Scriabin, Alexander : Fugue e-moll WoO 20
Work Overview
Instrumentation：Piano Solo
Genre：fuga
Total Playing Time：2 min 50 sec
Copyright：Public Domain
Commentary (2)
Author : Yamamoto, Nao
Last Updated: July 10, 2023
[Open]
Author : Yamamoto, Nao
A work composed in 1892. Besides this piece, Scriabin left other works titled "Fugue": Fugue for 3 Voices, WoO 11, composed in 1887, and Fugue for 4 Voices, WoO 12 and WoO 13, composed in 1888. However, no works with opus numbers are categorized as "Fugue." Scriabin entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1888, where he studied piano with Vasily Safonov and composition withSergei Taneyev and Anton Arensky. This work was written in 1892, the year he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, marking the period when he was about to embark on a brilliant career as a composer and pianist. The first edition was published in 1916 as one of his posthumous works. Composed for five voices, the piece features a continuous, monotonous movement of eighth notes throughout, centered around the theme.
Author : Yamamoto, Nao
Last Updated: July 10, 2023
[Open]
Author : Yamamoto, Nao
Performance Tips
This piece is a 5-voice fugue in E minor, with the theme beginning in the lowest voice and being imitated in the higher voices. The thematic entries in each voice follow traditional fugal practice (the first voice presents the subject, the second voice the answer: imitation at the dominant). While it is essential to practice each voice separately, also ensure that the theme does not get obscured when the voices are layered. Furthermore, the piece should not be played too fast overall; its steady, unhurried progression evokes an unsettling and unstable image. Play the tenuto markings in the theme with a slight weight, ensuring they do not sound light, and maintain the piece's inherent instability, ensuring the theme in each voice remains unbroken until reaching the final Picardy cadence.