Scriabin Mazurkas

This album marks Peter Jablonskis debut for the Ondine label. Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) created an impressive catalogue of works for the piano and became one of the great innovators in 20th century music. In his early works, the listener can sense the composers great admiration for the art of Frédéric Chopin. This is especially manifested in the over 20 Mazurkas that Scriabin wrote for the solo piano, the very same form of music that Chopin followed throughout his active years as a composer. Jablonski's album includes all Scriabin's Mazurkas with an opus number as well as two early Mazurkas.

Throughout his life Russian composer and pianist Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) displayed a great admiration for the music of Frederic Chopin. So much so that some of his early Sonatas and Preludes are written in the same harmonic style as Chopin. And similar to Chopin, only a handful of Scriabin's works were orchestral in nature, as most of his prolific output was devoted to the piano. And nowhere are the similarities more apparent than in the Op. 3 Mazurkas. After all, the Mazurka is native to Poland and not Russia. In his youth Scriabin had a voracious appetite for all music, most notably from German composers, and you can already denote a Wagnerian influence to his harmonic development. So as you progress through these opus numbers, the basic attributes of the Mazurka may remain constant, but Scriabin's highly evolved harmonic language expands their reach.