The poems op.32 were written in 1903. The first poem remained one of Scriabin's favourite compositions and would appear in most of his piano recitals. The great cellist Gregor Piatigorsky transcribed it for cello and piano a couple of decades later. I owned a copy of the music from age 15 or so, but when I eventually decided to learn it, I was vexed by the changes Piatigorsky had made to the original score.

These include the simpli cation of rhythms, dynamics and anything eccentric and typic...