Piano Sonata No. 1

The Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 6, by Alexander Scriabin, was the third of twelve piano sonatas that he composed. It was completed in 1892. The music is emotionally charged as much of the music was written after Scriabin had damaged his right hand through excessive piano playing. Background Scriabin's very first sonata, one movement in G sharp minor (companion movements have not been found), was only published posthumously and the second, in E flat minor, was condensed and rewritten to be the single movement Allegro Appassionato Op. 4. Scriabin was reportedly overpracticing Liszt's Réminiscences de Don Juan and Balakirev's Islamey when he damaged his right hand. He was informed by physicians that he would never play again. The first piano sonata was Scriabin's personal cry against God: the tragedy of the loss of a virtuoso pianist to whimsical fate, God's design. During this period of disability, he wrote the Prelude and Nocturne, op. 9 for left hand alone; however, in due course his right hand recovered.