Where was born Sergei Prokofiev conductor and composer. Sergei Prokofiev biography briefly

Sergei Prokofiev is an outstanding Russian composer and a personality of unique destiny. A man with amazing abilities who entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory when he was only 13. A man who went abroad after the revolution, but returned to the USSR - with honor and without the stigma of "defector". A person with unshakable aspiration, who was not broken by life's difficulties. He was favored by the authorities, had the highest state awards, and then, during his lifetime, he was forgotten and disgraced. The man who is called the "only genius" of the twentieth century and whose amazing works delight listeners around the world.

A short biography of Sergei Prokofiev and many interesting facts read about the composer on our page.

Brief biography of Prokofiev

Sergey Sergeevich Prokofiev comes from the Ukrainian village of Sontsovka. There are different versions of the date of his birth, but it is advisable to indicate the one that he himself indicated in his "Autobiography" - April 11 (23), 1891. It seems that he was already born a composer, because thanks to his mother, Maria Grigoryevna, who played the piano excellently, the Prokofievs' house was full of music. Interest in the instrument prompted little Serezha to start learning to play. Since 1902, Sergei Prokofiev began to teach music R.M. glier.

Prokofiev became a student at the Moscow Conservatory in 1904. Five years later, he graduated from the composition department, and five years later - from the piano department, becoming the best graduate. He began to give concerts in 1908. The debut was extremely favorably assessed by critics, both performing talent and composer originality were noted. Since 1911, notes of his works have been published. The turning point in the fate of the young Prokofiev was his acquaintance with S.P. Diaghilev in 1914. Thanks to the union of the entrepreneur and the composer, four ballets were born. In 1915, Diaghilev organized Prokofiev's first foreign performance with a program consisting of his compositions.

Prokofiev perceived the revolution as destruction, "massacre and game." Therefore, the very next year he went to Tokyo, and from there to New York. He lived for a long time in France, touring the old and new worlds as a pianist. In 1923 he married the Spanish singer Lina Codina, they had two sons. Coming to performances Soviet Union, Prokofiev sees an exceptionally cordial, even luxurious, reception by the authorities, a grandiose, unprecedented success with the public, and he also receives an offer to return and a promise of the status of "the first composer." And in 1936, Prokofiev moved to live in Moscow with his family and property. The authorities did not deceive him - a luxurious apartment, well-trained servants, orders pour in as if from a cornucopia. In 1941, Prokofiev left the family for Mira Mendelssohn.

unexpected dramatic events 1948 began. The surname of Prokofiev was mentioned in the resolution of the party "On the opera" Great Friendship "by V. Muradeli." The composer was ranked among the "formalists". As a result, some of his compositions, in particular the Sixth Symphony, were banned, the rest were almost never performed. However, already in 1949, these restrictions were lifted by Stalin's personal order. It turned out that even the "first composer" of the country does not belong to the untouchable caste. Less than ten days after the publication of the devastating decree, the composer's first wife, Lina Ivanovna, was arrested. She was sentenced to 20 years in the camps for espionage and treason, she would be released only in 1956. Prokofiev's health deteriorated noticeably, doctors advised him to hardly work. Nevertheless, in 1952 he personally attended the first performance of his Seventh Symphony, and wrote music even on the last day of his life. On the evening of March 5, 1953, Sergei Prokofiev's heart stopped...

Prokofiev - composer

From the biography of Prokofiev, we know that at the age of five, Seryozha invented and played his first piece on the piano (Maria Grigoryevna wrote down the notes). Having visited in 1900 Moscow productions of " Faust" And " sleeping beauty”, the child was so inspired by what he heard that just six months later his first opera “The Giant” was born. Already by the time of entering the conservatory, several folders of compositions had accumulated.

The idea of ​​his first major opera based on the plot of the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky " Player”, which, in his youth, Prokofiev planned to transfer to opera stage, was discussed by the composer primarily with S. Diaghilev. Which, however, was not interested in the idea. Unlike the chief conductor of the Mariinsky Theater A. Coates, who supported her. The opera was completed in 1916, the distribution of parts was made, rehearsals began, but due to an unfortunate series of obstacles, the premiere never took place. After a while, Prokofiev made the second edition of the opera, but her Grand Theatre set only in 1974. During the composer's lifetime, only the production of the second edition by the Brussels theater La Monnaie in 1929 was realized, where the opera was performed in French. The last work written and performed in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg was the First Symphony. During the period of life abroad were created: operas " Love for three oranges"and" Fiery Angel", three symphonies, many sonatas and pieces, music for the film "Lieutenant Kizhe", concerts for cellos, piano, violins with an orchestra.

The return to the USSR is a time of rapid creative takeoff Prokofiev, when the works that became his " calling card» even for those who are not familiar with classical music - ballet "Romeo and Juliet" and the symphonic fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf". In 1940, the Opera House. K.S. Stanislavsky gives the premiere of Seeds of Kotko. At the same time, work was completed on the opera Betrothal in a Monastery, where M. Mendelssohn acted as a co-author of the libretto.

In 1938, S. Eisenstein's film "Alexander Nevsky" was released, which in a few years was destined to become a symbol of the struggle against the Nazi invaders. The music of this film, as well as the second monumental film of the director "Ivan the Terrible", was written by Sergei Prokofiev. The war years were marked by evacuation to the Caucasus, as well as work on three major works: Fifth symphony, ballet "Cinderella", opera " War and Peace". The author of the libretto of this opera and subsequent works of the composer was his second wife. The post-war period is notable primarily for two symphonies - the Sixth, which is considered a kind of requiem for the victims of the war, and the Seventh, dedicated to youth and hopes.

Interesting Facts:

• The version of the opera The Gambler, written for the Mariinsky Theater in 1916, was never staged there. The premiere of the second edition took place only in 1991.
• During the life of Prokofiev, only 4 of his operas were staged in the USSR. At the same time - not a single one at the Bolshoi Theater.
• Sergei Prokofiev left two legal widows. A month before the arrest of L. Prokofieva, who did not give him a divorce, either for reasons of her own safety, or because she sincerely did not want to let her beloved go, the composer remarried. He was advised to use the legal provisions of the decree on the prohibition of marriages with foreigners, which recognized the church marriage with Lina Ivanovna, concluded in Germany, as invalid. Prokofiev hastened to legalize relations with M. Mendelssohn, thereby substituting ex-wife under the blow of the Soviet repressive machine. After all, with a stroke of a pen and against her will, she turned from Prokofiev's wife into a lonely foreigner, maintaining relations with other foreigners in Moscow. Upon returning from the camp, the composer's first wife restored all her marital rights in court, including a significant part of the inheritance.
• The composer was a brilliant chess player . “Chess is the music of thought” is one of his most famous aphorisms. Once he even managed to win a game against the world chess champion H.-R. Capablanca.

• From 1916 to 1921, Prokofiev collected an album of autographs from his friends who answered the question: "What do you think about the sun?". Among those who answered were K. Petrov-Vodkin, A. Dostoevskaya, F. Chaliapin, A. Rubinshtein, V. Burliuk, V. Mayakovsky, K. Balmont. Prokofiev's work is often called sunny, optimistic, cheerful. Even the place of his birth in some sources is called Solntsevka.
• Prokofiev's biography notes that in the early years of the composer's performances in the United States, he was called a "musical Bolshevik" there. The American public turned out to be too conservative to understand his music. In addition, she already had her own Russian idol - Sergei Rachmaninov.
• Upon his return to the USSR, Prokofiev was given a spacious apartment in a house at 14, Zemlyanoy Val, where, in particular, lived: pilot V. Chkalov, poet S. Marshak, actor B. Chirkov, artist K. Yuon. They also allowed me to bring a blue Ford bought abroad with me, and even get a personal driver.
• Contemporaries noted the ability of Sergei Sergeevich to dress with taste. He was not embarrassed by either bright colors or bold combinations in clothes. He loved French perfumes and expensive accessories such as ties, fine wines and gourmet food.
• Sergei Prokofiev kept a detailed personal diary for 26 years. But after moving to the Soviet Union, he decided that it was wiser not to do this anymore.

• After the war, Prokofiev mostly lived in a dacha in the village of Nikolina Gora near Moscow, which he bought with the money of the fifth Stalin Prize. In Moscow, his home was three rooms in a communal apartment, where, in addition to the composer and his wife, Mira Abramovna's stepfather also lived.
• The composer often included fragments and melodies of earlier works in his works. Examples include:
  - the music of the ballet "Ala and Lolly", which S. Diaghilev refused to stage, was reworked by Prokofiev into the Scythian Suite;
  - the music of the Third Symphony is taken from the opera "Fiery Angel";
  - The fourth symphony was born from the music of the ballet "Prodigal Son";
  - The theme "Tatar Steppe" from the painting "Ivan the Terrible" formed the basis of Kutuzov's aria in the opera "War and Peace".
• "Steel lope" for the first time I saw Russian scene only in 2015, 90 years after its creation.
• The composer finished work on the duet of Katerina and Danila from the ballet "The Tale of the Stone Flower" a few hours before his death.
• The life of S.S. Prokofiev and I.V. Stalin was cut off in one day, because of which the death of the composer was announced on the radio with a delay, and the organization of the funeral was much more difficult.

Sergei Prokofiev and cinema

The creation of music for films by a composer of this caliber is without precedent in the arts. In 1930-40 Sergei Prokofiev wrote music for eight films. One of them, The Queen of Spades (1936), never saw the light of day due to a fire at Mosfilm that destroyed the films. Prokofiev's music for the very first film, Lieutenant Kizhe, became incredibly popular. Based on it, the composer created a symphonic suite, which was performed by orchestras around the world. Two ballets were subsequently created to this music. However, Prokofiev did not immediately accept the proposal of the filmmakers - his first reaction was a refusal. But after reading the script and a detailed discussion of the director's intention, he became interested in the idea and, as he noted in his Autobiography, he worked quickly and with pleasure on the music for Lieutenant Kizhe. The creation of the suite required more time, re-orchestration and even reworking of some themes.

Unlike "Lieutenant Kizhe", the proposal to write music for the film " Alexander Nevskiy Prokofiev accepted without hesitation. They had known Sergei Eisenstein for a long time; Prokofiev even considered himself a fan of the director. The work on the picture was a celebration of real co-creation: sometimes the composer wrote a musical text, and the director built the shooting and editing of the episode on its basis, sometimes Prokofiev looked at the finished material, tapping rhythms on wood with his fingers and bringing the finished score after a while. The music of "Alexander Nevsky" embodied all the main features of Prokofiev's talent and deservedly entered the golden fund of world culture. During the war years, Prokofiev created music for three patriotic films: "Partisans in the Steppes of Ukraine", "Kotovsky", "Tonya" (from the film collection "Our Girls"), as well as for the biographical film "Lermontov" (together with V. Pushkov).

Last but not least was Prokofiev's work on S. Eisenstein's film Ivan the Terrible, which began in Alma-Ata. The music of "Ivan the Terrible" with its folk-epic power continues the themes of "Alexander Nevsky". But the second joint picture of the two geniuses consists not only of heroic scenes, but also tells about the history of the boyar conspiracy and diplomatic intrigues, which required a more diverse musical canvas. This work of the composer was awarded the Stalin Prize. Even after the death of Prokofiev, the music of Ivan the Terrible served as the basis for the creation of the oratorio and ballet.

Despite the fact that the amazing fate of Sergei Prokofiev could form the basis of an interesting film script, there are still no feature films about the life of the composer. For various anniversaries - from the date of birth or death - only television films and programs were created. Perhaps this is due to the fact that no one undertakes to unambiguously interpret the ambiguous actions of Sergei Sergeyevich. For what reasons did he return to the USSR? Was the Soviet period of his work conformism or innovation? Why did his first marriage fail? Why did he allow Lina Ivanovna to recklessly refuse to be evacuated from military Moscow, not to take out at least the children? And did he care about anything at all, except for his own vanity and creative realization - the fate of the arrested first wife and his own sons, for example? There are no answers to these and many other burning questions. There are opinions and conjectures that may not be fair to the great composer.

The great Russian composer who wrote his first opera at the age of 9. Master large forms, who managed to translate into the language of music both the Shakespearean passions of Romeo and Juliet, and the meeting of the pioneer Petya with the Wolf.

The famous composer was born in the Yekaterinoslav province in the family of an agronomist. The boy from childhood showed musical ability, his first teacher was his mother - a good pianist. In 1902-1903, Prokofiev took private lessons from the composer Reinhold Gliere. In 1904 he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1909, Prokofiev graduated from it as a composer, five years later - as a pianist, continuing to study in it until 1917 in the organ class.

Prokofiev began to perform as a soloist and perform his own works from 1908. A student of Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev the composer began with piano pieces and sonatas, but the Chicago premiere brought him fame - the most cheerful opera in the world, The Love for Three Oranges. Without the music of Prokofiev today it is impossible to imagine acknowledged masterpiece pre-war cinema - the film "Alexander Nevsky". And the musical accompaniment of "Ivan the Terrible" by Sergei Eisenstein received own life as a separate work.

In 1918, he left the Soviet state and reached the United States via Tokyo. In the following decades, Prokofiev lived and toured in America and Europe, and also performed several times in the USSR. He returned to his homeland in 1936 with his Spanish wife Lina Codina and sons. It was after the return that the famous fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf", as well as the opera "War and Peace" were created. Prokofiev worked on the epic for 12 years.

In 1948, Lina Kodina, who by that time was his ex-wife, was arrested and exiled (released in 1956, she later left the USSR). In the same year, Prokofiev began to be smashed for formalism, his works were sharply criticized as inappropriate to socialist realism.

Prokofiev died of a hypertensive crisis at the age of 61.

Fragments from the autobiography of S.S. Prokofiev.

<...>Mother loved music, father respected music. Probably, he also loved her, but in philosophical terms, as a manifestation of culture, as a flight of the human spirit. Once, when I was sitting at the piano as a boy, my father stopped, listened and said:
- Noble sounds.
This is the key to his attitude towards music.
<...>Mother's attitude to music was more practical. She played the piano not badly, and her rural leisure allowed her to devote as much time to this matter as she liked. She hardly had musical talents; the technique was difficult, and the fingers were deprived of pads in front of the nails. She was afraid to play in front of people. But she had three virtues: perseverance, love and taste. Mother sought the best possible performance of the things being learned, treated her work with love and was exclusively interested in serious music. The latter played a huge role in cultivating my musical taste: from birth I heard Beethoven and Chopin, and at the age of twelve I remember myself consciously despising light music. When my mother was waiting for my birth, she played up to six hours a day: the future little man was formed to the music.

<...>]Musical inclinations began to appear early, probably at the age of four. I have heard music in the house since I was born. When they put me to bed in the evening, but I didn’t feel like sleeping, I lay and listened to how Beethoven’s sonata sounded somewhere in the distance, several rooms away. Mother played the sonatas from the first volume most of all; then Chopin's preludes, mazurkas and waltzes. Sometimes something from Liszt, which is not so difficult. From Russian authors - Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein. Anton Rubinstein was at the height of his fame, and his mother was sure that he was a bigger phenomenon than Tchaikovsky. Rubinstein's portrait hung over the piano.

<...>The mother began her lessons on the piano with exercises by Ganon and etudes by Czerny. This is where I tried to nestle on the keyboard. Mother, busy with exercises in the middle register, sometimes set aside for my use the two upper octaves, on which I tapped out my childhood experiments. A rather barbaric ensemble at first glance, but the mother's calculation turned out to be correct, and soon the child began to sit down at the piano on her own, trying to pick up something. Mother had a pedagogical streak. Imperceptibly she tried to guide me and explain how to use the tool. The fact that she played, I was curious and critical, sometimes stating:
- I like this song (I said "I like it"). Let her be mine.
There were also disputes with my grandmother: what kind of play was the mother playing. I was usually right.
Listening to music and improvising at the keyboard led me to pick up independent pieces.

<...>During the spring and summer of 1897 I recorded three pieces: Waltz, March and Rondo. There was no musical paper in the house; the clerk Vanka lined it for me. All three pieces were in C major<...>The fourth one turned out to be a little more difficult - a march in B minor. Then Ekaterina Ippokratovna arrived in Sontsovka, the wife of that Lyashchenko, to whom I did not give a damn about his baldness. She played the piano well and even studied a little with her mother. Together they played four hands, which I really liked: they play different things, but together it comes out pretty good!
- Mom, I will write a four-hand march.
- It's difficult, Sergushechka. You cannot choose music for one person and another.
Nevertheless, I sat down to pick up, and the march went out. It was nice to play it in four hands and hear how it sounds together picked up separately. After all, it was the first score!

<...>To my musical development mother treated with great attention and caution. The main thing is to keep the child interested in music and, God forbid, not push him away with boring cramming. Hence: as little time as possible for exercises and as much as possible for acquaintance with literature. The point of view is wonderful, which mothers should remember.

S.S. Prokofiev. Autobiography. M., "Soviet composer", 1973.

In the early period of Prokofiev's work, piano music of various forms is in the lead - from miniatures to small cycles, concertos and sonatas. It is in small program piano pieces that the original style of the composer matures. The second wave of the rise of Prokofievskaya piano music- the end of the 30s - the beginning of the 40s, when the triad of sonatas (Nos. 6, 7, 8) was born, which, in terms of epic power and depth of dramatic conflicts, is almost as good as the symphonies of the same time - the Fifth and Sixth.

Prokofiev's contribution to piano literature of the 20th century is comparable only to that of Debussy, Scriabin and Rachmaninov. Like the latter, he creates a number of monumental piano "concert-symphonies", continuing in this sense the tradition bequeathed by Tchaikovsky.

Prokofiev's pianism is graphic, muscular, pedalless, which is the opposite of Rachmaninov's romantic style and Debussy's impressionistic fluctuation. B. Asafiev: "Severe constructivism is combined with psychological expressiveness." Features: vigor, toccato, constant dynamics, instrumental melody, transparent texture, inclination towards psychologism, bold timbre combinations, clear forms, playing in extreme registers (Debussy). Sharp figurative contrasts: primitiveness and elegance, barbaric fauvism and sophistication, prose passages and fairy-tale episodes, sarcasm and lyrics.

Prokofiev's piano work is diverse in genre ( piano cycles, miniatures, transcriptions of ballet compositions, concert sonatas). Prokofiev is rightfully considered a representative of the anti-romantic tradition of the first half of the 20th century, along with Stravinsky, Bartok, Hindemith.

Overcoming the romantic interpretation of the piano is due to several factors:

Refusal of sensual interpretation of sound (dry, hard, glassy). The special role of emphasis, non legato style;

sound unloaded. Frequent use of extreme registers. No feeling of fullness;

percussion interpretation of the piano. Prokofiev continues the traditions of the early classical art of Scarlatti, Haydn, French clavisinists, Debussy's clavier classicism, and in the Russian tradition of Mussorgsky.

Despite the predominance of anti-romantic traditions, Prokofiev's piano style also has features of romantic piano music. This is true especially in relation to the moments of cantilena themes. Usually piano creativity Prokofiev is divided into three periods:

1) Early . Before leaving abroad (1908 - 1918). During this period, four sonatas, two concertos, etudes (op. 2), plays (op. 3,4), Toccata (op. 11), Sarcasm (op. 17), Transience (op. 22) were written;

2) Foreign (1918 - 1933). In creativity there is a deepening of the lyrical sphere. Written 3rd, 4th, 5th concertos, 5th sonata, "Tales" (op. 31), four pieces (op. 32);

3) Soviet (mid 1930s). According to Prokofiev himself, during this period of creativity, a “transition to a new simplicity” takes place. Written "Children's Music" (op. 65), transcriptions, sonatas 6-9.

Subject: N.Ya. Myaskovsky. Creation. Style features.

Introduction.

He entered the history of Soviet music as a great symphonist and an outstanding teacher. He stood at the origins of the formation of Soviet symphony. External showiness, concert brilliance are alien to his style, there are no traces of passion for colorful sound painting or super-rationalism. The work of Myaskovsky is an independent branch of Russian philosophical symphonism, where the traditions of Liszt, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and the "Kuchkists" were originally developed and reworked in the spirit of expressionism.

Early period creativity.

The evolution of Myaskovsky, like many other composers of the 20th century, was directed towards speaking simply about the complex, without losing depth. His early works are characterized by: dense musical fabric, complicated harmony. The 5th symphony opens the central period of Myaskovsky's work.

E years.

One of the hardest creative periods. The capture of deeply personal feelings and subjective tragic emotions in these years noticeably prevails over the objective sphere (symphonies No. 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, sonatas No. 3, 4, “Fads”, “Yellowed Pages”). Symphony Nos. 5 and 8 contain folk-mass images.

E years.

The role of folk images, the heroic, courageous and strong-willed principle, is growing. Lyrical thematics, melodiousness, melodic breadth and smoothness (symphonies No. 15, 17, 18, 19, 21), quotations from popular songs.

E years.

The established style of the composer acquired features of academic rigor. Lyrical-epic-dramatic symphonism of the war years and suite-type works (Symphony No. 23). Genre coexists with disturbing themes, narrative episodes, lyrical monologues. The musical fabric is clear and transparent.

As a result, two lines of Myaskovsky's creativity crystallized: lyrical-psychological and epic-genre. Of the most important styles of the 20th century, late romanticism and expressionism were reflected in the composer's work.

Subject: S.S. Prokofiev. Cantata "Alexander Nevsky".

Introduction.

Music to the film by S. Eisenstein “A. Nevsky "- one of the recognized peaks creative life Prokofiev. In this work, he first turned to Russian heroic-epic themes. Further, this line was continued in the opera "War and Peace", Symphony No. 5, the First Sonata for Violin and Piano, and the music for the film "Ivan the Terrible". In May 1939, the premiere of the cantata took place.

Dramaturgy.

In many respects the genre of the cantata is original. The composer achieved a bold combination of picturesque and pictorial orchestral episodes with song and choral scenes. Thus, a new genre fusion of programmatic symphony with a specific operatic and choral action arose.

The dramaturgy of the cantata is based on a sharp contrast between two conflicting intonational spheres: the Russian patriotic army and the repulsive face of the Teutonic crusaders. The first are characterized by songs of an epic warehouse, sad parables, funny buffoon tunes. The second is depicted with puffy military fanfare, Catholic chant and an automated march. Prokofiev, as always, emphasized the contrast between them with the help of harmonic and orchestral means. In "Russian" music, light diatonicism, softness of timbres, melodious sonority of strings, soulful timbres of voices predominate. "German" is marked by harsh polytonal sounds, "mechanical" rhythms, heavy brass tread and percussion. A special place is occupied by the methods of contrapuntal combinations of various themes (“Battle on the Ice”).

The compositional scheme of the work attracts with its careful thoughtfulness. Seven parts - very different in content - are built on a contrasting alternation of pictorial and visual episodes ("Russia under the Mongol yoke", "Crusaders in Pskov", "Battle on the Ice") with relatively compressed song and choral numbers ("And it was on the Neva -river", "Get up, Russian people", "Dead field"). The composition clearly shows the features of the sonata-symphony cycle:

The first 4 parts are introduction and exposition;

5th - development;

6th - lyrical intermezzo;

7th - synthesizing finale.

Analysis of the cantata.

First part "Rus under the Mongol yoke" is a symphonic prologue to the cycle. The feeling of emptiness is achieved by a special phonic effect, often found in Prokofiev: high and low timbres move in unison with an unfilled middle. Thus, a landscape full of anxiety and sorrow arises.

The second part is epic Song about Alexander Nevsky". Mean range, leisurely deployment, clarity of movement. The harsh coloring is emphasized by the predominance of low timbres in the orchestra and choir. The battle-pictorial element is reinforced in the middle section.

The features of dramatic conflict are fully revealed in the third part - "Crusaders in Pskov". For the first time, polar images collide in it: the cruel Teutonic invasion (extreme sections) and the suffering of the vanquished (middle). The crusaders are depicted using three themes: a Catholic chant, a bass motif, and a military fanfare. In the middle there is a mournful melody: a sad melody of lamentation, a rich subvocal fabric.

Fourth part - "Get up, Russian people"- like the second, it is built in the form of a choral scene of a song warehouse. The main theme is filled with combat courage and prowess. The middle section (“Native in Rus'”) captivates with light poetry.

In the most expanded fifth part - "Battle on the Ice"- the main events of the entire symphonic drama are concentrated. Here, the proximity to the nature of cinema is most noticeable: the principle of “montage”, counterpoint techniques, the through development of image-themes. Introduction, conclusion, features of rondality. The frightening theme of the crusaders is opposed by the Russian buffoon tune. The themes of the previous parts - the 3rd and 4th - sound. After the grandiose climax (tutti, fff) and the failure of the Germans under the ice, there is a calm and a poetic conclusion.

Sixth part "Dead Field"- lyric-epic discharge after a tense battle. The only aria in the entire cantata, for the first time introducing an element of personal feeling into music. Muffled strings, mournful intonations, natural minor, variability of mode, chant - a prime example Slavic melos.

The seventh part - "Alexander's Entry into Pskov". The victorious-patriotic finale of the cantata is almost entirely based on Russian themes from the 2nd, 4th and 5th movements. The main mood is popular jubilation, the joy of the Russian people.

D.D. Shostakovich. (1906-1975).

Childhood. Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev (Fig. 1) was born on April 23, 1891 in Sontsovka, Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Krasnoye, Krasnoarmeisky district, Donetsk region). His father - Sergei Alekseevich - was a learned agronomist, manager of the estate of the landowner Sontsov. He passed on to his son a love of nature. Among the children's manuscripts of Seryozha Prokofiev, a notebook has been preserved in which the boy noted when which flowers bloom in Sontsovka.

He heard music in the house from birth. Mother Maria Grigoryevna played Beethoven's sonatas, Chopin's mazurkas and nocturnes, and Tchaikovsky's plays. At more than five years old, Seryozha had already composed a piano piece called "Indian Gallop". Other writings soon followed.

The boy was nine years old when he was brought to Moscow, and he first went to the opera house (he heard the operas Faust by Gounod and Prince Igor by Borodin, visited the ballet Sleeping Beauty). Returning to Sontsovka, he began to write the opera "The Giant" on his own plot.

The heroes of the opera were himself under the name of Sergeev, his friend Yegorka (in the opera Egorov), the daughter of the housekeeper Stenya (in the opera Ustinya) and the Giant. The plot was that the Giant wanted to catch the girl Ustinya, and Sergeyev and Yegorov defended her. In the second picture of the first act, the Giant appears in Ustinya's house and sings a formidable aria to the following words:

Where is she? I will eat you.

No? Doesn't matter,

I'll eat her lunch!

In the summer of 1901, the opera The Giant was presented with great success at Uncle Prokofiev's house, the author sang the part of Sergeev.

Serezha was first educated by his parents, who were enlightened, intelligent people, smart and strict educators. They accustomed him to concentrated and systematic work. The father taught his son the Russian language, arithmetic, geography, history, and botany. Mother - foreign languages ​​​​(since childhood, Sergei Sergeevich knew two languages ​​\u200b\u200b- French and German, later English). Maria Grigorievna was also his first music teacher. Seeing the success of her son, she decided to show him to some major musician.

In the winter of 1902, he was brought to Moscow to Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, an outstanding composer and professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Noting the boy's talent, Taneyev advised him to start serious lessons in harmony and systematic familiarization with musical literature. On the recommendation of Taneyev, a young musician arrived in Sontsovka for the summer, having graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with a gold medal. It was Reinhold Moritsevich Gliere, later a well-known Soviet composer, author of the ballets The Red Poppy, Bronze Horseman”, a concerto for voice and orchestra and other compositions.

Lively, interesting classes with Gliere had a beneficial effect on the development of Prokofiev's talent. Under the guidance of a teacher, he soon began to write a symphony and an opera "Feast during the Plague" based on Pushkin. Gliere was struck in his student by an amazing combination of an adult professionally serious attitude to music, independence of judgment and completely childish traits. So, on the music stand of the twelve-year-old Seryozha Prokofiev, who was composing an opera or a symphony, there was a rubber doll named Mister, who was supposed to listen to a new composition.

The strongest hobby of the future author of famous operas and ballets was the theater. With his friends - Sontsovka boys and girls - he constantly invented and acted out performances, which were attended by the inhabitants of the house in Sontsovka.

Already in childhood, Prokofiev discovered a rare observation and a variety of interests (literature, theater, chess). Curious is his boyish passion for the railway, fast and accurate movement (which he himself tells in the autobiographical story "Childhood"). One of the amazing features of the work of the adult composer Prokofiev will be swiftness, dynamism, through which he will convey his new sense of life, its youth, its movement.

Conservatory. In 1904, on the advice of Glazunov, Prokofiev entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The entrance exam was excellent. The selection committee (it included A. K. Glazunov and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov) was delighted with absolute pitch, the ability to read from a sheet, as well as the “solid” load of compositions that the thirteen-year-old composer brought with him.

“I entered,” says Prokofiev, “bending under the weight of two folders, which contained four operas, two sonatas, a symphony and quite a few piano pieces. "I like it!" - said Rimsky-Korsakov, who led the exam.

Prokofiev studied at the conservatory with remarkable Russian musicians: Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (harmony, counterpoint), Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (instrumentation).

During his conservatory years, his musical tastes were enriched and developed. Grieg, Wagner, Rimsky-Korsakov, Scriabin, Rachmaninov (especially his second concerto for piano and orchestra) have been added to Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, beloved since childhood. He got acquainted with the works of contemporary Western European composers - Richard Strauss, Debussy, later Ravel and others.

interest in the study of classical and contemporary music, and also brought Prokofiev closer to each other's work with Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky. The friendship that began during the years of their joint studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory continued throughout their lives.

In 1909, Prokofiev graduated from the conservatory in composition, and five years later - as a pianist in the class of the famous Russian pianist A. N. Esipova. He was awarded gold medal and the A. Rubinstein Prize - a magnificent piano. In subsequent years, Prokofiev gave many concerts, he was an outstanding pianist.

At the conservatory, he also studied in the conducting class under the guidance of N. Cherepnin, a brilliant musician who appreciated the talent of the young composer. Subsequently, Prokofiev also acted as a conductor with the performance of his works.

Early writings. Already the early works of Prokofiev - piano pieces, written by him in 1906-1909, amaze with the unusual brightness of images and expressive means.

His first significant work was the first concerto for piano and orchestra. It was written in 1911. It was first performed by the author accompanied by an orchestra next summer on the concert stage in Sokolniki (in Moscow). The concert stunned the audience. People accustomed to the refined fragile music of Scriabin, the melodic overflow of Rachmaninov's concertos, the grace and tenderness of Chopin's music, it was difficult to immediately understand and appreciate Prokofiev's work. There was a new beauty in it - the beauty of a bold sports game, a daring procession of youth, a strong rhythm of steel, but also the beauty of a romantic lyrical feeling. The concerto begins with a repeatedly repeated short imperative motif, the development of which is extremely purposeful and energetic:

Sensitive to the new listeners, among them Asafiev and Myaskovsky, admired the concert. Hostile critics contemptuously called it "football", "barbaric" and suggested putting a "straitjacket" on the author.

Prokofiev was aware that he was discovering "new shores" in music. He was confident in the correctness of the chosen path. Self-confidence, as well as a sense of humor, helped him endure the ridicule and abuse of other critics. At the same time, he was attentive, patient with all those who wanted to understand his music, willingly played some work two or three times, listened to sensible, benevolent criticism.

From the time of the performance of the first concerto, Prokofiev's loud fame begins. He systematically performs in public, plays new compositions, almost always causing heated debate. This is how the performances of the second concerto and the symphonic "Scythian Suite" pass, in the last part of which a dazzling and dynamic picture sunrise.

In 1917 Prokofiev met Mayakovsky in Petrograd. The performances of the poet made a strong impression on the composer. In turn, Mayakovsky was delighted with Prokofiev's music, especially his swift marches.

Nature and life paths The poet and the composer are in many ways different. But in their work there are some common features born of the era in which they lived. In the difficult critical pre-revolutionary years, both of them rebelled against the art of pampered, relaxed, habitually “beautiful”, busy

sighs about "roses and nightingales." Both advocated an active art, sometimes deliberately sharp, healthy and - scorchingly sunny.

In the poem "A Cloud in Pants", written in the same years as the "Scythian Suite"

Prokofiev, Mayakovsky said:

who were wet with love,

from which

tears shed for centuries

sun monocle

I'll put it in a wide-open eye."

Mayakovsky wrote this excerpt from the poem in an album kept by Prokofiev called “What do you think about the sun?”

At first, Prokofiev seemed to pay little attention to lyrics. But in 1914 he created musical fairy tale"Ugly duckling" based on a fairy tale. Andersen. Here, the young composer most of all showed a kind of tenderness, pure lyricism, devoid of any sentimentality. The piece is intended for one voice with piano accompaniment. It tells about a poor, ugly duckling that was laughed at by the inhabitants of the poultry yard. Time passed, and the ugly duckling turned into a swan. A beautiful lyrical melody sounds at the end of the "Fairy Tale", permeated with sympathy for the poor, defenseless creature and faith in happiness.

In 1916-1917, Prokofiev composed the "Classical Symphony" - cheerful and witty. In the symphony one can feel the closeness of Prokofiev's music to the clear, polished art of the classics of the 18th century.

At the same time, the composer completed the previously begun cycle of twenty tiny piano pieces called “Milletity”. Each of them in miniature represents some image or scene characteristic of Prokofiev's music: lyrical with a touch of fabulousness (No. 1, 8, 16), humorous (No. 10), violently dramatic (No. 14, 19), etc. .

Prokofiev's largest work of the pre-revolutionary years is the acutely psychological opera The Gambler (based on a story by F. Dostoevsky). In the ballet "The Tale of the Jester Who Outwitted Seven Jesters", the young composer's interest in Russian was revealed. folk art, which will be further developed.

February 1917 arrived. " February Revolution she found me in Petrograd,” writes Prokofiev in his Autobiography. “And I, and those circles in which I revolved, joyfully greeted her.” On the meaning of what happened next October revolution he is a musician, far from political events, didn't have a clear idea. It seemed to him that in Russia, occupied with revolutionary transformations, now "music is not up to it." “The fact that I, like any citizen, can be useful to her, has not yet reached my consciousness” (“Autobiography”). Prokofiev decided to make a big concert tour. Having received permission from the People's Commissar of Education A. V. Lunacharsky, he went abroad in May 1918. Instead of several months, as he thought at first, his stay abroad for various reasons stretched out for 15 years (1918-1933).

Years spent abroad. Prokofiev traveled all over the world.

He has been to Japan and the United States of America, Cuba and many European countries. He lived most of the time in France. Everywhere he performed with his compositions. At first, his concerts made a sensational impression.

Abroad, Prokofiev met with many outstanding artists (composers Ravel, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, conductors Stokowski and Toscanini, film actor Charlie Chaplin and many others). His works have been staged in various theaters around the world. So, in 1921, the premiere of Prokofiev's cheerful, brilliant opera The Love for Three Oranges (based on a fairy tale by the Italian writer Carlo Gozzi) took place in Chicago. In the same year, the composer completed his third piano concerto. Most of his themes were written back in Russia. The concerto - dynamic, dazzlingly bright - is one of the pinnacles of Prokofiev's creativity. In the introduction to the first part, a singsong Russian theme sounds - the theme of the Motherland:

Thoughtful and poetic piano pieces, which Prokofiev called "Tales of the Old Grandmother", are inspired by memories of the Motherland.

In the mid-1920s, Prokofiev responded with great joy to S. P. Diaghilev's proposals to write a ballet on the theme of building a new life in Russia. The plot of the ballet, called "Steel lope", turned out to be naive, "industrial". In his music, the influences of constructivism are noticeable. There are bright figurative pages in it. “Prokofiev travels around our countries, but refuses to think in our way,” foreign newspapers wrote about the premiere of the ballet staged in Paris and London in 1927.

In the 1920s, Prokofiev also wrote a number of works in which, to one degree or another, the influence of the latest trends in Western European art is noticeable. But he does not completely adjoin any of them, as evidenced by his original opera The Fiery Angel (based on the novel of the same name by V. Bryusov). Gradually, Prokofiev begins to feel more and more detached from his native land. The very atmosphere is feverish artistic life Paris in the 1920s did not satisfy him. From works of art they expected, first of all, sensation, novelty, by all means. And Prokofiev strove for a deep meaningful art. One of the composer's French friends recalls the words spoken to him by Prokofiev: “I must return. I have to get used to the atmosphere of my native land again ... Russian speech should sound in my ears ... Here I lose my strength.

Until the final return, the composer came to the Soviet Union with concerts. He was enthusiastically received by listeners in Moscow and Leningrad. “We all remember,” wrote Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus, “how the whole audience, as one person, stood up at his first appearance on the stage Great Hall conservatory and greeted him standing, and he bowed and bowed, bending in half at a right angle, like a penknife.

Homecoming. And here is Prokofiev in Moscow. He meets again with his friends Myaskovsky and Asafiev. Begins to work together with Soviet directors, choreographers, writers. He is fascinated by the task of embodying lofty ideas, humanity, the opportunity to appeal not to a narrow circle of "connoisseurs", but to the vast masses of the people.

In one of his articles published in those years, Prokofiev wrote about the plot, which now attracted him: "... The plot should be heroic and constructive (creative), because these are the features that most clearly characterize this era."

Works of the 30s. In the Soviet period of creativity, new major works appeared one after another. They are different in themes, time of action, characters of the characters. But they all have something in common. Everywhere the composer confronts bright images and images of cruelty and violence face to face. And always affirms the victory of high human ideals. The courage inherent in Prokofiev as a composer is striking in all these compositions.

In 1935, the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (based on Shakespeare's tragedy) was created. Its heroes defend their love in the fight against the bloody medieval prejudices that command them to hate each other. The tragic death of Romeo and Juliet forces the Montague and Capuleti families, who have been at war for a long time, to reconcile.

Before Prokofiev, great musicians who wrote ballet music did not dare to turn to Shakespearean tragedies, believing that they were too difficult for ballet. And Prokofiev created a work imbued with the spirit of Shakespeare. Poetic, profound, containing realistic, psychologically accurate portraits actors the music of "Romeo and Juliet" made it possible for choreographer L. Lavrovsky to stage a ballet that gained worldwide fame (the premiere of the ballet took place in 1940 at the Leningrad State academic theater opera and ballet named after S. M. Kirov).

In 1938, the music for the film "Alexander Nevsky" was composed. Together with film director Sergei Eisenstein, Prokofiev sings of the noble patriotic feat of Alexander Nevsky's squad, who defended their native land from the Teutonic Knights. The plot is historical, but the music sounds modern, as if anticipating the sharp drama and the victorious outcome of the battle of the Soviet people against fascism.

In 1939, the opera “Semyon Kotko” was written (based on the story “I am the son of the working people” by V. Kataev). Its action takes place in Ukraine in 1918. Prokofiev's music depicts images of peasants, soldiers, Bolsheviks fighting for the establishment of Soviet power in Ukraine with amazing truthfulness. The young heroes of the opera - Semyon and Sofya - are a kind of modern Romeo and Juliet. Their love opposes the evil will of Sophia's father, Tkachenko's fist, who does not want to pass off his daughter as a poor soldier.

Creation of an opera in modern Soviet theme- a very difficult task. And Prokofiev performed it with honor in the opera Semyon Kotko.

One of his most daring ideas is the wonderful Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of October, written on political texts.

One should not think that all these new works by Prokofiev were easily accepted by performers and listeners. So, the music of "Romeo and Juliet" at first seemed incomprehensible and inconvenient for dancing even to Galina Ulanova, who later became an unsurpassed performer of the role of Juliet. It took time to get used to this music. “But the more we listened to it ... - says G. S. Ulanova, - the brighter the images that were born from music rose before us.”

In his works of the Soviet period, the composer especially strove for clarity, accessibility, and simplicity. However, he was an enemy of simplistic, imitative and "sweet" music. He was looking for a new simplicity, new melodies, listening to modern life watching modern people. And he managed the most difficult thing - to create original lyrical melodies, in which the composer's handwriting is immediately recognizable. A special flourishing of lyrics and the wide melodious melody associated with it begins in Prokofiev's work with Romeo and Juliet.

In the 1930s, Prokofiev wrote a number of excellent compositions for children: piano pieces for novice pianists "Children's Music", songs to words by L. Kvitko and A. Barto, a symphonic fairy tale "Petya and Volk" to his own text.

With his two sons, Sergei Sergeevich more than once came to the performances of the Central children's theater. The artistic director of the theater, N. I. Sats, suggested that the composer write a symphonic fairy tale that could help children get to know the character of the main instruments of the orchestra.

Here is how Natalya Ilyinichna Sats describes Prokofiev's unusual appearance and his demeanor in those years:

“He was sincere and frank. My first impression that Sergei Sergeevich was stiff and arrogant was wrong. He wore this toga when he was out of sorts and wanted to be left alone.

The unique unusualness of Sergei Sergeevich was manifested even in his appearance, manner of bearing himself. A few reddish-red hair, a smooth, ruddy face, "ice and fire" in the eyes behind the glasses of rimless glasses, a rare smile, a sandy-red suit. “He looks like the fourth of his three oranges,” said one of our mischievous actresses. To my horror, someone passed this on to Sergei Sergeyevich, but he had such a supply of humor that he only laughed out loud.

Prokofiev's performance is amazing. He wrote fantastically fast and could work on several compositions at once. He performed his music as a pianist and conductor. Participated in the Union of Composers. Interested in literature. At the end of the 1930s he began to write a lively and witty Autobiography. He was an excellent chess player. I drove with passion. He loved to dance, to be among people.

All this Prokofiev could manage not only thanks to the genius giftedness of his nature, but also thanks to organization and discipline. Legends told about its accuracy. If he promised to write music by 12 o'clock the next day, the director or choreographer who was expecting it could be calm.

War years. Opera "War and Peace". The main work of the composer during the Great Patriotic War was the grandiose patriotic opera War and Peace. Prokofiev had previously thought about how to embody in music the images of the great work of Leo Tolstoy. In the days of the war against fascism, this plan was realized. Once again the composer set himself a task of rare complexity. From a huge literary work the most important scenes had to be selected. The opera includes, on the one hand, subtle psychological "peaceful" scenes in which Natasha Rostova, Sonya, Prince Andrei, Pierre Bezukhov participate; on the other hand, monumental paintings depicting the struggle of the people against the Napoleonic invaders. The opera turned out to be unusual in its genre. It combines lyric-psychological drama and national epic. Innovative in music and koi position, the opera develops at the same time the traditions of the Russian classes - Mussorgsky and Borodin. With Mussorgsky, Prokofiev is brought closer by special attention to the psychological characteristics of the hero, revealed through truthful vocal intonation. Interestingly, the opera "War and Peace" was written not on the conditional poetic text of the libretto, but on the original text of the novel. For Prokofiev, the very intonation of Tolstoy's speech, which he managed to convey in music, was important. And this gives particular credibility to the vocal parts of the heroes of the opera.

"War and Peace" is Prokofiev's favorite work. He perfected it until the end of his life.

In the victorious 1945, three significant works of the composer were released:

fifth symphony, dedicated to "the greatness of the human spirit:

the first episode of the film "Ivan the Terrible" - a new collaboration with Sergei Eisenstein;

light fairy-tale ballet "Cinderella". This performance, post! released in autumn, was the first post-war premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre.

Works of the late 40_s - early 50s. In subsequent years, several new works appeared. Among them: operas "The Tale of a Real Man", glorifying courage Soviet people during the war years; ballet "The Tale of stone flower"(according to P. Bazhov) - about the joy of creativity, addressed to the people; the oratorio "On Guard for Peace" (to the words of S. Marshak); concert-symphony for cello and orchestra.

Again Prokofiev writes for children. Suite "Winter Bonfire" for reciters, boys' choir and symphony orchestra(to the words of S. Marshak) is dedicated to the Soviet pioneers.

The Seventh Symphony was originally conceived as a symphony especially for children, but in the process of work it acquired a wider meaning - a wise symphonic tale affirming the beauty and joy of life. This is Prokofiev's last completed work.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Prokofiev was seriously ill. To save strength for creativity, he had to give up a lot, including visiting theaters and concerts. Most hard time came for him when doctors forbade him to compose music or allowed him to work no more than 20 minutes a day.

Most of the time during these years, Prokofiev spent at his dacha, on Nikolina Gora on the banks of the Moscow River. He is very

loved these places, made long walks (if health allowed). Musicians came here to see him - admirers and performers of his music: composer D. Kabalevsky, pianist S. Richter and others. Some of them later wrote the most interesting memoirs about the great composer. S. S. Prokofiev died in Moscow on March 5, 1953.

"I am of the conviction that the composer, like the poet, sculptor, painter, is called upon to serve man and the people. He must decorate human life and protect her. First of all, he must be a citizen in his art, sing of human life and lead a person to a brighter future."
So Sergei Prokofiev wrote in his article "Music and Life", and he followed this code of art, proclaimed by him shortly before his death, all his life.
For Prokofiev, to live meant to compose music. And to compose meant to always come up with something new. “The cardinal advantage (or, if you like, disadvantage) of my life,” the composer wrote, “has always been the search for an original musical language. I hate imitation, I hate clichés."
Prokofiev believed that in art only that is valuable that arises as a result of the artist's sensitive listening to rhythms and intonations. surrounding life. This is the basis of Prokofiev's innovation.
An inexhaustible melodic gift, an unlimited ability for artistic transformation, the ability to recreate the very spirit of the depicted life allowed Prokofiev to cover a large, complex world our reality. Suffice it to name such works of his as the operas "Semyon Kotko" (based on the story by Valentin Kataev) and "The Tale of a Real Man" (based on work of the same name Boris Polevoy), the oratorio "On Guard of the World" and the suite "Winter Bonfire" to the verses of S. Ya. Marshak, or the epic Fifth Symphony performed in 1945, the idea and concept of which Prokofiev himself defined as "Symphony of the greatness of the human spirit." "He knew how to listen to time," Ilya Ehrenburg said about him. But even when the composer turned to distant history, he remained deeply modern. Therefore, Prokofiev's patriotic lyrics and the fearless power of folk scenes in the music for the film "Ivan the Terrible", the painting "Borodino" in the opera "War and Peace" based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy, the calling "Get up, Russian people" sound so exciting, like today. and the captivating, Glinka-like singsong "In Russia, the enemy will not be native" in the cantata "Alexander Nevsky".
Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev was born in the village of Sontsovka, Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Krasnoe, Donetsk region) in the family of an agronomist. In 1914 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where his teachers were A. Lyadov, N. Rimsky-Korsakov and others outstanding composers and musicians. Prior to this, Prokofiev's musical education was led by the later famous Soviet composer R. M. Glier. According to Prokofiev himself, he heard music at home from birth. The composer's mother played the piano. In addition, she was a born teacher. She was the first to introduce her son into the world of Beethoven's sonatas, awakened in him a love for classical music.
Prokofiev's sharpest powers of observation and love for living nature happily combined with the richest creative imagination. He was a composer not because he composed music, but because he could not help but compose it. Prokofiev traveled all over Europe and America with his concerts, played before the audience of Carthage. But a cozy armchair and a desk, a modest view of the Oka in Polenov near Moscow, where the music of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (one of the composer's best creations) was created, or a quiet corner of French Brittany on the Atlantic coast, where the Third Piano Concerto was written with a wonderful lyrics of Russian themes, he preferred applause and the noise of concert halls.
He was an amazing worker. Two hours before his death, he was still sitting at his desk and finishing the last pages of his ballet "The Tale of the Stone Flower" (according to Ural tales P. Bazhov), in which, in his own words, he set as his task to sing "the joy of creative labor for the benefit of the people", to tell "about the spiritual beauty of the Russian people, about the power and incalculable riches of our nature, which are revealed only before the working man".
The scale and significance of Prokofiev's work is exceptionally great. He wrote 11 operas, 7 symphonies, 7 ballets, about 30 romances and many other works.
A discoverer of new paths in art, Prokofiev entered the history of Russian and world music as one of the most outstanding artists of the 20th century.