The Scriabin postcard: The importance of Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin in the intellectual circles of the Russian fin de siècle

Abstract

Due to the rich and stylistically heterogeneous artistic creativity of Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, his affinity towards various philosophical and religious narratives, as well as to his interest and accomplishments in the domain of poetry, the discourse created around the name and works of Scriabin has been abundant with exceptional diversity in artistic, critical and ideological context. Contemporary researchers, dealing with such often conflicting views on the art and worldview of Alexander Scriabin, are faced with numerous issues and doubts. In this paper, two questions are posed that need to be unravelled in order to finally demystify Scriabin: how and in what way did Scriabin, an apparently apolitical artist, participate in the aspirations of the Russian intelligentsia and artists of the Silver Age to create a social utopia and to what did this composer owe a distinguished social status in his time? The answers to these questions lead to the conclusion that Scriabin was a reactionary, modernist figure, who, by representing his own conception of social transformation and future utopia, mediated between the idealist and materialist currents of the Russian intelligentsia.