Hyperion Records

Op 33 starts with a limpid E major and a dreamy F sharp major (a key central to Scriabin’s consciousness), but the mood is shattered by an alarming outburst of anger in No 3 (‘con collera’), and Scriabin’s burgeoning ego shows itself further in the ‘daring, warlike’ No 4. Scriabin did not live long enough to reassess the idealistic illusions besetting that era; musically, the prelude’s impetus is increased by its 5/4 time signature, a feature shared with Op 11 Nos 14 and 16.

from notes by Simon Nicholls © 2001