Mystic Chord - Use By Scriabin

Use By Scriabin

Some sources suggest that much of Scriabin's music is entirely based on the chord to the extent that whole passages are little more than long sequences of this chord, unaltered, at different pitches; but this is rarely the case. More often than not, the notes are reordered in order to supply a variety of harmonic or melodic material. Certain of Scriabin's late pieces are based on other synthetic chords or scales that do not rely on the mystic chord.

There seems today to be a general consensus that the mystic chord is neither the key nor the generating element in Scriabin's method. —Jay Reise (1983)

Other sources suggest that Scriabin's method of pitch organization is based on ordered scales that feature scale degrees. For example, a group of piano miniatures (Op.58, Op.59/2, Op.61, Op.63, Op.67/1 and Op.69/1) are governed by the acoustic and/or the octatonic scales.

Contrary to many textbook descriptions of the chord, which present the sonority as a series of superposed fourths, Scriabin most often manipulated the voicings to produce a variety of melodic and harmonic intervals. A rare example of purely quartal spacing can be found in the Fifth Piano Sonata (bars 264, 268). Incomplete versions of the chord spaced entirely in fourths are considerably more common, for example, in Deux Morceaux, Op.57.

According to George Perle, Scriabin used this chord in what he calls a pre-serial manner, producing harmonies, chords, and melodies. However, unlike the twelve tone technique to which Perle refers, Scriabin did not use his Mystic chord as an ordered set and did not worry about repeating or omitting notes.