Alexander Scriabin was born on December, 25th 1871 (on January, 6th) 1872 in Moscow. As a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory (where he studied, in particular, under Anton Arensky and Sergei Taneyev), Scriabin started to give concerts and teach music, however, he soon focused on composing music. Scriabin’s major achievements are related to instrumental genres (piano and orchestra; in certain cases, as with the Third Symphony and Prometheus, chorus party was introduced into scores). Mystical philosophy of Scriabin found reflection in his musical language, especially in his innovative harmony, which went far beyond the limits of traditional tonality.

He added the organ and the bells to the orchestra, and even introduced special “lighting parts”. The score of his symphonic Poem of Fire (Prometheus, 1909–1910) includes a lighting keyboard (Luce): projector beams of different colors are changing on screen synchronously with changing of themes, tonalities, and chords. It was the first attempt to combine different artistic means in music composition.

Scriabin’s last work was the so-called Preliminary action for soloists, chorus and an orchestra – a mystery play, which was supposed to unite mankind, as the author hoped, but it remained incomplete. The composer died in Moscow on April, 14th (27) 1915.