SAMUIL FEINBERG the COMPOSER
heir to Scriabin and Rachmaninoff

The music below represents the creative lifetime of Samuil Feinberg the composer.  It spans music Feinberg wrote for the piano from 1915 to 1962, from age 25 through the last year of his life.  The discovery of this body of work has, for me, been a joyous occasion.  It is beautiful music, splendidly crafted, supremely pianistic, and proof positive that there has been exquisite music composed in the "modern" style for the piano in the 20th century.

While the influence of Alexander Scriabin is clear and present, there are other, subtler influences as well.  Not the least of these is that of Sergei Rachmaninoff, not so much in the style of the music as in the style of the writing for the piano.  This is music written by a supremely skilled pianist, and as in the music of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, and yes, Chopin, much of it seems to melt under the fingers which have considerable influence over how the music evolves.

The last, twelfth, Sonata, written in the composer's final year, is a poignant farewell to life, to music, and an homage to much beloved composers, the first movement to Chopin, the second to Ravel and Schumann, and the final movement to Brahms.

The following examples of the music of Samuil Feinberg the composer are performed by several first rate contemporary pianists, some of whom are composers in their own right, all of whom truly understand the musical language and idiom of the 20th Century.

These are presented in chronological order so a sense of the composer's development can be appreciated. Note that Opp 11 and 25 are performed by Feinberg the composer  himself.

Piano Sonata 2, Op 2 (1915)
Christophe Sirodeau, piano