This is the first complete orchestral work by Scriabin after several unfinished pieces (Symphonic allegro in D minor WoO 24). It was presumably inspired by Rachmaninoff, who completed his First Concerto a few years earlier, in the same tonality and created by the same conductor (Safonov). Rachmaninoff himself loved Scriabin’s concerto and continued to conduct it after Scriabin’s death in 1915. In terms of orchestration, it stylistically resembles Chopin’s Concerto No.1 Op.11, but with a more prominent presence of the orchestral solo part.

The orchestral part was sharply criticized by Korsakov from whom Scriabin sought advice, leading to a revision with the help of Anatoli Lyadov. Scriabin would firmly establish himself as a serious orchestral composer with the Symphonie No.1 op.25, two years later.

The first movement is full of dreamlike moments, with a brilliance comparable to the intensity in the piano sonatas. All the melodies flow in a very Scriabinesque way : long and chromatic. The third movement, in rondo-sonata form, transforms the initial minor theme into a radiant major color, as often in romantic music playing with major and minor ambiguity.