LET THERE BE LIGHT! THE CREATION OF AN INFORMED COLORED-LIGHT PERFORMANCE OF ALEXANDER SCRIABIN'S LATE PIANO SONATAS. Public defense for the PhD in the Arts by Nuno Cernadas.
Scriabin's late music has inspired countless performances engaging with its mystical proposition of integrating sound and color. The widespread belief in Scriabin's synaesthesia has motivated numerous modern performances, resulting in artistic explorations that, while innovative, diverge from the composer's mystical intentions. This research contends that synaesthesia is, in fact, an inadequate framework for understanding Scriabin’s late art. Instead, it seeks to establish a performance practice that relates directly to Scriabin's idea of musical and mystical synthesis, as reflected in primary sources and manifested in his music. Theosophy and mysticism, it is argued, are the relevant lenses through which Scriabin’s syncretism can be correctly appraised. Synthesizing these principles, this research has created original performance scores of Scriabin’s late piano sonatas that reveal both a colored-light layer and the analytical framework supporting it.
On Friday 20 December at 18:15, Nuno Cernadas will be playing the music of Alexander Scriabin at Flagey.
Public defense at KCB (small concert hall), Petit Sablon 5, 1000 Brussels, on Saturday 21 December at 10:30. Followed by a reception. Registration necessary via e-mail, before 16 December.