DAVID ALADASHVILI - OPUS 13: Scriabin, Schumann, 13 Composers quot;... I have always had a fascination with the number 13 - while most associate it with being unlucky, I feel quite the opposite. My obsession with this number now translates into my first recording, a program based around the number 13 - the works by Schumann and Scriabin, Opus 13, and 13 quot;newquot; works, a sort of suite created for me and premiered by me, by 13 promising young composers. I recorded this recital program on Friday, September 13, 2013 and planned the CD's release for Friday, December 13th, 2013...quot; ~ David Aladashvili Scriabin Preludes, Opus 13 Fascinating as it is to find in the early works of a great artist the DNA of the future master- Kandinsky's landscapes, Proust's 'Les Plaisirs et les Jours'', Mozart's 'Bastien et Bastienne,' it is at least as interesting to find in the work of a young artist explorations of paths not taken. The second movement of Beethoven's Second Concerto, the finale of Brahms' opus 2, some of the Bartok Bagatelles- these are all wonderful early works, which do not quite fit our expectations. Such is the case with these six preludes, opus 13. Having already composed in his opus 11 a set of 24 preludes based on the key sequence of Chopin's opus 28, Scriabin here began a new cycle of preludes, which he continued in opus 15 and 16 but then, in opus 17, broke away from the pattern of keys. These pieces show complete mastery of compositional and pianistic style. The influence of Chopin in early Scriabin has often been noted, and yet the music does not sound at all like Chopin. For one thing the harmonies mostly lack Chopin's daring-it helps to appreciate Chopin's a minor prelude if one compares it with Scriabin's- and the four-measured phrases lack Chopin's ingeniousness. On the other hand, there is, in the colored seventh and ninth chords, which swirl somewhat treacherously or march (as in the c major prelude) ominously, a suggestion of a world outside Chopin's vision. This is not yet the Scriabin whose synthesis of Eros, Wagner and Mme. Blavatsky still brings chills and thrills to listeners, but it is, without reference to the future, beautiful music. Schumann Symphonic Etudes, Opus 13 Even more than Schumann's other works, the Symphonic Etudes, opus 13, seem on the surface like a palimpsest of hommages and allusions, both musical and personal. The composer's original title was Variations Pathetiques, suggested by Beethoven's Sonate Pathetique, opus 13. Deciding, however, that the work was becoming too sentimental, he rejected the title, as well as five of the more expressive variations, which were later published without his consent as 'Posthumous Variations.' After considering other rather fanciful titles, he finally chose 'Symphonic Etudes. In general, Schumann was reluctant to call variations 'variations,' probably because of the low artistic state into which the form had fallen after the death of Beethoven. For the theme, Schumann borrowed a flute tune, composed by Baron von Fricken, the illegitimate but devoted father of Ernestine von Fricken, Schumann's fiancée (whom he had already immortalized as 'Estrella' in the Carnaval, opus 9). Presumably, the work was to have been dedicated to the Baron. By the time of publication, however (1837), Schumann's interest in Ernestine had cooled, and the Baron's name was demoted to a footnote as an unnamed amateur. Meanwhile, Schumann had, to the annoyance of both Clara Wieck (the future Clara Schum
