Skryabin Museum

This tiny but well-preserved museum is a must-see for amateurs of the eccentric composer Alexander Scryabin (1872-1915). Most of the original furnishings have been retained and each seems to have a story to tell. By far the most interesting of these is an unusual device made by the man himself. As a synaesthete, Scryabin associated different musical tonalities with different colours. This led him to construct some unusual contraptions which allowed him to compose pieces for piano and coloured lights, one of which can be seen in the museum. For the early days of Russian electricity this was pretty futuristic, but Scryabin had grander plans: he dreamt of a spectacular multi-media concert in the Himalayas which he imagined would be used in a new age. Before his ideas could come to fruition, he died aged forty-three from septicaemia, probably from a shaving cut. The popularity he had enjoyed during his life suddenly vanished upon his death, but in recent years his music has enjoyed something of a revival and he is known today as a highly original and compelling composer. This flat is where he spent the last three years of his life.