The composer and pianist Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (1871-1915) was a striking representative of the early modern school of Russian music. The romantic symbolism of his late work often obscures his genuine innovations.

Alexander Scriabin was born in Moscow on Dec. 25, 1871. His musical talent was discerned at an early age. He studied piano and, at the age of 14, took theory and composition instruction from Alexander Taneev. Scriabin entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1888; one of his classmates was Sergei Rachmaninov. Scriabin graduated with the Gold Medal in 1892. His accomplishment as a pianist outweighed the value of his early, Chopin-like compositions for piano, and it was as a performer that he began appearing abroad. Except for a 6-year term (1897-1903) as a piano teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, he spent most of his mature years in the West, years in which his zest for living brought him almost as much attention...