Complete Analysis of Scriabin's Etude 42/5

Scriabin’s Op.42 No.5 analyzed in full.
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[@mr.k5865]

Thank you Jay for this excellent exploration! Though written only in 1903, No. 5 is for me the single greatest piano etude of the 20th century and the very peak of late Romanticism/proto-modernism. It goes so far beyond any mere technical study and is an emotional and spiritual cosmos unto itself. Where else in the repertoire is there a piano piece so brimming with this much raw heartfelt love, volcanic eroticism, ecstasy, searing anguish, and so much more in such a compact package? This is music I think every true creative type can probably relate to. The etudes of composers like Bartok, Debussy, Kapustin, Ligeti, Sorabji, etc. are all very special in their own ways, but Scriabin with his towering and deeply human No. 5 holds the keys to my soul. It should be no big surprise that Etude No. 5 is the very reason I got into the piano several decades ago. It has helped me get through many difficult times. When performing it, you can give it everything you have and it always has room to take it all..and room for more. Like so many masterpieces, it is music that is far better than could ever be played. Be we foolish artists try anyway.

[@mysterium364]

This analysis really helped me appreciate this piece more. Thank you!

[@jaybeardmusic8074]

That’s great to hear :) Cheers!

[@julianfrank5321]

excellent analysis! This is hands down my favorite Scriabin etude!

[@jaybeardmusic8074]

Same! Thanks!

[@HankDrake]

Brilliantly done and yay for playing a Mason & Hamlin.

[@ronl7131]

Love the Scriabin Sound Worlds

[@Bruceykeys]

Yes baby, one of my favourites and an absolute masterwork!

[@jaybeardmusic8074]

Heck yea!

[@rachm06]

Once you enter deep in the Scriabin world you're screwed! I remember to become obsessed, playing only his pieces on the piano, reading all I could read about him. Even Ashkenazy said something about addition to Scriabin. My favourite works are in order: fantasie op.28, sonata n.2, sonata n.4, etude op 42 n.5 and sonata n.5. But there are other forbidden gems everywhere in his work, like allegro de concert etc... which really worth to listen and play

[@System.Error.]

analysing chopin’s final ballade would be great!

[@paulscott7573]

This is an amazingly well presented analysis, thank you!! Love this piece even more now.

[@nicholasfogg7964]

At 6.20 where you describe chord "VII", I would call it a broken-chord dominant major 11th, (V 11, 9, 7) in B major and at 7.00 your "V7" as a broken-chord dominant minor 11th, (V 11, 9, 7) in the relative g sharp minor. Two small blemishes in an otherwise excellent analysis of one of Scriabin's greatest Etudes!

[@Ivan_1791]

I hope I can play this etude in a few months.

[@OfficialDanieleGottardo]

Love your videos! I've been watching all of them with great enthusiasm, and hope you'll indulge a geeky question from a fellow harmony nerd: Might it be more appropriate for this style to think of the Amaj7#5 as a F# minor in first inversion with a double suspension to the root? The chord doesn’t sound like an independent harmonic formation to me, but rather a decoration of a simple triad with the use of non-chord tones. A characteristic example of this approach can be found on the famous Chopin prelude in E minor op 28 no.4.

[@Bruceykeys]

My only complaint is very minor but it is an f double sharp at 7:11 in rh. But thank you your analysis is very good and helping me learn the theory of this piece! 😊

[@jaybeardmusic8074]

Yea two names for the same pitch. Do you have an argument why it makes a difference to call it F double sharp rather than G in this context?

[@Bruceykeys]

@@jaybeardmusic8074 I'm not arguing buddy its just notated as the f double sharp or g and you played f sharp. Like I say only a minor thing and tbf it is hard to read due to scriabin choice of notation 🤷

[@jaybeardmusic8074]

@@Bruceykeysohhhh I see! I thought you were talking about enharmonic spelling but I see I played F# instead of G! Thanks for that! Definitely resolves better with that leading tone rather than a whole step resolution. I’ll fix it for future performances! Thanks!

[@mysterium364]

As an answer for what piece I might like you to analyze next, I think it would be amazing if you could analyze the opening to Mankind from Preparation for the Final Mystery by Nemtin! I think that may be one of the most epic and personally impactful openings to any piece of music I have ever heard, and as someone who is only educated in the basics of music theory, I would be very happy to see an analysis from someone who knows more than I. I understand that the score is not in the public domain. If this is an issue, let me know and I will do my best to reverse engineer the score.

[@Bruceykeys]

That's a great suggestion

[@jaybeardmusic8074]

Ooo glad you reminded me of that piece. Yea, if you can get me the music, I would love to analyze that piece!

[@mysterium364]

@@jaybeardmusic8074 While I am working at getting what I can of the score, I really like opus 65 etudes (my favorite is the third, with its primal visceral simplicity)! The first and third are part of Nemtin's ballet based on Scriabin's pieces as well, so if you wanted to do a dual analysis on the third and on Nemtin's orchestration, that would be super cool!

[@Bruceykeys]

@@mysterium364 op 65 no 3 is one of my favourites also. Nemtin was a mad genius and criminally overlooked

[@Yatagarasu.]

What a beautiful analysis! I want to focus on my left hand technique without to much right hand, would you say the left hand is harder than the right or would my right hand be the main difficulty in this piece? even though both seem quite difficult.

[@billligon4005]

Can you analyze the Diabolical Suggestion by Prokofiev? Thanks.

[@RobinJWheeler]

You're really great but you should learn partimento and thoroughbass and analyse it in a way closer to how he would think of it.

[@ilikeplayingffftonecluster851]

Curious how his music relates to partimento and figured bass at all, especially from this middle period onwards where his harmonic conceptions go far beyond what those offered. I also doubt that he was aware of partimento considering he was born shortly before the 20th century in Russia. I could be mistaken and am happy to hear your thoughts to look at this music in a different light, but as of now I may see some resemblance to rule of the octave in his early music as Chopin also did but nothing beyond that.