Scriabin Sonata No. 1 - Henrik Kilhamn Edition

PDF Score with marks and fingerings by Henrik Kilhamn.
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 6

I have marked all my own pianistic solutions in the score after working with this repertoire for a long time.

• Fingerings
• Note redistributions
• Hands Over/Under coordination
• Some simplification suggestions
• Pedal markings only occasionally
• Preface with explanations included

This edition should NOT be confused with Simple Solutions Edition - Easy Arrangements for the Intermediate Pianist, which is entirely based on simplifying original compositions. The Henrik Kilhamn Edition comprises only added marks and fingerings on an original composition. A few minor simplification suggestions does not make this difficult composition suitable for intermediate pianists at all. They only serve as tactics for advanced pianists to be able to better retain musical accuracy, flow (tempo), clarity and/or sound balance when the compositional demands feel too high, but from an already high level of technical proficiency.

Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 6

I. Allegro con fuoco
II. M.M.=40
III. Presto
IV. Funebre

Underlying edition (in public domain): Muzgiz edition, 1947, editor: Konstantin Igumnov.

Note on the Composition

Scriabin's first sonata is perhaps the least performed of them all despite having everything one can ask for for a great romantic sonata: strong and heroic statements, beautiful and personal lyrical melodies and rich developments in all movements put together to tell the story of an epic tragedy.

One reason for this is probably that it contains sections that feel almost unplayable with very wide accompanying chords in a very fast tempo, primarily in 1st movement: the culmination of the development on page 7 and the return of the 2nd subject on pages 10-11. The intuitive solution to arpeggiate works sometimes but not really in a fast tempo, so my prescriptions here often entails dropping notes and/or revoicing chords to fit the hand better. I have also gone over the quick 16th notes that follows the 1st subject (pages 2 and 9) and reduced the worst awkward movements by switching some of the chord notes to be closer together.

The 3rd movement Presto is another problematic one. Some pianists can play the quick octave jumps in LH in tempo, but I choose instead to drop the top voice where the jumps exceed a third because it puts too much strain on my hand to go so quickly up and down for such long stretches (mostly pages 18-19 and 22).

The slow 2nd and 4th movements are playable as they are, here I have only left my fingering suggestions.

Henrik Kilhamn Edition

This edition series is the result of me working with difficult repertoire at concert performance level for a long time and having to find the best strategies for my own hands to play the incredible music in front of me. Fundamentally, this is something every pianist at an advanced level has to go through to get to know how their hands work. Not just size and grip range, but how it feels in different musical circumstances, what is an acceptable strain on the hand and what isn’t. The fingerings and marks in this edition are what feels best for my hands, and it is no guarantee that they will do so for other pianists. However, they feel like good solutions in general, all emanating from an ideal of efficiency and organicism of hand movement.

Concretely, there are two types of suggestions. One is completely on top of the compositional layer, accepting the score as it is and only adding instructions for the performer: fingerings, note redistributions, hands over/under coordination, pedal markings etc.

The other comes into play when the compositional demands on the performer are above either what is possible for any pianist to play (e.g. impossibly large chords), or just my personal level of technique, and it feels like I would never be able to play it right in concert. This is where you’ll see some notes crossed out, or the occasional rearranging of voices. They are my solutions that makes it possible to retain a higher degree of accuracy, musical flow (tempo), clarity or sound balance, where I feel that I cannot achieve that with what's written. They are compromises in their nature, but I have obviously tried to keep as much of the musical material as possible, and they are always my best alternatives after trying many different options. Also, they often come in close connection with a fingering suggestion, as one “package” of a solution. Here you might hear a voice in your head of some professor screaming that this is never acceptable and you are a failure for even considering it, but I’m here to say that that is wrong. Every sane pianist does it, except perhaps the top layer of prodigy virtuosos who have not experienced struggling with technical limits the same way the rest of us have.

However, what feels like an optimal compromise in a situation is also subject to personal preference in addition to technique. The purpose of this edition then is to give my suggestions, which you are free to pick and choose among as you like. In fact, I strongly recommend using another score as your own and only look at my edition as a secondary source, and then write in which suggestions you like and leave those you don’t need.