0:00 Introduction, Background

4:08 Research Questions

4:54 Hypothesis

5:30 Piano Interpretation and its Components

6:20 Methodology

8:59 Case Study 1: Vers le Mystère (Towards the Mystery) — Dance

https://youtu.be/qgRvVqztV8w?si=mrdBJROb-GOzAPJe

https://youtu.be/ZjH9nbK0ijE

11:38 Case Study 2: The SCRIABIN SONATAS Reimagined, Part 2

https://youtu.be/Jy5x4refUKE?si=3ZyGtpj_UgrJ10H8

https://youtu.be/jx05IXPC2zY?si=b85bmhxpOtkZHulW

https://youtu.be/G-vfTYIh2iE?si=yp2-DPdZIUfAzSdR

https://youtu.be/_YAM6TAMc_Q?si=6W2KdJ45ATUlqv5e

13:55 On Installations

15:30 On Light

18:05 On Gestures

20:55 On Risk Taking

24:27 The Concepts of 'Not-I' versus 'Also-I'

27:47 On Scent

29:43 The Pianistic Perspective

30:25 Conclusions & Closing

34:18 Live Performance: SONATA No. 10, Op. 70

51:15 DEFENSIO: Questions and Discussion from the Doctoral Committee

1:20:53 Questions and Discussion from the Audience

Doctoral Committee:

Head

Univ.Prof. Dr.phil. ANDREAS DORSCHEL

Internal Supervisors (University of Music and Performing Arts Graz)

O.Univ.Prof. MARKUS SCHIRMER

Univ.Prof. Mag.art. Dr.phil. DENIZ PETERS

External Advisors

em.O.Univ.Prof. HÅKON AUSTBØ (Oslo, Norway)

Assoc. Prof. M.M. M.A. M.Phil. ANNA GAWBOY, Ph.D. (Ohio State University, USA)

This presentation explores how multi-sensory, crossdisciplinary collaboration can illuminate the expressive potential of Alexander Scriabin’s piano œuvre — from his evocative character miniatures to his monumental late Sonatas. Drawing on two recent practice-led productions, “Vers le Mystère” (2022) and “The Scriabin Sonatas Reimagined, Part 2” (2023–2024), I demonstrate how integrating dance, light design, installations, and scent reveals latent layers of musical meaning, resulting in enriched performance, nuanced interpretational decisions, and deeper artistic insight.

Project “Vers le Mystère” focuses on Scriabin’s shorter character pieces, each titled to convey a distinct mood or narrative. Collaborating with a dancer, I examined how movement improvisation can reshape pianistic interpretation — particularly in rubato, spatial awareness, and structural understanding, among other aspects. Building on that work, “The Scriabin Sonatas Reimagined, Part 2” expands these concepts into a larger-scale performance, weaving light design, spatial installations, and custom-created tailored scents into Scriabin’s Five Late Sonatas. The result is a deepened pianistic interpretation, with flexible nuanced phrasing, balance, articulation, pedaling, and temporal phenomena, as well as an immersive experience that transcends the traditional recital format, allowing performers and audiences alike to cross over the discipline boundaries by engaging multiple senses simultaneously.

Using short video excerpts, live demonstrations, and reflections on methodological practices, this presentation outlines the collaborative processes and highlights practical takeaways for artists and researchers seeking to integrate artistic practice with scholarly investigation. By connecting concepts of embodiment, interpersonal gestural communication, crossmodal perception, autoethnography, stimulated recall, and elements of interpretative phenomenological analysis with the tangible demands of concert performance, I aim to show how artistic research can enhance a dialogue between academic and creative ways of knowing, ultimately enriching both fields. By weaving reflective observations with live or recorded examples of artistic practice, this presentation aims to promote an exchange on how cross-sensorial collaboration can help us see, hear, and sense beyond conventional classical performance traditions.

More: https://elinaakselrud.com/research