25 CLÉMENT LEFEBVRE Where in Scriabin's music do we find him? In my opinion, you never really meet him. In a never-ending quest for the absolute, he seems to be in a permanent state of insatiability. Each work calls for the next, to the point where you wonder if he ever achieves a sense of accomplishment, and that is what is so fascinating about him. As if guided by a higher force that propels him in a singular direction, Scriabin is not a contemplative; he never lingers on what he has created, nor does he take other directions or paths. He knows where he wants to go and follows his trajectory, which he traces ever further, in a perpetually unfulfilled desire to surpass himself, to transcend. In playing his works, one captures an ephemeral moment, like taking a snapshot in the heat of the moment—a brief instant on the long path that would lead him Towards the Flame, to that supreme state, that 'ecstasy' that haunted him. His music is in constant motion, to such an extent that it is impossible to delve into his mind, to fully grasp it. I see no other choice but to engage with it by investing a large part of oneself in it. It demands this level of commitment, confronting performers with the essence of their role more than any other music. It pushes them to their deepest limits.
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