26th Annual Student Research Conference
Left Hand Solo Piano Works: Alexander Scriabin's Prelude Op. 9 No. 1 (1984)
Patrick M. MacMurchy
Dr. Ilia Radoslavov, Faculty Mentor
Left hand solo piano music has been written for four general, nonexclusive, reasons: injury, technical development, compositional challenges and for show. While the first published left hand pieces were written before it, many were written after World War I, commissioned by pianists who suffered injury during the war. Alexander Scriabin was an exception. Suffering an injury (allegedly from over practicing) and told he would never play again, Scriabin wrote what would become two of the most famous left hand piano solo works: Prelude and Nocturne, Op. 9. An obvious display of Scriabins left hand development, during his period of injury, is seen in many of his post-injury piano compositions, where the technical demand of the left hand matches the right (and exceeds it in some cases).
Keywords: piano, left hand, Scriabin
Topic(s):Music
Presentation Type: Performance Art
Session: 1-4
Location: OPPH
Time: 10:15