II, mm. 108–110 ............................. 29

Figure 3.12: Chopin’s Second Sonata, Op. 35, movement IV, m. 1 ............................................ 29

Figure 3.13: Chopin’s Second Sonata, Op. 35, movement IV, mm. 67–75 ................................. 30

Figure 4.1: Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60, m. 46 ............................................................................ 32

Figure 4.2: Scriabin’s Fantasy, Op. 28, mm. 1–11 ....................................................................... 33

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Figure 4.3: Scriabin’s Fantasy, Op. 28, mm. 30–37 ..................................................................... 34

Figure 4.4: Chopin’s Fantasy, Op. 49, mm. 66–73 ....................................................................... 34

Figure 4.5: Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60, mm. 5–16..................................................................... 35

Figure 4.6: Scriabin’s Fantasy, Op. 28, mm. 55–72 ..................................................................... 36

Figure 4.7: Scriabin’s Fantasy, Op. 28, mm. 109–117 ................................................................. 37

Figure 4.8: Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60, mm. 93–101................................................................. 38

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Introduction

The music of Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915) was influenced by earlier Romantic

music, especially that by Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849).2 Although Scriabin is not typically

considered a Romantic composer, Chopin’s influence features prominently in his works. Thanks

to this influence, Scriabin’s music is considered transitional between the late-Romantic period

and early modernism, especially Symbolism. Scriabin’s music can be divided into three periods:

early (1885–1902), middle (1903–1908), and late (1910–1914).3

This project focuses on Scriabin’s early period and explores how Chopin’s music

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influenced several works from that period. In particular, the thesis focuses on the following

works: two É tudes, Op. 8, No. 11 and 12 (1894), Second Sonata, Op. 19, No. 2 (1892–1897), and
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Fantasy, Op. 28 (1900). I discuss the ways in which Scriabin may have referenced specific
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elements of Chopin’s style. Chapter one provides a summary of how Chopin influenced Scriabin,

and chapters two through four focus on an analysis of the selected compositions and engage in a

comparative reading of Chopin’s and Scriabin’s music.

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2
Hugh Macdonald, Skryabin (London: Oxford University Press, 1978), 12–13
3
Keith Phillip Salley, “Scriabin the Progressive: Elements of Modernism in the Early Works of Alexander Scriabin”
(Ph.D. diss., the University of Oregon, 2007), 3.
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Chapter 1: The Inspiration by Chopin and Scriabin’s Early Works

Considered one the great composers of the Romantic period, his expansion and innovation

of piano music became a source of inspiration for many later composers and performers. Several

elements of Chopin’s music, such as lyrical melodies, rich harmonic language, and characteristic

forms had a strong impact on composers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,

particularly those from France and Russia. In his own lifetime, Chopin’s friends, including

Robert Schumann (1810–1856) and Franz Liszt (1811–1886), paid homage to Chopin in their

works. For example, Schumann used Chopin’s name in the title of a character piece from

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Carnaval, Op. 9. Some of Liszt’s ornamental passages are reminiscent of Chopin’s style. This is

the case of in the middle section of Chopin’s É tude, Op. 10, No. 3 in E minor.4 Additionally,
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Paul Badura-Skoda explains that many French and several noted Russian composers from the

late nineteenth and even the twentieth centuries were influenced by Chopin:
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A direct influence of Chopin can be observed on several composers of the Polish and
Russian schools on the one hand, and among some of the great French composers on
the other. It is also interesting to see how closely Scriabin followed in Chopin’s
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footsteps in many of his early and even middle works. Tchaikovsky also owed a
great deal to Chopin; many passages in his piano concertos are clearly based on
Chopin. Both Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, although very different from each other,
owed not a little to the Polish master.5
Among Russian composers, Scriabin was the most devoted follower of Chopin. This devotion

stems from Scriabin’s arguably obsessive interest in Chopin’s music, particularly in his early

age. Scriabin specialist Faubion Bowers describes how much young Scriabin liked Chopin:

Skryabusha fell in love with Chopin. He slept with his music under his pillow at
night. He carried it in his book bag to Corps classes. In the first decade of Scriabin

4
Paul Badura-Skoda. The Chopin Companion: Profiles of the Man and the Musician, edited by Alan Walker (New
York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1973), 261.
5
Ibid, 263–264.
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published opuses, there are nineteen mazurkas, nine impromptus, three waltzes, three
nocturnes, one polonaise and scores of preludes and études.6
The devotion to Chopin may have been the reason why, as Mikhail Yanovitsky

points out in his dissertation, Scriabin shied away from vocal music and lacked Russian

folk-like elements. Scriabin wrote to his classmate Matvei Pressmann: “I cannot compose

romances on words other than mine, but my own text does not satisfy me.”7 Scriabin’s

early style was completely rooted in the field of piano music. Young Scriabin believed that

the musical elements of vocal music were not enough to express his inner romanticism,

whereas Chopin’s compositional style musical elements contained the musical language he

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yearned for.8

Scriabin told young Artur Rubinstein, “I was once a Chopinist, then a Wagnerist,
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now I am only a Scriabinist.”9 Scriabin’s words confirm Chopin’s music was the most
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important source of inspiration in his early music. Scriabin’s biographers Ye Rudakova

and A. I. Kandinsky state Chopin’s influence on Scriabin was not necessarily based on

Chopin’s folk-like style but the “pure” lyrical elements and psychological nature of
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music.10 As the following pages show, in his early compositions Scriabin managed to

enhance the expressive power of piano music on the basis of Chopin’s lyrical style.

6
Bowers, 134.
7
Matvei Leontievich Pressman, Reminiscences in Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin (Moscow: State Music Publishing
Company, 1940), 32–40, quoted in Yanovitsky, 5–6.
8
Mikhail Yanovitsky, “Scriabin’s É tudes, Opus 8” (DMA diss., Temple University, 2002), 5–6.
9
Bowers, 83.
10
Ye Rudakova and A. I. Kandinsky, Scriabin: His Life and Times, translated by Tatyana Chistyakova (Neptune
City, NJ: Paganinina Publications, Inc., 1984), 26.

Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.