Prometheus: Poem of Fire
Encyclopedia
Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, Op. 60 (1910), is a symphonic work by the Russia
n composer
Alexander Scriabin
for piano
, orchestra
, optional choir, and clavier à lumières
or "Chromola" (a color organ
invented by Preston Millar). However, the clavier à lumières is rarely featured in the performance of the piece, including performances during Scriabin's lifetime. Prometheus is only loosely based on the myth of Prometheus
. A typical performance lasts about 20 minutes.
, based almost entirely around various inversions and transpositions of Scriabin's matrix sonority: A D# G C# F# B. Sabaneyev referred to this chord, which opens the work in an eerily static fashion, as the "chord of Prometheus". It has subsequently become known as the "mystic chord". But after unrelieved dissonance throughout, the symphonic poem ends with a resplendent F-sharp major triad, the only consonant sonority in the entire composition.
Sources differ on what Scriabin's intentions were for the realization of the color organ part: many state that the colors were meant to be shown on a screen in front of the audience; but others say that the colors were intended to flood the entire concert hall and that showing them on a screen was merely the compromise adopted after flooding the concert hall was found impossible or impracticable. The score itself contains no indications about how this is meant to be handled.
in Moscow
on 2 March 1911. In 21 March 1915 it was the first time performed with colored lighting in the Carnegie Hall
by the Russian Symphony Orchestra with Marguerite Volavy on the piano, conductor was Modest Altschuler
.
Sir Henry Wood had plans to conduct Prometheus with the part for clavier à lumières, but World War I prevented the performance. The work was performed with colored lighting for the first time in England on 4 May 1972, by the London Symphony Orchestra
under Elyakum Shapirra
at the Royal Albert Hall
.
For a description of several other performances employing novel approaches to color realization in this work, see Hugh MacDonald, The Musical Times 124 (1983) pp. 600-602.
transcribed the symphonic poem for two pianos (four hands) in 1911. When he initially proposed this, Scriabin was of the opinion that at least eight hands would be necessary, and the composer was reportedly somewhat disconcerted when he realized that his piece could be reduced in this way.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...
for piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, optional choir, and clavier à lumières
Clavier à lumières
The clavier à lumières , or tastiéra per luce, as it appears in the score, was a musical instrument invented by Alexander Scriabin for use in his work Prometheus: Poem of Fire. However, only one version of this instrument was constructed, for the performance of Prometheus: Poem of Fire in New York...
or "Chromola" (a color organ
Color organ
The term color organ refers to a tradition of mechanical , then electromechanical, devices built to represent sound or to accompany music in a visual medium—by any number of means. In the early 20th century, a silent color organ tradition developed...
invented by Preston Millar). However, the clavier à lumières is rarely featured in the performance of the piece, including performances during Scriabin's lifetime. Prometheus is only loosely based on the myth of Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
. A typical performance lasts about 20 minutes.
Structure
The music is complex and highly dissonantConsonance and dissonance
In music, a consonance is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance , which is considered to be unstable...
, based almost entirely around various inversions and transpositions of Scriabin's matrix sonority: A D# G C# F# B. Sabaneyev referred to this chord, which opens the work in an eerily static fashion, as the "chord of Prometheus". It has subsequently become known as the "mystic chord". But after unrelieved dissonance throughout, the symphonic poem ends with a resplendent F-sharp major triad, the only consonant sonority in the entire composition.
Color organ
The part for color organ is notated on a staff of its own, in treble clef at the top of the score, and consists of two parts: one changes with the harmony, and always goes to the root note of the prevailing harmony, and thus produces the color Scriabin associated with each key; the other consists of much longer notes sustained through many bars, and does not appear to be related to the harmony (or therefore to the first part), but for the most part slowly rises up the scale a whole-tone at a time, the changes being several pages of score apart, or a minute or two apart. It is not clear what relationship this part has to the first part, or to the music as a whole. The score does not explain how two different colors are to be presented at the same time during a performance. This color organ part also contains three parts briefly at one point in the score.Sources differ on what Scriabin's intentions were for the realization of the color organ part: many state that the colors were meant to be shown on a screen in front of the audience; but others say that the colors were intended to flood the entire concert hall and that showing them on a screen was merely the compromise adopted after flooding the concert hall was found impossible or impracticable. The score itself contains no indications about how this is meant to be handled.
Scoring
The work is scored for:- 3 fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, 3 oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, English horn, 3 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, 3 bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower... - 8 horns, 5 trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the... - timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
(for 2 players), tubular bellsTubular bellTubular bells are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 . Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller...
, cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, tam-tamGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, triangleTriangle (instrument)The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of... - clavier à lumièresClavier à lumièresThe clavier à lumières , or tastiéra per luce, as it appears in the score, was a musical instrument invented by Alexander Scriabin for use in his work Prometheus: Poem of Fire. However, only one version of this instrument was constructed, for the performance of Prometheus: Poem of Fire in New York...
(ad lib), 2 harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s, celestaCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
solo, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, stringsString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
, chorusChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
(ad lib)
Notable performances
The premiere was conducted by Serge KoussevitzkySerge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
on 2 March 1911. In 21 March 1915 it was the first time performed with colored lighting in the Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
by the Russian Symphony Orchestra with Marguerite Volavy on the piano, conductor was Modest Altschuler
Modest Altschuler
Modest Altschuler was a cellist, orchestral conductor, and composer.He was born in Mogilev, Belarus...
.
Sir Henry Wood had plans to conduct Prometheus with the part for clavier à lumières, but World War I prevented the performance. The work was performed with colored lighting for the first time in England on 4 May 1972, by the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
under Elyakum Shapirra
Elyakum Shapirra
Elyakum Shapirra is an Israeli conductor who has appeared in a number of countries. He studied with Leonard Bernstein, becoming one of his assistant conductors at the New York Philharmonic...
at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
.
For a description of several other performances employing novel approaches to color realization in this work, see Hugh MacDonald, The Musical Times 124 (1983) pp. 600-602.
Transcription
Leonid SabaneyevLeonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist.-Biography:...
transcribed the symphonic poem for two pianos (four hands) in 1911. When he initially proposed this, Scriabin was of the opinion that at least eight hands would be necessary, and the composer was reportedly somewhat disconcerted when he realized that his piece could be reduced in this way.