Scriabin is mainly known for his mystic-visionary piano works today; but his Romance for horn, which he composed at a young age, is also a charming chamber music work. The technically not very demanding horn part with its opulent piano accompaniment means that it is a very effective recital piece, even for pupils. As the work was not published during the composer’s lifetime, the autograph is the sole source for our edition. It was prepared in collaboration with the Moscow Scriabin scholar Valentina Rubcova.
Content/Details
- Romance
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Preface
Alexander N. Scriabin (1872–1915) was an exceptional pianist who, like his role model Chopin, wrote almost exclusively for the piano. 65 of his 72 compositions with opus number are for piano solo; moreover, he wrote a piano concerto and six orchestral works. As for chamber music, however, his work catalogue lists only two small occasional pieces – a movement for string … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer

Alexander Skrjabin
Russian composer and pianist. The focal point of his oeuvre is his extremely unique piano music; in addition, he wrote important orchestral works.
1872 | Born in Moscow on January 6, the son of a pianist (his mother); she died in 1872. |
1888–92 | Piano studies at the Moscow Conservatory |
1888–96 | Twenty-four Preludes, Op. 11, containing all the hallmarks of Scriabin’s early period: broad, ornamental cantilenas underpinned by figurations and arpeggios in the style of Chopin, complex rhythmic structure from polyrhythms and syncopations. |
1892–1913 | Composition of ten piano sonatas. |
1896 | Travels to Paris, Vienna, Rome. |
1897 | Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor, Op. 20, in the style of Chopin. |
1897–1909/10 | He primarily composes orchestral pieces, including the major works “Le Poème de l’extase” (“The Poem of Ecstasy”) for large orchestra (1905–07), Op. 54, and “Prométhée ou Le Poème du feu” (“Prometheus or The Poem of Fire,” 1908–10); orientation toward Liszt and Wagner; programmatic music with occasional annotations in the musical score, incorporation of philosophical notions into his compositions, which are defined by various philosophical movements from around the turn of the century. Unusual intervals, harmonically at the edge of tonality. |
1899–1904 | Composition of his three symphonies, Opp. 26, 29, and 43. |
1904 | He resides in Switzerland. |
1906 | Invitation to the United States. |
1910 | Return to Russia. |
1908–10 | “Prométhée ou Le Poème du feu” for piano, orchestra, organ, choir, and clavier à lumière, Op. 60: enrichment of musical performance through plays of light. 1911–14, piano compositions, Opp. 61–74, with avant-garde harmonies. |
1913 | Beginning of the multisensory “Acte préalable” (“Prefatory Action”), which is never completed. |
1915 | Death in Moscow on April 27. |
About the authors
Die Romance für Horn und Klavier (...) war meines Wissens bisher nur in einer Gesamtausgabe des Klavierwerks gedruckt erhalten, somit ist eine Neuausgabe dieses einfachen, lyrischen Stücks nur zu begrüßen.
Una pagina deliziosa da "rinverdire".
Zweieinhalb Minuten schönste Kammermusik, die hier nun endlich im Urtext erscheint – auch dies ein Werk, um das man einen Hornisten beneidet
Da ist dem Henle-Verlag eine schöne Ausgrabung gelungen.