Dance of the Knights Prokofiev

Prokofiev for Beginners: 10 Pieces to Make You Love Prokofiev

by Emily E. Hogstad  

Sergei Prokofiev was born on 23 April 1891 in Sontsivka, present-day Ukraine. He became one of the famous rebellious enfant terribles of twentieth-century Russian music.

Sergei Prokofiev

Here are a few facts about his life and career:

• Prokofiev’s music blended steely modernism and traditional Russian character. He often combined dissonance and complex rhythms with more melodic and folk-inspired ideas.
• Prokofiev was a child prodigy who began composing at an early age. When he was accepted into the Moscow Conservatory, he was several years younger than his fellow students. (He would irritate his older peers by keeping track of their mistakes.) He cultivated a reputation as a misfit and a rebel.
• Prokofiev had a complicated relationship with Russia and the Soviet Union. He left his homeland in 1918 after the Russian Revolution but, homesick, returned in 1936. He ran into trouble with Soviet bureaucracy, and his ex-wife was even sent to a gulag after attempting to defect.
• In his later years, his health was poor. Prokofiev died on the same day as Joseph Stalin, so his death received relatively little attention.

Intrigued? Hope so! Here are ten works by Sergei Prokofiev to immerse yourself in his word.

Prokofiev began his first piano concerto as a cocky twenty-year-old.

In 1914 he played this concerto at a piano competition. He figured he probably wouldn’t win if he performed a canonical piano concerto, but he might stand a chance if he entered with an impressive performance of his own little-known work. (And yes, he did in fact win.)

This work is fifteen minutes long and in one movement. It’s dramatic, powerful, spiky, and spicy. 

In this work, Prokofiev takes a form that was invented in the late sixteenth century – the toccata – and brings it squarely into the mechanized twentieth.

Toccatas have always been fleet and virtuosic, but in his Toccata, Prokofiev brings those adjectives to another level, never allowing the performer (or the audience) a single moment to breathe. It’s a cold-blooded and deeply satisfying work.

Symphony No. 1 in D Classical, Op. 25 (1916–17) 

Many composers are terrified to write their first symphony, given the storied history of the genre and the weight of expectations. Brahms, for example, took over twenty years to write and perfect his.

Young Prokofiev, however, turned those expectations on their head when he breezily wrote his brief but enchanting first symphony, nicknamed the “Classical.”

As the name suggests, this symphony is in a neoclassical style that pays tribute to the works of Haydn and Mozart, while putting a modern spin on the genre.

Sergei Prokofiev in 1900

On April 18, 1918, he wrote a typically confident entry in his diary about the premiere: “Rehearsal of the Classical Symphony with the State Orchestra, I conducted it myself, completely improvising, having forgotten the score and never indeed having studied it from a conducting perspective.”

Despite its composer’s devil-may-care attitude, the premiere was a success.

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19 (1916–17) 

Prokofiev’s first violin concerto is like the soundtrack to a twisted fairytale, with long lush lines interplaying with repetitive, machine-like virtuosity.

It was composed against the backdrop of the oncoming Revolution. Despite the turmoil in the streets, 1917 turned into the most creatively productive year of Prokofiev’s life.

In 1918, he departed Russia for America, crossing via the Pacific and arriving in California. He made his way across North America, eventually finding himself in Paris, where his violin concerto was belatedly premiered in 1923.

Unfortunately, Parisian audiences in that particular time and place were hoping for something with a little more avant-garde bite, and the fairytale-like first violin concerto wasn’t their cup of tea. But time has been kind to it, and the concerto remains in the repertoire to this day.

Suite from “Lieutenant Kijé”, Op. 60 (1934) 

In 1936, Prokofiev returned permanently to his homeland. However, before the move, he embarked on a series of long visits.

During one of these, he wrote the soundtrack to a film called Lieutenant Kijé, a satire set in 1800 tracing the misadventures of a fictional lieutenant who is created when a clerk mis-writes a name in a ledger.

This was Prokofiev’s first time writing for film, and, typically, he had very specific ideas about how he wanted to go about composing for this new genre. “I somehow had no doubts whatever about the musical language for the film,” he wrote.

The Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra asked Prokofiev to adapt his soundtrack into a full orchestral suite, which he did. The suite remains popular in concert halls today.

Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2, Op. 64ter (1936) 

Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet had a rocky beginning.

One of its choreographers resigned from the Kirov Ballet; the project was then moved to the Bolshoi; government bureaucrats were unconvinced about the ballet’s retooled happy ending; and everyone was generally jumpy after a 1936 Stalinist denunciation of renowned composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

Due to these delays, the music was heard before the actual ballet was produced.

That music is, like so much of Prokofiev’s output, both mesmerizing and terrifying. The lumbering bass of the Montagues and Capulets is especially legendary (at 2:45 in the recording above).

Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 (1936) 

One might not have expected this from the infamous enfant terrible of Soviet music, but in 1936, Prokofiev wrote one of the most famous educational works in music history, Peter and the Wolf.

It was commissioned by the director of the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow. She wanted Prokofiev to write a special symphony for children.

The protagonist Peter plays in a meadow, listening to a whole menagerie of animals symbolized by various instruments.

Peter’s grandfather warns him of a gray wolf who might come to attack him. On cue, the wolf makes an appearance, but with the help of his animal friends, Peter is able to catch it.

Hunters come out of the forest, ready to kill the wolf, but Peter convinces them to put the wolf in a cage and bring it to a zoo instead. They do so, in triumphant, animal-parade formation.

The work has proven to be one of the most popular in the entire repertoire and is often used even today as an introduction to the orchestra and orchestral instruments.

War and Peace, Op. 91 (1941–52) 

After the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, Prokofiev teamed up with his new wife, poet/translator Mira Mendelson, to write a massive opera based on Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

He submitted a score to the Soviet Union’s Committee of the Arts in 1942. They wanted more patriotism, but Prokofiev was loath to substantially revise the opera, so he sprinkled in some patriotic marches instead.

Despite the changes, full-throated Party support of the opera was never forthcoming, and the massive project gradually lost steam.

Prokofiev would never actually get to see the entire thing fully staged. But it’s still a fascinating glimpse into how he treated large-scale projects and how politics affected art.

Symphony No. 5 in B♭, Op. 100 (1944) 

Prokofiev wrote his fifth symphony in 1944, the summer of the Normandy landings. The long war was reaching a turning point, and this was reflected in his fifth symphony.

Publicly, at least, Prokofiev described the work as “a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit.”

He also wrote, “I cannot say that I deliberately chose this theme. It was born in me and clamoured for expression. The music matured within me. It filled my soul.”

At its January 1945 premiere, celebratory artillery was heard in the distance. Prokofiev didn’t begin the performance until the gunfire was over.

Later, the musicians and audience learned that the explosions had been a celebratory signal: Soviet troops had crossed into Germany, signaling a successful invasion. The war ended in Europe a few months later.

Even though this was a work written in a very particular time and place, its themes of overcoming struggle and battered optimism still resonate on a more universal level.

Symphony No. 7, Op. 131 (1951-52) 

By the 1950s, Prokofiev’s health was declining. Nevertheless, he still managed one last symphony, his seventh. Somewhat ironically, his final symphonic testament was commissioned by the Soviet Children’s Radio Division.

One can hear a wistful melancholy and a world-weary resignation in this music, even in its more flamboyant passages. The bold aggression of the teenaged Prokofiev has mellowed considerably.

Prokofiev was pushed into altering his work. Originally the ending was quiet and sad. However, a conductor friend told Prokofiev that he should tack on a brief happy ending, which would make him more likely to please bureaucrats and win the Stalin Prize and its 100,000 ruble payout.

Prokofiev reluctantly agreed, but he told the friend, “Slava, you will live much longer than I, and you must take care that this new ending never exists after me.”

Prokofiev’s seventh never won the Stalin Prize, and he died before he could try again with his eighth.

Conclusion

Grave of Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev died on 5 March 1953, about an hour before Joseph Stalin. So many mourners were busy paying tribute to Stalin that his death went largely unnoticed for a long time.

There were no musicians available to play at his funeral, so his family played a recording of his own Romeo and Juliet suite instead. He was sixty-one years old.

Yuja Wang - Prokofiev: Piano concerto no.2 op.16

114,954 views Apr 18, 2023

2015 Zurich, Swiss Yuja Wang / Lionel Bringuier / Tonhalle Orchester Zürich

Music1 songs

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16 (1923 Version): I. Andantino - Allegretto

Olli Mustonen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu

Prokofiev: Piano

Prokofiev - Dance of the Knights

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, No 13 Dance of the Knights Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев, tr. Sergej Sergeevič Prokof'ev)[1][2] (27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1891 -- 5 March 1953)[3] was a Russian composer, pianist[4][5] and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is generally regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century.

The 20 best pieces of classical Christmas music

 7 December 2022, 09:44 | Updated: 7 December 2022, 12:27

Christmas is upon us, so it's time to rediscover all our favourite festive pieces of music... Picture: Alamy

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

 

Christmas is upon us, which means it’s time to rediscover all those favourite festive pieces of music.

Find out how classical music does Christmas, from traditional carols to obscure gems you may not yet have heard...

1. The Nutcracker – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

   The Nutcracker is something of a Christmas tradition. The festive tale of a toy soldier that comes to life has endured over the years and been subject to some radical retellings. But it’s Tchaikovsky’s music at the centre that makes the beloved ballet that little bit more special.

   Read more: The best ballet scores of all time

   

   The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House. Picture: Royal Ballet/Tristram Kenton

2. Troika – Sergei Prokofiev

   Taken from his Lieutenant Kijé, Prokofiev’s festive sleigh-ride of a piece is not only a mainstay in Christmas concerts around the world, but on hit radio stations too. English musician, Greg Lake, samples the Russian composer’s melody in his 1975 Christmas song, ‘I Believe in Father Christmas’.

   Read more: Greg Lake’s use of Prokofiev’s Troika is one of the best things about Christmas

3. Carol Symphony – Victor Hely-Hutchinson

   Written in 1927, Victor Hely-Hutchinson’s festive shindig of a piece takes the listener on a tour of some of the best-loved Christmas carols including ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ and ‘The First Noël’.

4. L’Enfance du Christ – Hector Berlioz

   Berlioz wrote the oratorio L’Enfance du Christ from 1854. It’s a huge work, which took four years to compose, and depicts not just the childhood of Christ but also Herod’s mass murder of infants in Judea, which led to the fleeing of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. The best-known section, ‘The Shepherds’ Farewell’, is a glorious blend of warm woodwind sounds, sublime choral harmonies and sensitive orchestral accompaniment.

5. Christmas Greeting – Edward Elgar

   While not one of Elgar’s best-known works, this delicate little Christmas song showcases his pastoral roots. Descriptions of the English countryside and calls of ‘Noël!’ make this an underrated festive gem.

6. Christmas Overture – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

   Coleridge-Taylor brings together a conglomeration of Christmas melodies and carols in his Christmas Overture. But this work is so much more than just an arrangement of well-known classics for orchestra, as the composer’s cleverly placed integrations show.

   It is thought the piece was composed by Coleridge-Taylor for the children’s play, The Forest of Wild Thyme. The work was published posthumously in 1925, 13 years after the composer’s death, age just 37.

7. Christmas Prelude for Chamber Orchestra – Vítězslava Kaprálová

   Czech composer, Vítězslava Kaprálová, wrote the orchestral miniature, Christmas Prelude for Chamber Orchestra, in 1939 for a Christmas program on the Paris PTT Radio. The unusual timbre of the work sets this short orchestral excursion apart from other festive favourites in this list, with the role of the harp beside the chamber orchestra and piano bringing a new colour to the work.

8. Song for Snow – Florence Price

   Written in 1930, this beautiful work by Florence Price for chorus and piano opens with the evocative lyric, ‘The earth is lighter than the sky’. The song’s text comes from a poem of the same name by American author, Elizabeth Coatsworth.

   Price’s vocal lines emulate falling snowflakes with an overarching descending melody, and a delicate piano accompaniment. Soft staccato homophony later evokes an icy landscape, before returning to the sweet, laid-back melody.

9. Sleigh Ride – Leopold Mozart

   Leopold Mozart’s Sleigh Ride takes the listener on a quaint though brief trot through a snowy forest on the back of a horse-drawn sleigh. Complete with an almost continuous drone of sleigh bells, ‘Schlittenfahrt’ was written by Leopold shortly before the birth of his son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Alongside the festive percussion instrument, the score also calls for a rattle, a whip, and triangle among the orchestra.

   The younger Mozart would quote from his father’s festive work in his own ‘3 German Dances’ a few decades later.

10. A Ceremony of Carols – Benjamin Britten

    This Christmas choral staple is one of Britten’s best-known works. Scored for three-part treble chorus, solo voices and harp, the piece is based on medieval carols.

    The work was originally scored for and first performed by the women of the Fleet Street Choir, but Britten quickly decided that the sound of boys’ treble voices were better at reflecting the child-like innocence he wanted to achieve through his setting.

11. Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson

    The second Sleigh Ride on our list was written two centuries after Leopold Mozart’s work, but contains just as many sleigh bell passages. Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, written in 1948, is a light orchestral standard, and was famously written during a heatwave in July.

    Like the Mozart work, Anderson employs another unusual instrument in his orchestration – this time, the use of woodblocks to create a horse-like ‘clip-clop’. Towards the end of the piece, a trumpeter is also instructed to make the sound of a horse whinnying using the brass instrument.

    Read more: The 30 greatest Christmas carols of all time

12. Christmas Concerto – Arcangelo Corelli

    The pastoral strains of Corelli’s Christmas Concerto have been a festive mainstay since the work’s publication in 1714. Published as Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8, the work was published posthumously and gained its Christmas name due to an inscription on the title page reading, ‘Fatto per la notte di Natale (made for the night of Christmas)’.

    Corelli uses folk-like tunes, and sounds evoking bagpipes to conjure images of the biblical shepherds attending the manger at the birth of Jesus.

13. Christmas Oratorio – Johann Sebastian Bach

    Written in 1734, J.S. Bach’s popular Christmas work is one of the choral masterpieces of the Baroque era. The Christmas Oratorio was written in six parts, for performance on one of the major feast days during the period between Christmas Day and Epiphany.

    Despite this, Bach clearly envisaged the work being heard as one united whole, and the full oratorio can be heard in churches across the world over the festive season.

14. Messiah – George Frideric Handel

    This English-language oratorio by Handel may have been composed for and first performed during Eastertide, but the choral work is a mainstay in Christmas concerts around the world.

    Handel confidently announces the birth of Christ with a radiant section of his Messiah that quotes St Luke’s gospel, ‘For Unto Us A Child Is Born’, and the famed ‘Hallelujah’ Chorus, despite being written to proclaim Christ’s Resurrection, is often associated with the Christmas season.

    
    

    'Silent monks' perform Handel's Hallelujah Chorus in hilarious high school concert

    Credit: South Kitsap High School

15. Oratorio de Noël – Camille Saint-Saëns

    Saint-Saëns wrote this oratorio in just one fortnight, submitting the work just 10 days before its premiere performance in 1858. Scored for soloists, chorus, organ, strings and harp, the composer was highly influenced by music from traditional Christmas church liturgies.

    The cantata-like work is divided into 10 movements; first a prelude, followed by nine vocal pieces.

16. Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    This sweeping orchestral suite was inspired by Rimsky-Korsakov’s four-act opera, Christmas Eve, written between 1894-95. In turn, his Christmas opera is based on an 1832 story by Russian Novelist, Nikolai Gogol, of the same name.

    The magical story takes place in the snowy setting of Dikanka, Ukraine, and characters include the devil, witches, wizards, and spirits of both good and evil nature.

17. Stella Natalis – Karl Jenkins

    Written in 2009, Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins’ 12-movement work explores the various themes of Christmastide. Stella Natalis, which translates to ‘star of birth’ or ‘star of origin’, draws inspiration from Bible Psalms, but also Zulu texts, and Hindu gods.

18. Winter – Antonio Vivaldi

    While not strictly a Christmas work, Vivaldi’s fourth season, Winter, is a masterclass in depicting scenery through music. The Italian composer’s writing for violin and orchestra evokes visions of icy surroundings and bitter winds, particularly in the fast and frenzied high-pitched plucking from the strings.

    Vivaldi's 'Winter' from the Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra

    Henning Kraggerud and The Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.

19. Christmas Waltz – Tchaikovsky

    Like Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky also wrote a work dedicated to the Earth’s seasons. However, unlike Vivaldi’s four, Tchaikovsky wrote twelve movements, one for each of the months of the year. His twelfth movement was his Christmas Waltz, which is often performed on its own.

    This dainty work for solo piano has metamorphosed into various orchestral arrangements since its publication, like the one below, and can be heard in concert halls around the world at Christmas time.

20. Christmas Tree Suite – Franz Liszt

    Liszt’s Christmas Tree Suite (Weihnachtsbaum) is made up of 12 pieces for solo piano and is dedicated to his first grandchild, Daniela von Bülow. The suite includes pieces called ‘O Holy Night’, ‘Adeste Fideles’, and ‘Evening Bells’ (Abendglocken).

    The work received its premiere on Christmas Day 1881 in Daniela’s hotel room in Rome, where she was staying with her grandfather. Perhaps a Christmas gift, it is regardless an appropriate date for a first performance of this ‘Weihnachts’ work.

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