Scriabin’s early Etudes op. 8 are at the heart of virtuoso piano repertoire, their methodical and pedagogical intent clearly visible. However, they are also 12 character pieces, revealing Scriabin’s whole creative universe from the dreamy and poetic to the powerful and passionate. The composer did not, however, make things easy for Belaieff, his publisher: final delivery of the long-promised Etudes (for which he had received an advance) was protracted because Scriabin was continually making revisions. “You are annoyed with me - completely justifiably, although I deserve some leniency as I am, in the truest sense of the word, working on them the whole day through”. His efforts were worth it! For Henle’s Urtext edition, Scriabin researcher Valentina Rubcova draws upon the composer’s own second revised version of the first printing, making detailed comparison with the surviving autograph. World-renowned pianist Boris Giltburg provides the fingering.
