Volume 216, 2015, Pages 197–215
Music, Neurology, and Neuroscience: Historical Connections and Perspectives
Chapter 9 – Alexander Scriabin: his chronic right-hand pain and Its impact on his piano compositions
Abstract
Alexander
Scriabin was an outstanding pianist and an avant-garde composer who
influenced later generations with his innovative “multimedia”
conceptions of aesthetic experience. As an adolescent, he was
systematically trained as a concert pianist and received lessons from
Vassily Safonoff, one of the founders of the legendary Russian Piano
School. At age 20, Scriabin suffered an overuse injury of his right hand
when attempting to improve the sound quality of his piano touch. This
injury caused a deep crisis and influenced his later composition style
in his piano works. From this time on, his works were frequently
dominated by unusual virtuosic use and wide spans of his left hand.
Rest, restricted repertoire, and an increased focus on composition
contributed to recovery; however, he always remained anxious concerning
the stamina of his right hand. The case report impressively demonstrates
the stressors an aspiring young pianist had to cope with at the end of
the nineteenth century. Furthermore, it is a convincing example of how
resource-oriented behavior and intuition lead to the improvement of
health status. Differential diagnoses and the modern concept of
multimodal pain therapy in chronic overuse injury will be discussed from
a historical perspective.
Keywords
- overuse injury;
- chronic pain;
- left-hand piano playing;
- rehabilitation;
- Alexander Scriabin
- Corresponding author: Tel.:
+ 49-511-3100-552; Fax: + 49-511-3100-557
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
