Alexander Scriabin

Scriabin wrote almost exclusively for the piano and moved, across about twenty-five years, from music that sounds like Chopin to music that belongs to nobody but himself. Both ends of that journey are in this catalogue.

The early preludes and études — anything up to about Op. 20 — are approachable Romantic writing and much easier than his reputation implies. Op. 11 is a set of twenty-four preludes across all keys, several of them within reach of a competent amateur, and it is the sensible place to begin. The late sonatas and the Poème de l'extase period are another matter entirely.

His writing assumes a wide stretch and uses cross-rhythms constantly — fives against threes are routine. Editions with good fingering earn their price here more than for most composers.