Loud sounds elicit an emotional response. It’s one of the reasons rock concerts are so exciting, and elevator music is so boring. So how did people rock out before 500-watt speakers were invented?

That’s how. Thanks, Tchaikovsky!

I started this blog as a way to challenge myself, keep my brain sharp(ish), learn new things, and grow as a person. In this new year, I hope that whatever dreams or crazy ideas you have might be realized – be brave, be bold, and do it! May Prometheus bring you a gift of fresh fire.

If you need some inspiration, look no further than Alexander Scriabin. To cut to the chase, the guy was completely nuts, and therefore, many people declare him a genius. He was into Theosophy and experienced a musical synesthesia so strong that he invented an instrument called the “color organ.” His unfinished magnum opus was to be Mysterium, in which (I’m not making this up), the whole human race would blissfully dissolve and a new race of superhuman artists would emerge. The grand performance would take place on the foothills of the Himalayas, and there would be no audience – everyone would be a performer.

One of his last finished works, Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, is scored for large orchestra, with a major piano solo (though not quite a concerto), and color organ. It’s out there, but compared to Mysterium, I suppose it’s fairly normal. (note that it was composed in 1910, just before Stravinsky‘s big three ballets … and you have to admit, it smacks of Stravinsky … or perhaps Stravinsky smacks of Scriabin.)

Again, I hope you find some renewed fire in this new year, and live your dream. After all, it can’t be as bizarre as Scriabin’s.

If you go to an orchestra concert during December, there’s a small chance you’ll get to hear the suite from Rimsky-Korsakov‘s opera, Christmas Eve. Usually one movement (the Polonaise) gets programmed in an attempt to get some variety into the program, and to balance out things like Sleigh Ride.

But before you get the hot cocoa and snuggle up by the Christmas Tree, you should be aware that this is not your lovey-fuzzy Christmas Nutcracker. Like any good Russian opera, this tale has devils, a witches’ Sabbath, and a fantastical plot that is bizarre, even for an opera. Or, on the other hand, go ahead and get the cocoa and snuggle up; just blissfully ignore all the dark subject matter and enjoy the music!

The witches’ Sabbath in this piece is fairly tame. By this time this piece was written, the subject had already been overdone – the trend was started by Berlioz nearly half a century before. I suppose Rimsky-Korsakov knew he couldn’t outdo his good friend‘s more famous setting of the same subject!