This sonata is composed of two uninterrupted movements, with the tempo transition bridged by an accelerando motif (as in the finale of Sonata No. 3):

Mv.1 : Andante Mv.2 : Prestissimo volando

Composed in only two days, it marks a turning point in Scriabin’s output toward a post-Romantic style, and opens his Second Period. The harmonies are a blend of personal discoveries and Wagnerian quartal voicings (the theme is almost entirely built on fourths) and ultra-chromaticism.

The first movement is a poetic mosaic of a single thought presented in varied forms. The sensation of longing and desire will remains characteristic in Scriabin’s personal quest for new musical and philosophical frontiers. The second movement releases this desire in a surge of ecstasy and ascent, in the form of an unstoppable scherzo filled with virtuosic lines. The monumental coda, written in cyclic form (with the return of the introduction’s theme), recalls the climaxes of Debussy’s L’Isle Joyeuse L.106, but also Chopin’s Barcarolle Op. 60 in the same radiant key of F♯ major.

Scriabin later wrote a long poem to describe the philosophy behind this sonata: a man gazes at a gleaming star in the sky and gradually feels its pull, until he transcends himself completely, merging into a single being unified being with the cosmos.