Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, Bernini (1645)

The last Symphony by Scriabin, structured in six sections (Introduction, Sections, Coda), is seamlessly fused into a single movement. This concept was already anticipated in the uninterrupted three-part structure of the Third Symphony.

The work acts as an orgiastic poem, it explores transcendence through spiritual awakening, the realization of individuality, dreams, trance, and erotic ecstasy. The music evokes the great masters of modernist orchestral writing (Ravel, Stravinsky, Debussy), blending the impressionistic textures with Scriabin’s visionary ambition. The almost omnipresent whole-tone color, brought about by the mystic chord, creates a continuous tension and sense of longing, only released in the final, ecstatic C major outburst : an ejaculatory resolution of overwhelming intensity.

The symphony is accompanied by a three-hundred-line poem written by Scriabin himself, elaborating on the soul’s journey toward transcendence through ecstasy. As numerology played a crucial role in Scriabin’s occultist philosophy, and so the number 36 appears repeatedly in the framework of the work, infusing the composition with occult symbolism.

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{i-tabler:brand-youtube} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC8roMO_caQ&list=PL1XcDKyfQHyTm47w4gma6WU6n8bLCWz9J&index=217&pp=gAQBiAQB8AUB

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{i-tabler:brand-spotify} https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/track/0Si72zb49y6eUkf7Shl9mW?si=1aabb3cc38644b1f

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