Harmony and voice leading in late Scriabin

In this thesis, a new approach to an understanding of the harmonic language in Scriabin's final compositions is presented. The analytical methods used draw significantly upon previous work done by Varvara Dernova, as well as some of the concepts of Manfred Kelkel. The thesis presents a qualified vindication of the structural importance of the quartal spacing in Scriabin's harmonic language. (This characteristic feature of the composer's pitch organization tends to be regarded by most contemporary theorists as merely an idiomatic spacing that the composer favoured.)The thesis proposes that a structural, ten-note, harmonic matrix (formed through the summation of the octatonic and whole-tone scales) is the key to an understanding of the harmonic language in Scriabin's final works. Graphic illustrations are an important feature of the various analyses presented; these depict both horizontal and vertical aspects of Scriabin' s musical language in his final works, specifically, selections from the piano compositions op.71-74. The analyses also present an evaluation of the importance of the octatonic scale, believed by George Perle, Jay Reise, and Claude Herndon, among other theorists, to be the structural matrix in the late Scriabin oeuvre