The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915) is remembered mostly for his piano music, but his small number of orchestral works form a critical part of his output.

As he matured, this fervent, philosophical, mystical megalomaniac convinced himself that the future of music – indeed, of all art – was in his hands. (Scriabin had unusually small hands. Why does this seem to go together with narcissism?) He was working towards the ultimate revolutionary artwork, to be called Mysterium, when he died of sepsis at the age of 43.

Reputedly his last words were, “This is a catastrophe!”

His early Piano Concerto of 1894 shows strong hints of Chopin in the piano writing, and Tchaikovsky in the lucid orchestration. Symphony No. 1 continues to reveal Tchaikovsky’s influence, but at this time Scriabin became obsessed with Wagner (in particular, Tristan and Isolde), and Wagner’s chromatic harmony became a feature of all his future work. In Symphonies No. 2 and 3 (The Divine Poem), the orchestration is thicker and the harmony, Tristan-like, continuously unresolved.

The culmination arrives in two shorter works, which Scriabin regarded as his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies: The Poem...