Two Poems op. 32

The poems op.32 were written in 1903. The first poem remained one of Scriabin's favourite compositions and would appear in most of his piano recitals. The great cellist Gregor Piatigorsky transcribed it for cello and piano a couple of decades later. I owned a copy of the music from age 15 or so, but when I eventually decided to learn it, I was vexed by the changes Piatigorsky had made to the original score.

These include the simpli cation of rhythms, dynamics and anything eccentric and typical of Scriabin. During the process of making my own version, I soon realised that the middle section did not bene t from being broken up into separate lines. While the piano part remains untouched,I have borrowed material from the second poem to ll what might otherwise feel like gaps in the cello part (this version can be heard together with pianist Bengt Forsberg on the CD called Smörgåsbord for the Hyperion label).

Interestingly, the story around the tempestuous second poem had originally been conceived as an aria for a planned opera. As with Brahms and the opening of the E minor sonata op.38, Scriabin uses the word legato rather than indicating this with slurs (see piano part).