Scryabin and the Fhenomenon of Color Hearing in Connection with the Light Symphony "Prometheus"

Main Article Content

Leonid L. Sabaneev

Abstract

The essay by L.L. Sabaneev (1916), dedicated to the problem of color hearing by A.N. Scryabin [9], continues a series of works by the researcher published in the journal “Problems of Musical Science”, which have become rare [2, 3, 4, 10], including those about the composerʼs creative work and artistic method [7, 8]. Sabaneev focuses on the poem “Prometheus”, where, according to Scryabin’s plan, “the symphony of lights <…> had to <…> accompany the symphony of sounds <…> and, enhancing the harmony impressions, play the role of a kind of huge ʻpsychological resonatorʼ to the impression of changing harmonies”. Scryabinʼs associations with color are considered at the level of sound, harmony, tonality. Comparison with color perception of tonalities by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov leads the researcher to the conclusion about the subjectivity of associations, which is confirmed by the table. At the same time, Sabaneev notes the lack of explanations about the color differences between the enharmonic equal sharp and flat keys, reveals various inaccuracies, schematization of notation in the part “Luce” (the poem “Prometheus”), due to the extreme complexity of the task. He writes: “as is clear from the previous one, all this was so far only one huge sketch – an unfinished brilliant idea.” On the whole, the problem of synesthesia as a special quality of musical perception, with all its pro et contra, raised by Sabaneev on the pages of his works [1, 5, 6], has largely become an impetus for various scientific studies of musicologists, physicists, physiologists, psychologists, etc. up to our days.
The published text retains the style of the original and copyright marks. But spelling is given in
accordance with the rules of the modern Russian language.


Keywords: Scryabin, color hearing, synopsia, tonality, anharmonism, “Prometheus”, Rimsky-Korsakov.

Article Details

How to Cite
Sabaneev Л. Л. (2023). Scryabin and the Fhenomenon of Color Hearing in Connection with the Light Symphony "Prometheus". Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 51(2), 22–30. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1442
Section
From the History of Domestic Thought about Music
Author Biography

Leonid L. Sabaneev

Leonid L. Sabaneyev (1881–1968) was a Russian musicologist, composer and music critic. He is the author of works on the general history of music, the history of Russian music, researches on Richard Wagner, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Alexander Scriabin, Russian composers of the early XX century. He was also one of the State Institute of Musical Sciences (ANTHEM) founders, a full member of the Music Section of the Academy of Artistic Sciences and President of the Association of Contemporary Music in Moscow, рrofessor Rachmaninov Russian Conservatory in Paris.