jan 1, 1915 - Mysterium
Description:
an unfinished major work by Alexander Scriabin.Mysterium and the Ultimate Aggregate Harmonies
1. Toward the end of his life, Scriabin was working on a piece he called Mysterium, which he felt would be his ultimate statement.
2. He wrote a text for it that summed up theosophist doctrine.
3. He came to envision the work as something that would last for seven days, bring the participants to a state of enlightenment transcending humanly time and space. Ultimately it would end human history.
4. The sketches that exist for the work that substituted for Mysterium, Acte préalable, show where Scriabin was headed harmonically.
a. They contain a series of aggregate harmonies: “ultimate” chords that contain all twelve pitches.
b. By incorporating all pitches, they represent maximalism.
5. Scriabin eventually renounced Acte préalable in favor of silence.
Added to timeline:
Date:
jan 1, 1915
Now
~ 110 years ago