Scriabin Society of America: Publications

The project of reprinting this little-known music was something which Donald Garvelmann, the original publisher, and Edith Finton Rieber, President of the Scriabin Society of America, had long discussed. With the death of Don in August, 2001, the Scriabin Society decided to reprint this collection as an Archival Edition.

This exact reprint duplicates the original 1970 edition published by Garvelmann (through the publishing company Music Treasure Publications that he established but which no longer exists) complete with introduction by the legendary Scriabin expert, Faubion Bowers (1917-1999).

The collection is truly a treasure which includes music and photographs as well as introductory remarks to each work. This printing is a limited edition of 500 copies and is available exclusively through the Scriabin Society of America.

Compiled by Taiichi Sato
and Farhan Malik

In 1996, Taiichi Sato, the eminent Japanese authority on Russian music, compiled an exhaustive discography of Scriabin's music to be included with the Japanese translation of Faubion Bowers' book, The New Scriabin: Enigma and Answers. Mr. Malik has revised, edited and updated Dr. Sato's work. He has also included an index of performers. Recording dates for works recorded on separate occasions by the same performer are indicated when known. In addition, all important reissues of recordings have been included.

Luigi Verdi
English translation from the
original Italian

     The main biographical sources regarding Alexander Scriabin, besides those written by the composer himself, came from the evidence of his many friends and biographers. A certain wealth of biographical and critical items in the years immediately following Scriabin's death was followed by a long period of weary repetition.

     Between the 60's and 70's there was a remarkable revival of interest in Scriabin, and his musical work became the subject of meticulous analysis; in the 70's the specialized studies of Scriabin's harmonic language increased like that of few other composers. On a wave of renewed interest during the 80's some essays came to light that, for their completeness of explanations and accuracy, both scientifically and methodologically, there was no precedent. Particularly important is the contribution of doctoral dissertations originating in many American universities. The Russian bibliography is much richer and more articulate than those for other composers.

     In Italy musicological interest in Scriabin is rather small compared with that in Russia, other European countries, and the United States; Italy's contributions to the musicological study of Scriabin remained rather limited until the 80's when there was a certain revival of interest in this subject.

     The bibliography, exceptionally replete, comprises around 700 titles including monographs, essays and scattered articles. The subjects dealt with, besides those strictly musical, are found in numerous other aspects of cultural life: literature, art, history, philosophy, politics, customs, esoteric science, psychology, linguistics. The bibliography is presented in chronological order. For each year the entries are arranged on the basis of the authors' surnames, according to the order of the Latin alphabet. In general, this bibliography does not include:

•		References contained in essays that do not contain chapters (items) specifically dedicated to Scriabin (unless the references are particularly long and significant).
•		The entry specifically inserted in the dictionary, "History of Music" and general entries of music of the 20th century.
•		The prefaces found in the scores of Scriabin's music.
•		The introductions quoted on record jackets or booklets included in record cases.
•		The program notes from concerts of Scriabin's music.
•		Reviews and analyses of concerts published in daily papers (The articles appearing in papers, when Scriabin was still living number a few hundred).
•		Reviews of books dedicated to Scriabin.

Dover Publications has recently reprinted the historic two-volume biography of Scriabin by Faubion Bowers in a single paperback volume which is available to members at the special price of $25.00