April 23 marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev.

Russian composer, pianist and conductor, People's Artist of the RSFSR Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev was born on April 23 (April 11, old style) 1891 in the Sontsovka estate in the Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Krasnoye, Donetsk region of Ukraine).

His father was an agronomist who managed the estate, his mother took care of the house and raising her son. She was a good pianist and, under her leadership, music lessons began when the boy was not yet five years old. It was then that he made his first attempts at composing music.

The composer's range of interests was wide - painting, literature, philosophy, cinema, chess. Sergei Prokofiev was a very talented chess player, he invented a new chess system in which square boards were replaced by hexagonal ones. As a result of the experiments, the so-called "Prokofiev's nine chess" appeared.

Possessing innate literary and poetic talent, Prokofiev wrote almost all the librettos for his operas; wrote stories that were published in 2003. In the same year, a presentation of the complete edition of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Diaries” took place in Moscow, which were published in Paris in 2002 by the composer’s heirs. The publication consists of three volumes, combining the composer's recordings from 1907 to 1933. In the USSR and Russia, Prokofiev’s “Autobiography,” written by him after his final return to his homeland, was repeatedly republished; it was last republished in 2007.

Sergei Prokofiev's "Diaries" formed the basis of the documentary film "Prokofiev: The Unfinished Diary", filmed by Canadian director Joseph Feiginberg.

Museum named after Glinka published three Prokofiev collections (2004, 2006, 2007).

In November 2009 at the State Museum of A.S. Pushkin in Moscow there was a presentation of a unique artifact created by Sergei Prokofiev in the period from 1916 to 1921. - "The wooden book of Sergei Prokofiev - a symphony of kindred souls." This is a collection of statements by prominent people. Deciding to make an original autograph book, Prokofiev asked his respondents the same question: “What do you think about the sun?” In a small album bound from two wooden planks with a metal clasp and a leather spine, 48 people left their autographs: famous artists, musicians, writers, close friends and simply acquaintances of Sergei Prokofiev.

In 1947, Prokofiev was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR; was a laureate of USSR State Prizes (1943, 1946 - three times, 1947, 1951), laureate of the Lenin Prize (1957, posthumously).

According to the composer’s will, in the year of the centenary of his death, that is, in 2053, the last archives of Sergei Prokofiev will be opened.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Operas

• "Giant", opera in 3 acts, 6 scenes. Plot and libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1900 (12 pages preserved in the clavier)
• "On the Deserted Islands"(1901-1903, only the Overture and Act 1 were written in three scenes). Not fulfilled. Preserved in fragments
• "Maddalena", opera in one act, op. 13. Plot and libretto by M. Lieven. 1913 (1911)
• "Player", opera in 4 acts, 6 scenes, op. 24. Plot by F. Dostoevsky. Libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1927 (1915-1916)
• "The Love of Three Oranges", opera in 4 acts, 10 scenes with prologue, op. 33. Libretto by the author after Carlo Gozzi. 1919
• "Fire Angel ", opera in 5 acts, 7 scenes, op. 37. Story by V. Bryusov. Libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1919-1927
• "Semyon Kotko", opera in 5 acts, 7 scenes based on the story by V. Kataev “I am the son of the working people”, op. 81. Libretto by V. Kataev and S. Prokofiev. 1939
• "Betrothal in a Monastery", lyric-comic opera in 4 acts, 9 scenes based on Sheridan’s play “Duenna”, op. 86. Libretto by S. Prokofiev, poetic texts by M. Mendelssohn. 1940
• "War and Peace ", opera in 5 acts, 13 scenes with a choral epigraph-prologue based on the novel by L. Tolstoy, op. 91. Libretto by S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelson-Prokofieva. 1941-1952
• "The Tale of a Real Man", opera in 4 acts, 10 scenes based on the story of the same name by B. Polevoy, op. 117. Libretto by S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelson-Prokofieva. 1947-1948
• "Distant Seas", lyric-comic opera based on the play “Honeymoon” by V. Dykhovichny. Libretto by S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelson-Prokofieva. Not finished. 1948

Ballets

• "The Tale of a Jester (Seven Jesters Playing a Joke)", ballet in 6 scenes, op. 21. Story by A. Afanasyev. Libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1920 (1915)
• "Steel Leap", ballet in 2 scenes, op. 41. Libretto by G. Yakulov and S. Prokofiev. 1924
• "Prodigal son ", ballet in 3 acts, op. 46. ​​Libretto by B. Kokhno. 1929
• "On the Dnieper", ballet in 2 scenes, op. 51. Libretto by S. Lifar and S. Prokofiev. 1930
• "Romeo and Juliet ", ballet in 4 acts, 10 scenes, op. 64. Plot by W. Shakespeare. Libretto by S. Radlov, A. Piotrovsky, L. Lavrovsky and S. Prokofiev. 1935-36
• "Cinderella", ballet in 3 acts, op. 87. Libretto by N. Volkov. 1940-44
• "The Tale of the Stone Flower", ballet in 4 acts based on the tales of P. Bazhov, op. 118. Libretto by L. Lavrovsky and M. Mendelson-Prokofieva. 1948-50

Music for theatrical productions

• "Egyptian Nights", music for the performance of the Chamber Theater in Moscow after W. Shakespeare, B. Shaw and A. Pushkin, for small symphony orchestra. 1933
• "Boris Godunov", music for an unrealized performance at the theatre. V. E. Meyerhold in Moscow for large symphony orchestra, op. 70 bis. 1936
• "Eugene Onegin", music for the unrealized performance of the Chamber Theater in Moscow based on the novel by A. Pushkin, staged by S. D. Krzhizhanovsky, op. 71. 1936
• "Hamlet", music for the play staged by S. Radlov at the Leningrad Drama Theatre, for small symphony orchestra, op. 77. 1937-38

Music for films

• "Lieutenant Kizhe", music for the film for small symphony orchestra. 1933
• "Queen of Spades", music for an unrealized film for large symphony orchestra, op. 70. 1938
• "Alexander Nevskiy ", film music for mezzo-soprano, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra. Directed by S. M. Eisenstein. 1938
• "Lermontov", film score for large symphony orchestra. Directed by A. Gendelshtein. 1941
• "Tonya", music for a short film (not released) for large symphony orchestra. Directed by A. Room. 1942
• "Kotovsky", film score for large symphony orchestra. Directed by A. Fainzimmer. 1942
• "Partisans in the steppes of Ukraine", film score for large symphony orchestra. Director I. Savchenko. 1942
• "Ivan groznyj ", film music for mezzo-soprano and large symphony orchestra, op. 116. Director S. M. Eisenstein. 1942-45

Vocal and vocal-symphonic music

Oratorios and cantatas, choirs, suites

• Two poems for women's choir and orchestra to the words of K. Balmont, op. 7. 1909
• "Seven of them" to the text by K. Balmont “Calls of Antiquity”, cantata for dramatic tenor, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra, op. 30. 1917-18
• Cantata for the 20th anniversary of October for symphony orchestra, military orchestra, accordion orchestra, percussion orchestra and two choirs on texts by Marx, Lenin and Stalin, op. 74. 1936-37
• "Songs of our days", suite for soloists, mixed choir and symphony orchestra, op. 76. 1937
• "Alexander Nevskiy", cantata for mezzo-soprano (solo), mixed choir and orchestra, op. 78. Words by V. Lugovsky and S. Prokofiev. 1938-39
• "Zdravitsa", cantata for mixed choir with symphony orchestra, op. 85. Folk text: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Mordovian, Kumyk, Kurdish, Mari. 1939
• "The Ballad of the Boy Who Remained Unknown", cantata for soprano, tenor, choir and orchestra, op. 93. Words by P. Antokolsky. 1942-43
• Sketches for the Anthem of the Soviet Union and the Anthem of the RSFSR, op. 98. 1943
• "Flourish, mighty land", cantata for the 30th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution for mixed choir and orchestra, op. 114. Text by E. Dolmatovsky. 1947
• "Winter Bonfire", suite for readers, boys' choir and symphony orchestra to lyrics by S. Ya. Marshak, op. 122. 1949
• "Guardian of the World", oratorio for mezzo-soprano, readers, mixed choir, boys choir and symphony orchestra to lyrics by S. Ya. Marshak, op. 124. 1950

For voice and piano

• Two poems by A. Apukhtin and K. Balmont for voice with f-p., op. 9. 1900
• "Ugly duck"(Andersen's fairy tale) for voice with piano, op. 18. 1914
• Five poems for voice with f-p., op. 23. Words by V. Goryansky, 3. Gippius, B. Verina, K. Balmont and N. Agnivtsev. 1915
• Five poems by A. Akhmatova for voice and f-p., op. 27. 1916
• Five songs (without words) for voice and piano., op. 35. 1920
• Five poems by K. Balmont for voice and piano., op. 36. 1921
• Two songs from the film “Lieutenant Kizhe” for voice and piano., op. 60 bis. 1934
• Six songs for voice with piano., op. 66. Words by M. Golodny, A. Afinogenov, T. Sikorskaya and folk. 1935
• Three children's songs for voice and piano., op. 68. Words by A. Barto, N. Sakonskaya and L. Kvitko (translation by S. Mikhalkov). 1936-39
• Three romances to words by A. Pushkin for voice with piano., op. 73. 1936
• "Alexander Nevsky", three songs from the film(words by V. Lugovsky), op 78. 1939
• Seven songs for voice and piano., op. 79. Words by A. Prokofiev, A. Blagov, M. Svetlov, M. Mendelson, P. Panchenko, without author indication and folk. 1939
• Seven mass songs for voice with piano., op. 89. Words by V. Mayakovsky, A. Surkov and M. Mendelson. 1941-42
• Arrangements of Russian folk songs for voice and piano., op. 104. Folk words. Two notebooks, 12 songs. 1944
• Two duets, arrangements of Russian folk songs for tenor and bass with piano., op. 106. Folk text, recorded by E. V. Gippius. 1945
• Soldier's marching song, op. 121. Words by V. Lugovsky. 1950

For symphony orchestra

Symphonies and symphoniettas

• Sinfonietta in A major, op. 5, in 5 parts. 1914 (1909)
• Classical (First) Symphony D major, op. 25, in 4 parts. 1916-17
• Second Symphony d minor, op. 40, in 2 parts. 1924
• Third Symphony C minor, op. 44, in 4 parts. 1928
• Sinfonietta in A major, op. 48, in 5 parts (third edition). 1929
• Fourth Symphony C major, op 47, in 4 movements. 1930
• Fifth Symphony B major, op. 100. in 4 parts. 1944
• Sixth Symphony es-moll, op. 111. in 3 parts. 1945-47
• Fourth Symphony C major, op. 112, in 4 parts. Second edition. 1947
• Seventh Symphony cis-moll, op. 131, in 4 parts. 1951-52

Other works for symphony orchestra

• "Dreams", symphonic picture for large orchestra, op. 6. 1910
• "Autumn", symphonic sketch for small symphony orchestra, op. 8. 1934 (1915-1910)
• "Ala and Lolliy", Scythian suite for large symphony orchestra, op. 20, in 4 parts. 1914-15
• "Jester", suite from ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 21 bis, in 12 parts. 1922
• Andante from the Fourth Sonata for fn., transcription by the author for symphony orchestra, op. 29 bis. 1934
• “The Love for Three Oranges”, symphonic suite from the opera, op. 33 bis, in 6 parts. 1934
• Overture on Jewish Themes, transcription by the author for symphony orchestra, op. 34 bis. 1934
• "Steel Leap", symphonic suite from ballet, op. 41 bis. in 4 parts. 1926
• Overture for flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 trumpets, trombone, celesta, 2 harps, 2 pianos, cellos, 2 double basses and percussion B-dur, op. 42. Two versions: for chamber orchestra of 17 people and for large orchestra (1928). 1926
• Divertimento for orchestra, op. 43, in 4 parts. 1925-29
• "Prodigal Son", symphonic suite from ballet, op. 46 bis, in 5 parts. 1929
• Andante from the B minor quartet, arrangement by the author for string orchestra, op. 50 bis. 1930
• Four portraits and denouement from the opera "The Gambler", symphonic suite for large orchestra, op. 49. 1931
• "On the Dnieper", suite from ballet for large orchestra, op. 51 bis, in 6 parts. 1933
• Symphonic song for large orchestra, op. 57. 1933
• “Lieutenant Kizhe”, symphonic suite from the film score, op. 60, in 5 parts. 1934
• “Egyptian Nights”, symphonic suite from the music for the play at the Moscow Chamber Theatre, op. 61, in 7 parts. 1934
• Romeo and Juliet, first suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 64 bis, in 7 parts. 1936
• "Romeo and Juliet", second suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 64 ter, in 7 parts. 1936
• "Peter and the Wolf", symphonic fairy tale for children, for reader and large symphony orchestra, op. 67. Words by S. Prokofiev. 1936
• Russian Overture for Symphony Orchestra, op. 72. Two options: for a quadruple composition and for a triple composition. 1936
• "Summer day", children's suite for small orchestra, op. 65 bis, in 7 parts. 1941
• Symphonic march in B major for large orchestra, op. 88. 1941
• "1941", symphonic suite for large orchestra, op. 90, in 3 parts. 1941
• "Semyon Kotko", suite for symphony orchestra, op. 81 bis, in 8 parts. 1943
• "Ode to the End of the War" for 8 harps, 4 pianos, orchestra of wind and percussion instruments and double basses, op. 105. 1945
• "Romeo and Juliet", third suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 101, in 6 parts. 1946
• "Cinderella", first suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 107, in 8 parts. 1946
• "Cinderella", second suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 108, in 7 parts. 1946
• "Cinderella", third suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 109, in 8 parts. 1946
• Waltzes, suite for symphony orchestra, op. 110. 1946
• Festive poem (“Thirty Years”) for symphony orchestra, op. 113. 1947
• Pushkin Waltzes for symphony orchestra, op. 120. 1949
• "Summer night", symphonic suite from the opera “Betrothal in a Monastery”, op. 123, in 5 parts. 1950
• “The Tale of the Stone Flower”, wedding suite from the ballet for symphony orchestra, op. 126, in 5 parts. 1951
• "The Tale of the Stone Flower", a gypsy fantasy from the ballet for symphony orchestra, op. 127. 1951
• “The Tale of the Stone Flower”, Ural Rhapsody from the ballet for symphony orchestra, op. 128. 1951
• Festive poem “Meeting of the Volga and Don” for symphony orchestra, op. 130. 1951

Publications in the Music section

7 works by Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev is a composer, pianist and conductor, author of operas, ballets, symphonies and many other works, known and popular throughout the world in our time. Read stories about Prokofiev's seven important works and listen to musical illustrations from Melodiya.

Opera "The Giant" (1900)

The musical abilities of the future classic of Russian music Sergei Prokofiev manifested themselves in early childhood, when at the age of five and a half years he composed his first piece for piano - “Indian Gallop”. It was written down with notes by the young composer’s mother, Maria Grigorievna, and Prokofiev recorded all his subsequent compositions on his own.

In the spring of 1900, inspired by the ballet The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, as well as the operas Faust by Charles Gounod and Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin, 9-year-old Prokofiev composed his first opera, The Giant.

Despite the fact that, as Prokofiev himself recalled, his “ability to write down” “did not keep up with his thoughts,” this naive children’s composition in the genre of commedia dell’arte already showed the future professional’s serious approach to his work. The opera had, as it should be, an overture; each of the characters in the composition had its own exit aria - a kind of musical portrait. In one of the scenes, Prokofiev even used musical and stage polyphony - when the main characters are discussing a plan to fight the Giant, the Giant himself passes by and sings: "They want to kill me".

Having heard excerpts from “The Giant,” the famous composer and conservatory professor Sergei Taneyev recommended that the young man take up music seriously. And Prokofiev himself proudly included the opera in the first list of his works, which he compiled at the age of 11.

Opera "Giant"
Conductor - Mikhail Leontyev
The author of the restoration of the orchestral version is Sergei Sapozhnikov
Premiere at the Mikhailovsky Theater on May 23, 2010

First piano concerto (1911–1912)

Like many young authors, in the early period of his work Sergei Prokofiev did not find the love and support of critics. In 1916, newspapers wrote: “Prokofiev sits down at the piano and begins to either wipe the keys or try which ones sound higher or lower.”. And regarding the first performance of Prokofiev’s “Scythian Suite,” which was conducted by the author himself, critics spoke as follows: “It is simply incredible that such a piece, devoid of any meaning, could be performed at a serious concert... These are some kind of impudent, impudent sounds that express nothing but endless bragging.”.

However, no one doubted Prokofiev’s performing talent: by that time he had established himself as a virtuoso pianist. Prokofiev performed, however, mainly his own compositions, among which the audience especially remembered the First Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, which, thanks to its energetic “percussive” character and the bright, memorable motif of the first movement, received the unofficial nickname “On the Skull!”

Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra in D-flat major, Op. 10 (1911–1912)
Vladimir Krainev, piano
Academic Symphony Orchestra of the MFF
Conductor - Dmitry Kitayenko
1976 recording
Sound engineer - Severin Pazukhin

1st Symphony (1916–1917)

Igor Grabar. Portrait of Sergei Prokofiev. 1941. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Zinaida Serebryakova. Portrait of Sergei Prokofiev. 1926. State Central Museum of Theater Arts named after. Bakhrushina, Moscow

In defiance of conservative critics, wanting, as he himself wrote, to “tease the geese,” in the same 1916, 25-year-old Prokofiev wrote an opus completely opposite in style - the First Symphony. Prokofiev gave it the author’s subtitle “Classical”.

The modest composition of the Haydn-style orchestra and classical musical forms hinted that if “father Haydn” had lived to see those days, he could well have written such a symphony, seasoning it with bold melodic turns and fresh harmonies. Created a hundred years ago “to spite everyone,” Prokofiev’s First Symphony still sounds fresh and is included in the repertoire of the best orchestras in the world, and Gavotte, its third movement, has become one of the most popular classical pieces of the 20th century.

Prokofiev himself subsequently included this gavotte as an insert number in his ballet Romeo and Juliet. The composer also had a secret hope (he himself later admitted this) that he would ultimately emerge victorious from the confrontation with the critics, especially if over time the First Symphony actually became a classic. Which is exactly what happened.

Symphony No. 1 “Classical”, D major, Op. 25

Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov
1977 recording

I. Allegro

III. Gavotte. Non troppo allegro

Fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf" (1936)

Until the end of his days, Prokofiev retained the spontaneity of his worldview. Being partly a child at heart, he had a good sense of the child’s inner world and repeatedly wrote music for children: from the fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling” (1914) based on the text of a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen to the suite “The Fire in Winter” (1949), composed in the last years of his life .

Prokofiev's first composition after returning to Russia in 1936 from a long emigration was the symphonic fairy tale for children "Peter and the Wolf", commissioned by Natalia Sats for the Central Children's Theater. Young listeners fell in love with the fairy tale and remembered it thanks to the vivid musical portraits of the characters, who are still familiar to many schoolchildren not only in Russia, but also abroad. For children, “Peter and the Wolf” performs an educational function: the fairy tale is a kind of guide to the instruments of a symphony orchestra. With this work, Prokofiev anticipated a guide to the symphony orchestra for young people (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell) written almost ten years later and similar in concept by the English composer Benjamin Britten.

"Peter and the Wolf", symphonic fairy tale for children, Op. 67
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov
1970 recording

Ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (1935–1936)

The recognized masterpiece of the 20th century, many of which top international classical music charts, Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet, had a difficult fate. Two weeks before the scheduled premiere, the general meeting of the creative team of the Kirov Theater decided to cancel the performance in order to avoid, as everyone believed, a complete failure. Perhaps such sentiments were partly inspired by the article “Confusion Instead of Music,” published in the Pravda newspaper in January 1936, which harshly criticized Dmitry Shostakovich’s theatrical music. Both the theater community and Prokofiev himself perceived the article as an attack on modern art as a whole and decided, as they say, not to get into trouble. At that time, a cruel joke even spread among the theater community: “There is no sadder story in the world than Prokofiev’s music in ballet!”

As a result, the premiere of Romeo and Juliet took place only two years later at the National Theater in Brno in Czechoslovakia. But the domestic public saw the production only in 1940, when the ballet was finally staged at the Kirov Theater. And despite another attack of the government’s struggle against so-called “formalism,” the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” by Sergei Prokofiev was even awarded the Stalin Prize.

"Romeo and Juliet", ballet in four acts (9 scenes), Op. 64
Symphony Orchestra of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of the USSR
Conductor - Gennady Rozhdestvensky
1959 recording
Sound engineer - Alexander Grossman

Act I. Scene one. 3. The street wakes up

Act I. Scene two. 13. Dance of the Knights

Act I. Scene two. 15. Mercutio

Cantata for the 20th anniversary of October (1936–1937)

In 1936, Sergei Prokofiev, an emigrant of the first post-revolutionary wave, a mature, successful and sought-after composer and pianist, returned to Soviet Russia. He was greatly impressed by the changes in the country, which had become completely different. Playing by the new rules also required some adjustments in creativity. And Prokofiev created a number of works, at first glance, of an openly “courtly” nature: the Cantata for the 20th anniversary of October (1937), written on the texts of the classics of Marxism-Leninism, the cantata “Zdravitsa”, composed for the 60th anniversary of Stalin (1939), and cantata “Flourish, mighty land”, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the October Revolution (1947). True, taking into account Prokofiev’s peculiar sense of humor, which manifested itself every now and then in his musical language, music critics still cannot give an unambiguous answer to the question of whether the composer wrote these works sincerely and seriously or with a certain amount of irony. For example, in one of the parts of the cantata “For the 20th Anniversary of October,” which is called “The Crisis is Overdue,” the sopranos sing (or rather, squeak) in the highest register, “The crisis is overdue!”, descending in semitones. This sound of a tense theme seems comical - and such ambiguous decisions are found at every turn in Prokofiev’s “pro-Soviet” works.

Cantata for the 20th anniversary of October for two mixed choirs, symphony and military orchestras, an orchestra of accordions and noise instruments, Op. 74 (shortened version)

State Choir
Artistic director - Alexander Yurlov
Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic
Conductor - Kirill Kondrashin
1967 recording
Sound engineer - David Gaklin

Texts by Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin:

Introduction. A ghost haunts Europe, the specter of communism

Philosophers

Revolution

Music for the film “Alexander Nevsky” (1938)

Composers of the first half of the twentieth century had to do a lot for the first time, and the examples of new art they created are now considered textbooks. This fully applies to film music. Just seven years after the appearance of the first Soviet sound film (The Road to Life, 1931), Sergei Prokofiev joined the ranks of cinema figures. Among his works in the genre of film music, a large-scale symphonic score stands out, written for Sergei Eisenstein’s film “Alexander Nevsky” (1938), later reworked into a cantata under the same name (1939). Many of the images that Prokofiev laid down in this music (the mournful scene of the “dead field”, the soulless and mechanical-sounding attack of the crusaders, the joyful counterattack of the Russian cavalry) are to this day a stylistic reference point for film composers around the world.

“Alexander Nevsky”, cantata for mezzo-soprano, choir and orchestra (to lyrics by Vladimir Lugovsky and Sergei Prokofiev), op. 78

Larisa Avdeeva, mezzo-soprano (Field of the Dead)
State Academic Choir of Russia named after A. A. Yurlov
Choirmaster - Alexander Yurlov
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the USSR
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov
1966 recording
Sound engineer - Alexander Grossman

Song about Alexander Nevsky

Battle on the Ice

Field of the Dead

Sergei Prokofiev, the Russian genius of the 20th century, turned 125 years old. One of the greatest composers in the history of Russian music, Sergei Prokofiev left a great legacy. But today I would like to remind everyone about those works of the composer, without which not only Russian, but also world culture is impossible. Prokofiev did it! Happy birthday, Sergey Sergeevich!

"Peter and the Wolf"

Somehow it turned out that in the world rankings this is the main, most popular and most recognizable work of Sergei Prokofiev and Russian classics of the 20th century - perhaps too. The symphonic tale has been performed countless times by everyone - from Mikhail Gorbachev and Peter Ustinov to David Bowie and Sting with Claudio Abbado. It is very important that the entry of children into the world of symphonic music throughout the world traditionally occurs with the help of our Petya and the wolf.

Sergei Prokofev left Russia in the spring of 1918 and returned in the spring of 1936. During these years, he was in Russia only twice on tour - in 1929 and 1932. And so - he lived mainly in the USA, with his Spanish wife and was revered as a serious avant-garde composer. “Peter and the Wolf” is his first work written in his new Soviet homeland for the children's theater of Natalia Sats. Before this, there was a soundtrack for the great film “Lieutenant Kizhe”, but Prokofiev fulfilled this order from the Soviet Ministry of Culture from abroad. But “Peter and the Wolf” is such a bridge between cultures and its fantastic popularity is partly based on this too. We offer two animated versions of this story - domestic, puppet and European, from 2007

"Alexander Nevskiy"

Purists can reproach Samkult for negligence, they say, “Alexander Nevsky” by Sergei Prokofiev exists in the form of different works, but we are not talking about the works, but about the fact that Sergei Prokofiev, who was eager to return to his homeland and was enthusiastic about working for the Soviet regime , even before the war (1938) wrote a real anthem of Russian patriotism for Eisenstein’s film. “Get up, Russian people!” - the same battle song of Russian warriors who stand in the way of the dog knights. And the phrase: oh, the chain mail is short! - pronounced to this music. And how many Russians, with these words and this alarm music, went to die for their Motherland? Of course, there is a certain contradiction in this - yesterday’s modernist composer, overfed by the authorities, writes a pseudo-Russian song. But it was Prokofiev who had such a right even by birth. His mother, an excellent pianist, came from the peasants of the Sheremetev counts, who always received an excellent education. It was his mother who pushed Seryozha to study music, and the boy from the Donetsk steppe became a great composer of the 20th century.

"Romeo and Juliet"

This fabulous ballet features the most popular musical theme on the Internet, from the pen of Prokofiev. Perhaps connoisseurs will be surprised, but this is the “Dance of the Knights”. Prokofiev's ballet is as much a calling card of Russia in the 20th century, as are Tarkovsky's films and Akhmatova's poetry. It is one of the most popular ballet works in the world, staged by everyone and everywhere. The ballet was written before returning to the USSR and its ending was optimistic, unlike Shakespeare, but then the article “Confusion Instead of Music” was published, in which Shostakovich was trashed and the composers were very scared. Prokofiev rewrote the ending and made it tragic. Like Shakespeare.

Courtier Prokofiev

Sergei Sergeevich, returning to the USSR, understood that the risks were great, but the fame and opportunities awaiting him allowed him to take risks. Prokofiev received the Lenin Prize and six Stalin Prizes! One of his outstanding works is the cantata for the 60th anniversary of Joseph Vissarionovich. What gives this work of totalitarian postmodernity a special piquancy is the fact that the cantata was allegedly written on the basis of folk songs. Or rather, pseudo-folk, imitating folklore and people's love for the leader.

Unknown Prokofiev

In 1948, a thunderstorm broke out over Prokofiev’s head. He fell under another campaign to combat. This time they fought against formalism, against deviations from the principles of socialist realism. And Prokofiev’s sixth symphony, together with the experimental opera “The Tale of a Real Man,” was smashed to smithereens. The symphony was later recognized as a masterpiece and is performed regularly, but the opera was not so lucky. The premiere took place only after the composer's death on October 7, 1960 at the Bolshoi Theater. In 2002, a concert performance of the opera took place under the direction of V. A. Gergiev. In 2005, the opera was staged by D. A. Bertman at the Helikon Opera (Moscow) under the title “Fallen from the Sky.” For his production, Bertman used an abridged version of the opera by A. G. Schnittke, using musical material from Prokofiev’s cantata “Alexander Nevsky”. In the same year, Prokofiev's opera was staged (with cuts) at the Saratov Opera House. The opera has never been staged in its entirety (without cuts). But nevertheless, it was spread into memes even in the pre-Internet era: gangrene, gangrene, his legs will be cut off - everyone knows this from school. And this is also Prokofiev.

(1891-1953) - Russian and Soviet composer, one of the largest composers of the 20th century. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1947), laureate of the Stalin Prize (1943, 1946 - three times, 1947, 1951).

Sergei Prokofiev was born on April 11 (23), 1891 in the village of Sontsovka, Bakhmut district, Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Krasnoye, Krasnoarmeysky district, Donetsk region, Ukraine). The mother, who was a good pianist, took upon herself to raise her son. The boy began studying music at the age of 5 and even then showed an interest in composing. His mother wrote down the plays he composed: rondos, waltzes, songs, “Indian gallop.” At the age of 9-10 years, the boy composer wrote 2 operas: “The Giant” and “On the Deserted Islands.” In 1902-1903 he took private lessons in theory and composition from Reinhold Gliere. From 1904 he studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in instrumentation, Anatoly Lyadov in composition, Y. Vitol in musical theoretical disciplines, A. N. Esipova in piano, N. N. Cherepnin in conducting. He graduated from the conservatory as a composer in 1909 and as a pianist in 1914.

Since 1908 he gives his first concerts performing his own works. In May 1918 he went on tour abroad, which lasted for fifteen years. Prokofiev toured in America, Europe, Japan, and Cuba.
In 1927, 1929 and 1932 Prokofiev undertook concert trips to the USSR. In 1933 (according to some sources in 1936) he returned to his homeland. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory.

In 1948, Prokofiev was attacked for the so-called. “formalism” and sympathy for Western music. Since 1949, Prokofiev has led the life of an ascetic. He almost never leaves the dacha, but even under the strictest medical regime he writes the opera “The Tale of a Real Man,” the ballet “The Stone Flower,” the Ninth Piano Sonata, the oratorio “Guardian of the World,” and much more. The last work that the composer had a chance to hear in the concert hall was the Seventh Symphony (1952). Prokofiev died in Moscow from a hypertensive crisis on March 5, 1953. Since he died on the same day as Stalin, his death went almost unnoticed.

Addresses in St. Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad

* 1914 - apartment building - 1st Rota, 4;
* 1915 - 1918 - apartment building - embankment of the Fontanka River, 122;
* 01. - 02.1927 - hotel "European" - Rakova street, 7.

An international competition named after Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev is held annually in St. Petersburg. The competition is held in three specialties: composition, symphony conducting and piano.

Essays

* Maddalena (1911; 2nd edition 1913),
* Player (according to F. M. Dostoevsky, 1929, Brussels; 1974, Moscow),
* Love for Three Oranges (according to C. Gozzi, 1921, Chicago; 1926, Leningrad),
* Fiery Angel (after V. Ya. Bryusov, 1927; concert performance 1954, Paris; 1955, Venice; 1983, Perm),
* Semyon Kotko (1940, Moscow),
* Betrothal in a monastery (Dueña, after R. Sheridan, 1946, Leningrad),
* War and Peace (opera) (based on L.N. Tolstoy, 1943; final edition 1952; 1946, Leningrad; 1955, ibid.).
* The Tale of a Real Man (according to B.P. Polevoy, concert performance 1948, Leningrad; 2nd edition 1960, Moscow);

* The Tale of a Jester Who Tricked Seven Jesters (1921, Paris),
* Leap of Steel (1927, Paris),
* Prodigal Son (1929, ibid.),
* On the Dnieper (1931, ibid.),
* Romeo and Juliet (based on W. Shakespeare, 1938, Brno; 1940, Leningrad),
* Cinderella (1945, Moscow),
* The Tale of the Stone Flower (according to P. P. Bazhov, 1954, Moscow);

Vocal and symphonic works

* For the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution, cantata (text-montage by Prokofiev from the works of K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin, 1937)
* Alexander Nevsky, cantata (1939)
* Zdravitsa, cantata (for the 60th anniversary of Stalin, 1939)
* Winter Fire, suite (words by S. Ya. Marshak, 1949)
* Guarding the World, oratorio (words by S. Ya. Marshak, 1950)
* “The Ugly Duckling” for voice and piano

For orchestra

* 7 symphonies (1917 “Classical”; 1924; 1928; 1930 (2nd edition 1947); 1944; 1947; 1952),
* Ala and Lollius (Scythian Suite, 1915),
* symphonic tale Peter and the Wolf (1936),
* Two Pushkin Waltzes (1949), various suites, poems, overtures, etc.;

Instrumental concerts

* Five concertos for piano (1912; 1913 (2nd edition 1923); 1921; 1931; 1932 (for left hand))
* Two violin concertos (1917, 1935)
* Cello Concerto (1938)
* Symphony-concerto for cello (1952)
* Concertino for cello and orchestra (1952)

Chamber instrumental ensembles

* Two sonatas for violin and piano
* Sonata for solo violin
* Sonata for cello and piano
* Sonata for flute and piano
* 2 string quartets

Works for piano

* “Sonata No. 1 in F minor for piano” - op.1 (1907-1909)
* “4 Etudes for Piano” - op.2 (1909)
* “4 pieces for piano” - op.3 (1907-1908)
* “4 pieces for piano” - op.4 (1908)
* “Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major for piano and orchestra” - op.10 (1911-1912)
* “Toccata in D minor” - op.11 (1912)
* “10 pieces for piano” - op.12 (1906-1913)
* “Sonata No. 2 in D minor for piano” - op.14 (1912)
* “Concerto No. 2 in G minor for piano and orchestra” - op.16 (1912-1913)
* “Sarcasms” - op.17 (1912-1914)
* “Fleetingness” - op.22 (1915-1917)
* “Concerto No. 3 in C major for piano and orchestra” - op.26 (1917-1921)
* “Sonata No. 3 in A minor for piano” - op.28 (1907-1917)
* “Sonata No. 4 in C minor for piano” - op.29 (1908-1917)
* “Tales of an Old Grandmother” - op.31 (1918)
* “4 pieces for piano” - op.32 (1918)
* “Sonata No. 5 in C major for piano” - op.38 (1923)
* “Divertimento” - op.43b (1938)
* “6 transcriptions for piano” - op.52 (1930-1931)
* “Concerto No. 4 (for left hand) for piano and orchestra” - op.53 (1931)
* “2 sonatinas for piano” - op.54 (1931-1932)
* “Concerto No. 5 in G major for piano and orchestra” - op.55 (1931)
* “3 pieces for piano” - op.59 (1933-1934)
* “Music for Children” - op.65 (1935)
* "Romeo and Juliet" - 10 pieces for piano - op.75 (1937)
* “Sonata No. 6 in A major for piano” - op.82 (1939-1940)
* “Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major for piano” - op.83 (1939-1942)
* “Sonata No. 8 in B-flat major for piano” - op.84 (1939-1944)
* “3 pieces for piano” - op.96 (1941-1942)
* “Cinderella” - 10 pieces for piano - op.97 (1943)
* “Cinderella” - 6 pieces for piano - op.102 (1944)
* “Sonata No. 9 in C major for piano” - op.103 (1939-1944)

Also: romances, songs; music for drama theater performances and films.