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Sergei Prokofiev Biography Prokofiev displayed unusual musical abilities by the age of five. His first piano composition to be written down (by his mother), an 'Indian Galop', was in F major but without the customary B-flat--the young Prokofiev did not like to touch the the black keys. By the age of seven, he had also learned to play chess. Much like music, chess would remain a passion his entire life, and he became acquainted with world chess champions Capablanca and Botvinnik. A child prodigy, at the age of nine he was composing his first opera, The Giant; an overture; and miscellaneous pieces. By 1902, when Prokofiev started taking private lessons in composition, he had already produced a number of innovative pieces. As soon as he had the necessary theoretical tools, he quickly started experimenting, laying the base for his own musical style. After a while, Prokofiev felt that the isolation in Sontsovka was restricting his further musical development. Although his parents were not too keen on forcing their son into a musical career at such an early age, in 1904 he moved to St. Petersburg and applied to the St. Petersburg Conservatory. By this point he had composed two more operas, Desert Islands and The Feast during the Plague and was working on his fourth, Undine.[2] He passed the introductory tests and started his composition studies the same year, being several years younger than most of his classmates. He was viewed as eccentric and arrogant, and he often expressed dissatisfaction with much of the education, which he found boring. During this period he studied under, among others, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Later, he would regret squandering his opportunity to learn more from Rimsky-Korsakov. He also became friends with Boris Asafiev and Nikolai Myaskovsky. As a member of the St. Petersburg music scene, Prokofiev eventually earned a reputation as an enfant terrible, while also getting praise for his original compositions, which he would perform himself on the piano. In 1909, he graduated from his class in composition, getting less than impressive marks. He continued at the Conservatory, but now concentrated on playing the piano and conducting. His piano lessons went far from smoothly, but the composition classes made an impression on him. His teacher encouraged his musical experimentation, and his works from this period display more intensity than earlier ones. In 1910, Prokofiev's father died and Sergei's economic support ceased. Luckily, at that time, he had started making a name for himself as a composer, although he frequently caused scandals with his forward-looking works. His first two piano concertos were composed around this time. He made his first excursion out of Russia in 1913, travelling to Paris and London where he first encountered Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. In 1914, Prokofiev left the Conservatory with the highest marks of his class, a feat which won him a grand piano. Soon afterwards, he made a trip to London where he made contact with Diaghilev and Igor Stravinsky. During World War I, Prokofiev returned again to the Academy, now studying the organ. He composed an opera based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Gambler, but the rehearsals were plagued by problems and the première scheduled for 1917 had to be cancelled because of the February Revolution. In summer the same year, Prokofiev composed his first symphony, the Classical. This was his own name for the symphony which was written in the style, that according to Prokofiev, Joseph Haydn would have used if he had been alive at the time. Hence, the symphony is more or less classical in style but incorporated more modern musical elements (see Neoclassicism). After a brief stay with his mother in Kislovodsk in the Caucasus, because of worries of the enemy capturing Petrograd (the new name for St. Petersburg), he returned in 1918, but he was now determined to leave Russia, at least temporarily. In the current Russian state of unrest, he saw no room for his experimental music and, in May, he headed for the USA. Life abroad Paris was better prepared for Prokofiev's musical style. He reaffirmed his contacts with the Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and with Stravinsky, and returned to some of his older unfinished works such as the Third Piano Concerto. Later, in December 1920, The Love for Three Oranges finally premièred in Chicago. However, the reception was cold, forcing Prokofiev to again leave America without triumph. Prokofiev then moved with his mother to the Bavarian Alps for over a year so he could concentrate fully on his composing. Most of his time was spent on an old opera project, The Fiery Angel. By this time his later music had started sifting back into Russia and he received invitations to return there, but he felt that his new European career was more important. In 1923, he married the Spanish singer Lina Llubera, before moving back to Paris. There, a number of his works (for example the Second Symphony) were performed, but critical reception was lukewarm, perhaps because he could no longer really lay claim to being a "novelty". He did not particularly like Stravinsky's later works and, even though he was quite friendly with members of "Les Six", musically he had very little in common with them. Around 1927, things started looking up; he had some exciting commissions from Diaghilev and made a number of concert tours in Russia; in addition, he enjoyed a very successful staging of The Love for Three Oranges in Leningrad (as Saint Petersburg was then known). Two older operas (one of them The Gambler) were also played in Europe and in 1928 he produced the Third Symphony which was broadly based on his unperformed opera The Fiery Angel. The years 1931 and 1932 saw the completion of his fourth and fifth piano concertos. In 1929, he had a car accident in which his hands were slightly injured, preventing him from touring in Moscow, but permitting him to enjoy some of the contemporary Russian music instead. After his hands healed, he made a new attempt at touring in the USA, and this time he was received very warmly, propped up by his recent success in Europe. This, in turn, propelled him to do a major tour through Europe. In the early 1930s, Prokofiev was starting to long for Russia again and he moved more and more of his premières and commissions to his home country instead of Paris. One such was Lieutenant Kije, which was commissioned as the score to a Russian film. Another commission, from the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad, was the ballet Romeo and Juliet, today one of Prokofiev's best known works. However, there were numerous choreographic problems, postponing the premiere for several years. Prokofiev was soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Piero Coppola, in the world premiere recording of his third piano concerto, recorded in London by His Master's Voice in June 1932. The recording has exceptionally clear sound and Prokofiev's piano virtuoso playing remains very impressive. Prokofiev also recorded some of his solo piano music for HMV in Paris in February 1935. These recordings were issued on CD by Pearl. In 1938, he conducted the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in a recording of the second suite from his ballet Romeo and Juliet; this performance was also later released on LP and CD. Another reported recording with Prokofiev and the Moscow Philharmonic was of the Prokofiev first violin concerto with David Oistrakh as the soloist; Everest Records later released this recording on an LP, along with a performance of Khachaturian's violin concerto with that composer conducting the Philharmonic with much inferior sound compared to the EMI recording with Khachaturian and Oistrakh. Return to Soviet Union In 1938, Prokofiev collaborated with the great Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein on the historical epic Alexander Nevsky, composing some of his best dramatic music. Although the film had very poor sound recording, Prokofiev adapted much of his music into a cantata, which has been extensively performed and recorded. In 1941, Prokofiev suffered the first of several heart attacks, resulting in a gradual decline in health. Because of the war, he was periodically evacuated to the south together with a large number of other artists. This had consequences for his family life in Moscow, and his relationship with the 25-year-old Mira Mendelson finally led to his separation from his wife Lina, although they remained married for the next seven years. It should be mentioned that marriage with foreigners had been made illegal and some believe that the breakup with his wife was forced. The outbreak of war inspired Prokofiev to a new opera project, War and Peace, which he worked on for two years, along with more film music for Sergei Eisenstein (Ivan the Terrible) and the second string quartet. However, Soviet government had opinions about the opera which resulted in numerous revisions and no première. In 1944, Prokofiev moved to an estate outside of Moscow, to compose his Fifth Symphony (Op. 100) which would turn out to be his most successful. Shortly afterwards, Sergei suffered a concussion in a fall from which he never really recovered and which severely lowered his productivity in later years. Prokofiev had time to write his postwar Sixth Symphony and a ninth piano sonata (for Sviatoslav Richter) before the Party suddenly changed its opinion about his music. The end of the war allowed attention to be turned inwards again and the Party tightened its reins on domestic artists. Prokofiev's music was now seen as a grave example of formalism, and dangerous to the Soviet people. On February 20, 1948, the same year Prokofiev married Mira, his wife Lina was arrested for 'espionage', as she tried to send money to her mother in Spain. She was sentenced to death and killed in March 1949. Prokofiev supposedly began writing a prelude inspired by her murder, but it was never finished. His latest opera projects were quickly cancelled by the Kirov Theatre and this, in combination with his declining health, caused Prokofiev to withdraw more and more. His doctors ordered him to limited his activities, which resulted in him spending only an hour or two each day on composition. His last performance was the première of the Seventh Symphony in 1952, a piece of somewhat bittersweet character, for which Prokofiev was asked to substitute a cheerful ending, possibly because the music was written for a children's television program. Prokofiev died at the age of 61 on 5 March 1953 (on the same day and from the same cause as Soviet premier Joseph Stalin). Prokofiev had lived near Red Square and for three days the throngs gathered to mourn Stalin made it impossible to carry Prokofiev's body out for the funeral service at the headquarters of the Soviet Composer's Union. Paper flowers and a taped recording of the funeral march from his Romeo and Juliet had to be used, as all real flowers and musicians were reserved for Stalin's funeral. He is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. Prokofiev's death is usually attributed to cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding into the brain) but it is known that he was not well for 8 years before he died and was plagued during that length of time by headaches, nausea and dizziness[2], so the precise nature of Prokofiev's terminal illness is uncertain. Mira Prokofieva outlived her ex-husband by many years, dying in London in early 1989. Royalties from her late husband's music provided her a modest income. List of compositions by Sergei Prokofiev Ballets Incidental Music Film Music Symphonies Orchestral Suites Other Orchestral Works Concertante Vocal Orchestral Choral Songs Chamber Instrumental Piano Sonatas Other Piano Works Transcriptions for Piano Band Music |
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