Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand Alone, Op. 9
Composer: Alexandre Nikolayevich Scriabin
Date of Publication: 1894
When Scriabin was 16, he began studying at the Moscow Conservatory, under the tutelage of Vassily Safonoff. Scriabin was an excellent student, proficient at both the piano and composing. He graduated from the conservatory with honors second only to the virtuoso Rachmaninoff. However, Scriabin’s playing always suffered from a timid, hollow tone. Consequently, in Scriabin’s last lesson before the 1891 summer holidays, Safonoff instructed him to “deepen his tone...sink into the keys, don’t skitter over them”.
Scriabin took these words to heart. He practiced Liszt’s Réminiscences de Don Juan, and Balakirev’s Islamey nonstop in his family’s farmhouse. Unfortunately, his intensity led and lack of supervision to him severely injuring his right hand. Liszt’s Réminiscences is a technically demanding piece – filled with rapid, wide arpeggiations and 10ths. Scriabin’s hands could barely reach a ninth. The fact that Safonoff told Scriabin to sink into the keys didn’t help, especially given Scriabin’s tendency to exaggerate actions and dynamics. These two factors likely created prolonged tension and strain in his right hand, rendering it useless.
The underlying cause of Scriabin’s injury are still unknown. Some suspect that the damage stemmed simply from overuse. Scriabin was young and impatient to improve after all. Others, including his doctor, Dr. Zakharin, say it was because Scriabin never fully healed from an accident where he was run over by a horse carriage at the age of 13. Scriabin’s affliction could even be because of dystonia, where musicians’ hands lose their coordination and spasm. His injury may even be psychological, caused by the stresses of his family and his own grave nature. Regardless, his right-hand was unusable – Dr. Zakharin even proclaimed that it would never heal and told Scriabin to abandon performing.
Scriabin ignored his doctor. He returned to the conservatory in the fall of 1891 for his final year of studies. He played everything with only the left hand for a few months. As a result, his left hand became incredibly independent and polished. He graduated from the conservatory in 1892, ironically playing Liszt’s Réminiscences de Don Juan for his final exam once his right hand healed enough.
However, even after regaining his strength in his right hand, Scriabin still preferred his left. Thus, in 1984, he composed his Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand alone, Op. 9. He premièred the piece on March 11, 1895, where he was warmly received. His Opus 9 was immensely popular as well, selling thousands of copies internationally. The two pieces were integral to Scriabin’s reputation. After performing in the US in 1906, he was dubbed “the left-handed Chopin”.
Both pieces follow an A B A Coda form. They are characteristically Scriabin. He dabbles in atonal dissonance and emphasized chromaticism, which become key parts of his later works. Scriabin’s admiration for Chopin is also evident in his melodies’ lyricism and sentimental mood. The technical difficulty lies obviously within the fact that only the left hand is to be used. However, the more challenging aspect of the piece is the voicing. The melody must be flowing and prominent above simultaneous inner-voice chords and bass notes. No one voice can drown out another and each must be interesting, even through repetitive passages. The large jumps and wispy tones denoted piano or pianissimo don’t make this piece any easier.
Scriabin’s right hand injury and Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand alone are landmarks in the composer’s short life. After his injury and reliance on his left hand, his compositions changed permanently. He heavily utilized virtuosic passages played by the left hand, and tried to minimize the right hand’s involvement. Scriabin’s compositions tended to give the right hand abbreviated chords (three-note chords) only spanning octaves. In contrast, Scriabin would leave difficult tenths or larger, rolled chords for the left hand.
Fun Fact:
For the rest of his life, Scriabin would have sharp pains in his right hand, most often before important performances.
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