"PROMETHEUS": SCRIABIN + KANDINSKY I.Vanechkina, B.Galeyev In the 35-year history of our group, we have given light-music performances of Scriabin's "Prometheus" many times. Initially, we strictly followed the score of the piece. Later, we added to the score a part for the light-music instrument "Luce", which added complex and dynamic light forms to the piece [1]. At a jubilee concert dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Kazan Conservatory, held in the newly built concert hall on 21 June 1996, we executed a more radical experiment with "Prometheus" as part of the concert program directed bv F. Mansurov, with piano accompaniment by Ye. Mikhailov. The only lighting equipment in the hall included two powerful Pani BP-4 compact slide projectors , which projected slides in fade-in mode onto a large screen (9 x 9 m) located above the orchestra. We took a chance and came to a decision to replace the part for the "Luce" with paintings by Kandinsky. It is well-known that Scriabin and Kandinsky were contemporaries who "breathed the same air and ate the same spiritual food." They were innovators in equal measure in then primary arts: and both came to the idea of "Gesamtkunstwerk", which can be translated from the German as "synthetic art," although from different sides. They dreamed of its embodiment in unprecedented temples of Mystery (Scriabin) and Great Utopy (Kandinsky). Both Scriabin and Kandinsky were attracted to theosophy, and it was in its context that the very idea of synthesis was developed. The works of both are vivid representations of cosmism in art, not only due to the content of their works, but also due to the form and techniques used and discoveries made by them -- Scriabin was an innovator in the field of harmony and strived to be "free from the dictates of tonal gravity." Kandinsk) excluded from his paintings the concept of "object," which was generally dependent on real, earthly gravity. We can divide Kandinsky's creative work after mastering "objective painting" into the following periods: abstract expressionism (beginning in the early 1900s), geometric abstractionism (beginning in the early 1920s), and abstract surrealism (the final years of his life, the 1930s and 1940s). We have also revealed an interesting system in the course of our work in visual interpretation of "Prometheus": when arranged chronologically, the paintings we chose for performance turned out generally to parallel the music of "Prometheus" in evolutionary and thematical development. "Prometheus" is a symphonic poem in one movement, written in the form of a sonata allegro containing an introduction and coda. Scnabin's philosophical approach to the piece is embodied in the development ot the following themes: "Prometheus" (creative spirit), "Will," "Reason," "Game," "Languor," "Pleasure" and others corresponding to the general evolution, "Spirit-Matter-Spirit." All the themes are presented in the introduction and exposition, being transformed and developed in complexity to become firmly established in renovated form in the reprise and coda. We selected a definite type of Kandinsky's paintings for each musical theme, our choices being based not on the genre or chronology of the paintings, but on their character, appearance and emotional influence. We based our selections on prompts provided bv the paintings' titles and on the symbolic characteristics of colors and forms Scriabin ascribed to in his theoretical works ("On the Spiritual in Art", first of all) [2]. So, taking into account Scnabin's own words about "lilac chaos" in the introductory chords of "Prometheus", we began our "Luce" with a painting entitled "Untitled Improvisation" (1914), which was chosen because it provokes associations with galaxies and a state of ancient chaos due to its appearance, in terms of forms and coloring. Then, during the sounding of the Prometheus theme, that painting is slowly replaced by another paintihg, "Komposition VII"; then the attack theme of "Will" appears repeatedly, paralleled with the sharp geometry of such paintings as "Accented Corners" (1923), "Diagonal" (1923), "Black Form" (1924), "In Blue" (1940) and so on. The painting "Several Circles" (1926) turned out to be in surprising alignment with the theme of "Reason," in both the colors and the forms used. We also selected paintings that corresponded to other themes, i.e. "Improvisation" (1913), "Untitled" (1915), "Red Oval" (1920), "Blue Circle" (1922). We as the directors have sometimes taken absolutely unexpected measures; for example, we decided to use a "realistic" picture by Kandinky ("Moscow-I" [1916]) because it seemed to parallel the utilitarian and human character of the music when the chorus begins to sing (without words) in the coda of the symphonic poem. This painting was followed by a display of slides from Kandinsky's late period with their refined, biomorphed images, i.e. "Komposition X" (1939), "Around the Circle" (1940) and so on. When accompanied by music, these paintings were perceived as an organic whole, the individual paintings being dissolved in a dazzling radiance during the final poem thanks to the gradually increased lighting of the screen and the entire concert hall. When we executed our last experiment in the performance, we anticipated the possibility that our unexpected interpretation of the "Luce" might shock the audience, especially those who were believers in "genre purity," who might not understand that synthetic arts are direction-based arts. (All synthetic arts, i.e. theater, film and light-music, require the involvement of a team guided by a director.) Alas, many musicians of the past (including Scriabin himself, to our great pity) and even of the present are of the opinion that the composer -- and only the composer -- can solve the task of creating synthesis. However, we (the directors of the work) doubt that Leo Tolstoy alone could have created a screen version of "War and Peace". At the same time, the screen versions of the novel have provided evidence that several different interpretations can exist, all of them having an equal right to exist. We have produced our own concept in directing "Prometheus" -- a concept including synthesis of two sources of creativity, the collision of two universes, a kind of "earth orbital docking" of two like-minded artists. We note a striking similarity to the thoughts of our compatriot and colleague G.Gidoni, who has written the following in one chapter ot his book about using light effects with music: "[There are a] variety ot ways of pertorming "Prometheus": Sriabin -- Greco, Scriabin -- Vrubel, Sciabin -- Gidoni" [3]. We have proposed our own variant, "Prometheus: Scriabin + Kandinsky," but this does not mean that "each gopher is a specialist in agriculture." References:
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