The Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68, commonly known as the Black Mass Sonata, is one of the late piano sonatas composed by Alexander Scriabin.
The work was written around 1912–1913. Although its nickname was not invented by Scriabin (unlike the nickname White Mass given to his Seventh Sonata), he personally approved of it.
Structure and content
The ninth sonata spans a single movement, typically lasting 8–10 minutes, marked as follows:
1. Moderato quasi andante - Molto meno vivo - Allegro molto - Alla marcia - Allegro - Presto - Tempo primo
Like Scriabin's other late works, the piece is highly chromatic and atonal. The Black Mass Sonata is particularly dissonant because many of its themes are based around an interval of a minor ninth, one of the most unstable sounds. The ninth sonata is an unmistakable masterpiece; notable Scriabin contemporaries such as Igor Stravinsky praised it. Its marking 'legendaire' exactly captures the sense of distant mysteriou