Tuesday, 15-03-10 10:35 - Age: 9 Years

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 con-
vincing 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.