Prokofiev is a composer of works for children. Sergeevich Prokofiev

Russian Soviet composer pianist, conductor, music writer

short biography

Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev(April 23, 1891, Sontsovka - March 5, 1953, Moscow) - Russian Soviet composer, pianist, conductor, music writer. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1947). Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1957) and six Stalin Prizes (1943, 1946 - thrice, 1947, 1952).

Prokofiev wrote in all contemporary genres. He owns 11 operas, 7 ballets, 7 symphonies, 7 concertos for solo instrument and orchestra, 9 piano sonatas, oratorios and cantatas, chamber vocal and instrumental compositions, music for cinema and theater.

Prokofiev created his own innovative style. Innovative features compositions of both the early, foreign and Soviet periods are noted. Many of his compositions (more than 130 opuses in total) have entered the treasury of world musical culture, such as the First, Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, the First, Second and Third Piano Concertos, the operas The Love for Three Oranges (1919) and The Fiery Angel ( 1927), symphonic fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf" (1936), ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (1935), cantata "Alexander Nevsky" (1939), music for the film "Lieutenant Kizhe" (1934), "Fleeting", "Delusion ”, Seventh Sonata and other piano pieces. Prokofiev is one of the most significant and repertoire composers of the 20th century.

According to the established tradition, Russian musicologists and music writers defined S. S. Prokofiev either as a “Russian composer” or as a “Soviet composer”. In the reference literature of the USSR, for example, in the 2nd edition of the TSB (1955), in the 3rd edition of the TSB (1975) and others, Prokofiev was defined as a “Soviet composer”, in addition, in the Musical Encyclopedia (1978) - as a leading figure Soviet culture. In the post-Soviet biography of Prokofiev, the writer I. G. Vishnevetsky (2009), the hero of the book is defined as a “Russian composer”. In the BDT for cultural figures who had citizenship of the Russian Empire, Soviet Russia (USSR), who had or have citizenship of the Russian Federation, introduced single attribute - "Russian". For the first time, according to this rule, Prokofiev is defined in the definition of the BDT biographical article (2015) as a “Russian composer”.

In Western European and American encyclopaedics, Prokofiev is usually defined as a "Russian" or "Russian" composer (English Russian, German russisch, Spanish. russo etc.). Less common are definitions in which the composer is defined as “Soviet” (English Soviet, German sowjetisch, French soviétique, etc.). In the biography of Lina Prokofieva V.N. Chemberdzhi (2008) the phrase the famous Russian composer(English), published "for a whole week in all the newspapers of America" ​​and cited in a letter from Prokofiev dated January 1, 1933, is translated in a footnote as "the famous Russian composer."

In an article by musicologist S.A. Petukhova, Prokofev is referred to as “Russian composer”, while the adjective “Russian” denotes citizenship or territorial affiliation: “Russian cellists” refers to cellists from Russia. In the article by Yu. N. Kholopov on the website of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, S. S. Prokofiev is listed as a “great Russian composer”, in the article “Prokofiev’s work in Soviet theoretical musicology” (1972) as a “Soviet composer” and as a “great Russian musician ". In the monograph "Modern Features of Prokofiev's Harmony" (1967), the same author characterized Prokofiev's work as "pride Soviet music”, although at the same time he objectively described the innovative harmony of Prokofiev in its entirety his writings (including those outside the "Soviet" period of creativity).

Rector of the Moscow Conservatory A. S. Sokolov in his greetings to the participants of the International Scientific Conference and music festival dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of S. S. Prokofiev, said: “The name of the great Russian composer is known throughout the world. Prokofiev's activity took place in Russia, Europe and America.

In the collection of articles "Prokofiev Readings" (2016), regarding Prokofiev and other Russian composers, the combinations "Russian composer" and "Russian composers" are used 10 times, and "Russian composers" - only 1 time. In recent years, a stable combination of "Russian composer" in relation to S. S. Prokofiev is given in the article by O. L. Devyatova "Sergey Prokofiev in Soviet Russia: a conformist or a free artist?" (2013), in the Literaturnaya Gazeta (2016) and in the Regulations on the Open Competition of Composers Time of the Prokofievs (2017). O. L. Devyatova quoted the words of S. M. Slonimsky about the continuation by S. S. Prokofiev of the “creative line of Russian classics of the 19th century” and wrote that the composer felt himself “a truly Russian person and musician, brought up by Russian culture, its national traditions.” Thus, Prokofiev acts as a bearer and innovator of the Russian national tradition in world classical music.

Contemporaries spoke of Prokofiev as a Russian composer, which follows from the entry in the "Diary" of Stravinsky's review, expressed in Italy in 1915: "Having heard my 2nd Concerto, Toccata and 2nd Sonata, Stravinsky became extremely that I am a real Russian composer and that there are no Russian composers in Russia besides me. Prokofiev himself called himself a “Russian composer”, which is confirmed by his self-identification in a 1915 diary entry about the creation of the ballet “Jester”: “The national shade was quite clearly reflected in them. When I composed, I always thought that I was a Russian composer and my jesters were Russian, and this opened up a completely new, unopened area for me to compose.

Childhood

Sergei Prokofiev was born in the village of Sontsovka, Bakhmut district, Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Pokrovsky district, Donetsk region of Ukraine). Contrary to the date of birth indicated by many sources as April 11, April 15, 1891 is recorded in a copy of the birth certificate. Sergei Svyatoslavovich Prokofiev, the composer's grandson, who puts the name Sergei Prokofiev Jr. under his publications, insisted that "Prokofiev was not born on April 27." The composer repeatedly indicated in the "Diary" that he was born on April 23: "Yesterday was my birthday (27 years old)." "<…>I turned twenty-nine yesterday<…>". “I remembered that today I turned thirty-three years old (“What was that noise in the next room? It turned thirty-three years old for me”). Despite the fact that Prokofiev himself called the place of his birth in the Little Russian manner - "Sontsevka", the composer's biographer I. G. Vishnevetsky quoted documents from the early 1900s using the name of the village "Solntsevka".

Father, Sergei Alekseevich Prokofiev (1846-1910), came from a merchant family, studied in Moscow at the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy (1867-1871). Mother, Maria Grigoryevna (nee Zhitkova, 1855-1924), was born in St. Petersburg and graduated from the gymnasium with a gold medal. Her father was a serf of the Sheremetevs, in the middle of the 19th century he moved to St. Petersburg, married a city woman Swedish origin. The father managed the estate of his former classmate at the academy D. D. Sontsov.

A love for music was instilled in her mother, who often played music and performed mainly works by Beethoven and Chopin. Sergei first listened, and then began to sit down next to the instrument and pounded on the keys. Maria Grigorievna was a good pianist and became the first musical mentor of the future composer. Sergei's musical abilities manifested themselves in early childhood, when at the age of five and a half he composed the first tiny piece for piano "Indian gallop". This composition was notated by Maria Grigorievna, and Seryozha learned to record the subsequent pieces (rondos, waltzes, and the so-called "songs" by the child prodigy) on his own. Later, the father began to give his son lessons in mathematics, and his mother taught him French and German.

In January 1900, in Moscow, Sergei Prokofiev first listened to the operas Faust and Prince Igor and was at the ballet Sleeping Beauty, under the impression of which he conceived his own similar work. In June 1900, the opera The Giant was composed. The year 1901 was spent on composing the second opera On the Deserted Islands, but only the first act was completed. The possibilities of Maria Grigoryevna for the further musical education of her son were exhausted.

In January 1902, in Moscow, Sergei Prokofiev was introduced to S. I. Taneyev, to whom he played excerpts from the opera The Giant and the overture to Desert Shores. The composer was impressed by the abilities of the young musician and asked R. M. Gliere to study composition theory with him. In the summer of 1902 and 1903, Gliere came to Sontsevka to give lessons to Prokofiev.

The composer described in detail his childhood years before entering the conservatory in his "Autobiography" in the first part "Childhood".

Conservatory

With the move to Petersburg, a new, in Sergei Prokofiev's own words, Petersburg period of life began. Upon entering the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he presented to the commission two folders of his compositions, containing four operas, two sonatas, a symphony and piano pieces. These works are not included in the list of the composer's works by opus. Since 1904, he studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the instrumentation class of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, with A. K. Lyadov in the composition class, with J. Vitol - in musical and theoretical disciplines, with A. N. Esipova - in piano, with N. N. Cherepnin - in conducting. He graduated from the conservatory as a composer in 1909, as a pianist - in 1914, when he won the competition among the five best students of the graduation with the performance of his First Piano Concerto, op. 10, was awarded a gold medal and an honorary prize named after A. G. Rubinstein - a piano from the Schroeder factory. In the young graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory "since the beginning of the 1910s, many have seen a major Russian composer." Until 1917, inclusive, he continued his studies at the conservatory in the organ class.

During the years of study at the conservatory, he started friendly relations with composers Nikolai Myaskovsky and Boris Asafiev, met Sergei Rachmaninov. In April 1910 Sergei Prokofiev met Igor Stravinsky. During the long-term rivalry between the two composers, "each of them inevitably measured what was done with the work and success of the other."

The formation of performing skills was facilitated by rapprochement with the St. Petersburg circle "Evenings of Modern Music", at a concert of which on December 18, 1908, the first public performance as a composer and pianist took place. Originality, undoubted talent, creative imagination, extravagance, unbridled play of fantasy and ingenuity of Sergei Prokofiev were noted in the review of the debut. The reviewer attributed the young author to the "extreme direction of the modernists", who "goes much further in his boldness and originality modern French". According to the musicologist I. I. Martynov, the review exaggerated the audacity of Prokofiev, who at that time did not surpass the “modern French”. After the first success, he performed as a soloist, performing mainly his own works. In 1911, for the first time in Russia, he performed the plays by A. Schoenberg, op. 11, and in 1913 he spoke at the evening in the presence of C. Debussy during his arrival in St. Petersburg.

To strengthen the reputation of the composer, Prokofiev felt the need to perform and publish his works, began to establish contacts with famous conductors, sent several pieces to the Russian Musical Publishing House and to the famous music publisher P. I. Yurgenson, but the publishers refused. In 1911, the young composer secured a letter of recommendation from A.V. Ossovsky, insisted on a personal meeting with Jurgenson, played his piano compositions to him and received consent for their publication. Prokofiev's first published work was the Piano Sonata, op. 1, published in 1911 by the music publishing house "P. Yurgenson". At the end of February 1913, Prokofiev met S. A. Koussevitsky, who already regretted that Yurgenson was publishing the works of a promising composer. Since 1917, Prokofiev's works began to appear in the music publishing house "A. Gutheil”, which by that time belonged to Koussevitzky. Prokofiev maintained business contacts with Kusevitsky for almost a quarter of a century. Almost all of Prokofiev's works foreign period were published under the brands of his firms “A. Gutheil" or "Russian Musical Publishing House", some of Prokofiev's orchestral works were first performed under his direction.

Performances in St. Petersburg, Moscow and the concert hall of the Pavlovsky railway station strengthened the fame and fame of the young composer and pianist. In 1913, the premiere of the Second Piano Concerto caused a scandal, the audience and critics were divided into admirers and detractors. In one of the reviews, Prokofiev was called a "piano cubist and futurist."

During the second trip abroad in London in June 1914, S. S. Prokofiev met S. P. Diaghilev. Since that time, a long-term collaboration between the composer and the entrepreneur began, which continued until the death of Diaghilev in 1929. Prokofiev created four ballets for the entreprise Russian Ballets: Ala and Lolly, The Jester, Steel Lope and The Prodigal Son, the first of which was not staged.

War and two revolutions

After the outbreak of the First World War, Prokofiev worked on the creation of the opera The Gambler and the ballet Ala and Lolly. The young composer was not subject to conscription into the army, as the only son in the family.

To get acquainted with the ballet, Diaghilev called Prokofiev to Italy, but for various reasons he refused to stage Ala and Lollia and made a new order for the composer - the ballet The Jester (full title is The Tale of the Jester Who Outsmarted the Seven Jesters). On February 22 (March 7), 1915, Prokofiev's first foreign performance, organized by Diaghilev, took place in Rome, when the Second Piano Concerto with an orchestra conducted by Bernardino Molinari and several pieces for piano were performed.

The material of the score of the first ballet "Ala and Lolly" was reworked into the composition for the orchestra "Scythian Suite". To work on a new order, Diaghilev contributed to the rapprochement between Prokofiev and Stravinsky. Critics noted the influence of Stravinsky's music in the creation of the Scythian Suite and the ballet The Jester. The "Scythian Suite" was regarded by Prokofiev and his closest friends Myaskovsky and Asafiev "as the largest and most significant of the orchestral works written by him so far", "but the public still perceived it as a manifestation of musical extremism." The premiere of the "Scythian Suite" on January 16 (29), 1916 caused even more noisy scandal and protests than the Second Piano Concerto, which was like a bomb explosion. Despite its merits, the suite is still not one of the composer's popular works. Great difficulties accompanied the production of the opera The Gambler, the first edition of which was completed in 1916, and the world premiere took place in the second edition in 1929.

The compositions of small forms of this period also have no less artistic merit: the cycle of piano pieces “Sarcasms”, the fairy tale for voice and piano “The Ugly Duckling”, the cycle of romances to the words of Anna Akhmatova, op. 27, "Fleeting". Despite the halo of avant-garde fame, before leaving Russia, Prokofiev created significant works that continued both European and Russian classical traditions - the First Violin Concerto and the Classical Symphony dedicated to B.V. Asafiev, as an example of a transparent-sounding symphonic score and an "anti-romantic concept symphonism in new conditions and on Russian soil. Nevertheless, noting the acquaintance of the young Shostakovich with the music of Stravinsky and the early Prokofiev when creating the Es-dur Scherzo, Op. 7 (1923-1924), Krzysztof Meyer mentioned his first disagreements with Steinberg: "The teacher wanted to see him as a continuer of the Russian tradition, and not just another - after Stravinsky and Prokofiev - its destroyer, a composer with suspicious modernist inclinations."

Overseas period

At the end of 1917, Prokofiev thought about leaving Russia, writing in his Diary:

Go to America! Certainly! Here - souring, there - life is the key, here - massacre and game, there - cultural life, here - miserable concerts in Kislovodsk, there - New York, Chicago. There are no hesitation. I'm going in the spring. If only America did not feel enmity towards separate Russians! And under this flag I met New Year. Will he fail my wishes?

S. S. Prokofiev. Diary. 1907-1918.

On May 7, 1918, Prokofiev left Moscow by Siberian Express and arrived in Tokyo on June 1. In Japan, he performed as a pianist with two concerts in Tokyo and one in Yokohama, which, according to the entrepreneur A. D. Strok, went ingloriously and brought little money. For two months, the composer sought an American visa, and on August 2 he sailed for the United States. On September 6, Prokofiev arrived in New York, where in the autumn of 1918 he completed his first work of the foreign period, Tales of an Old Grandmother.

Conventionally, since work on some works was conceived or started earlier, the chronological framework of Prokofiev's period abroad is determined from 1918 to 1935 until his final move to Moscow in 1936. Among the major works of this period, the operas The Love for Three Oranges (1919), The Fiery Angel (1919-1927), the ballets The Steel Lope (1925), The Prodigal Son (1928), and On the Dnieper "(1930), second (1925), third (1928) and fourth (1930) symphonies; third (1917-1921), fourth (1931) and fifth (1932) piano concertos. The list of major works of the composer of the foreign period is completed by the second violin concerto (1935).

In the second half of the 1920s and in the first half of the 1930s, Prokofiev toured extensively in America and Europe as a pianist (he performed mainly own compositions), occasionally also as a conductor (only his own compositions); in 1927, 1929 and 1932 - in the USSR. In 1932 he recorded in London his Third Concerto (with the London Symphony Orchestra) and in 1935 in Paris - a number of his own piano pieces and arrangements. This exhausts the legacy of Prokofiev the pianist.

In the spring of 1925, Prokofiev became close and soon became friends with Dukelsky, whom he had previously met in America. By this time is written in the "Diary" of the composer famous saying Diaghilev about Prokofiev as the second son: “I, like Noah, have three sons: Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Dukelsky. You, Serge, excuse me that you had to be the second son!

During Prokofiev's long stay abroad, the travel certificate issued by A.V. Lunacharsky in 1918 expired, and the composer lost Soviet citizenship. Based on this fact, despite the fact that Prokofiev showed his apathy and did not join the White movement, the composer is ranked among the Russian emigration of the first wave. In 1927, the Prokofievs received Soviet passports, which were necessary for their first tour of the USSR. Simon Morrison mentioned that the Prokofiev couple had Nansen passports. In 1929, in Paris, Prokofiev asked for new Soviet passports for himself and his wife to replace the expired Nansen ones without cancellation and wrote down in the "Diary" the words of I. L. Arens, who warned the composer about possible problems with documents: "<…>not us, of course, will trouble you, but you may have difficulties with the foreign police when they find out that you have two passports. Igor Vishnevetsky pointed out that Sergei and Lina Prokofiev kept Nansen's documents until 1938, which became in demand for the composer's tours in the winter of 1935/36 in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

IN THE USSR

In 1936, Prokofiev and his family finally moved to the USSR and settled in Moscow. In the future, the composer went abroad only twice: in the seasons of 1936/37 and 1938/39. In 1936, at the initiative of Natalia Sats, he wrote a symphonic fairy tale for the Central Children's Theater Peter and the Wolf ”(the premiere took place on May 2, 1936), the main purpose of which was didactic - a demonstration of tools symphony orchestra.

During the Great Patriotic War Prokofiev worked extensively on the ballet Cinderella, the 5th symphony, the piano sonatas No. 7, 8, 9, the sonata for flute and piano. According to Krzysztof Meyer, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony "has entered the list of the most outstanding works thematically connected with the tragedy of World War II". The most important work of the war period was the opera "War and Peace" by novel of the same name Lev Tolstoy . Prokofiev wrote music for the films "Alexander Nevsky" (1938) and "Ivan the Terrible" (in two series, 1944-1945), testifying to his exceptionally high compositional skill.

In February 1948, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks issued a resolution “On the opera The Great Friendship by V. Muradeli”, in which leading Soviet composers (Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Myaskovsky, Popov, Shebalin, Khachaturian) were sharply criticized for “formalism”. A number of Prokofiev's works were banned for execution by a secret order of the Committee for Arts. On March 16, 1949, on Stalin's personal order, this secret order was canceled, and the official press began to evaluate the actions of the 1948 Committee as "some excesses."

In the wake of the decree, from April 19 to April 25, 1948, the First Congress of the Union of Composers of the USSR was held, where the main persecutors of Prokofiev were his former close friend B.V. Asafiev, the young composer and secretary of the USSR IC T.N. with formalism” was the musicologist B. M. Yarustovsky. In Khrennikov's extensive report at the congress, many of Prokofiev's works were criticized, including his 6th Symphony (1946) and the opera The Tale of a Real Man. If the 6th Symphony eventually gained recognition as a Prokofiev masterpiece, then The Tale of a Real Man, an opera that is non-standard and experimental, remains underestimated.

Since 1949, Prokofiev hardly left his dacha, but even under the strictest medical regime he wrote a sonata for cello and piano, the ballet The Tale of the Stone Flower, a symphony-concert for cello and orchestra, the oratorio On Guard of the World, and much more. The last essay, which the composer happened to hear in the concert hall, was the Seventh Symphony (1952). At the end of the film “Sergei Prokofiev. Suite of life. Opus 2 (1991), Evgeny Svetlanov noted that Prokofiev became a real classic during his lifetime, like Haydn and Mozart. The composer worked on the day of his death, as evidenced by the date and time on the manuscript with the completion of the duet of Katerina and Danila from the ballet "Stone Flower".

Prokofiev died in Moscow in a communal apartment in Kamergersky Lane from a hypertensive crisis on March 5, 1953. Since he died on the day of Stalin's death, his death went almost unnoticed, and relatives and colleagues of the composer faced great difficulties in organizing the funeral. S. S. Prokofiev was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (plot No. 3). In memory of the composer, a memorial plaque was erected on the house in Kamergersky Lane (sculptor M. L. Petrova).

On December 11, 2016 in Moscow in Kamergersky Lane at the opening of the monument to the composer, timed to coincide with the 125th anniversary of his birth, Valery Gergiev said that nowadays Prokofiev is perceived as Tchaikovsky, is the Mozart of the 20th century: “There were no such melodists as Prokofiev, in the 20th century. Composers equal to the talent of Sergei Sergeevich will not appear on earth soon.”

Creation

Musical legacy

Prokofiev went down in history as an innovator of the musical language. The originality of his style is most noticeable in the area harmony. Despite the fact that Prokofiev remained an adherent of the extended major-minor tonality and did not share the radicalism of the New Viennese school, the "Prokofiev" style of harmony is unmistakably recognizable by ear. The specificity of Prokofiev's harmony developed already in the course of early experiments: in Sarcasm (1914, op. 17 No. 5), for example, he used a dissonant chord as a tonic function and a variable meter (according to the author himself, the image of "evil laughter"), in at the end of the piano piece "Delusion" (op. 4 No. 4) - a chromatic cluster (cis / d / dis / e), uniting the sounds (pitch) of the “obsessive” phrase being played. Throughout his life, Prokofiev used a special form of dominant, later called "Prokofiev's", in the main form and in varieties. Prokofiev's new tonality is also characterized by linear chords (for example, in the first "Fleeting"), which are not explained by the acoustic relationship of the conjugated harmonies, but are a consequence of the composer's polyphony of different darks.

Recognizable and specific rhythm Prokofiev, which is especially evident in his piano compositions such as Toccata op. 11, “Obsession”, the Seventh Sonata (with a finale based on the rhythmic ostinato on 7/8), etc. No less recognizable is the “anti-romantic” feature of the rhythm - the famous Prokofiev “motority” characteristic of piano compositions before Soviet period(Scherzo from the Second Piano Concerto, Allegro from the Third Piano Concerto, Toccata, etc.). The performance of such "motor" compositions requires impeccable rhythmic discipline, high concentration of attention, and technical mastery from the pianist.

The originality of Prokofiev's style is also manifested in orchestration. Some of his compositions are characterized by super-powerful sounds based on dissonant brass and complex polyphonic patterns of the string group. This is especially felt in the 2nd (1924) and 3rd (1928) symphonies, as well as in the operas The Gambler, The Fiery Angel and The Love for Three Oranges.

Prokofiev's innovation did not always find understanding among the public. From the very beginning musical career and throughout Prokofiev, critics did not skimp on negative feedback. In the first decades of the 20th century, L. L. Sabaneev succeeded in this. During the premiere of the Scythian Suite (Petersburg, 1916), the stunning elemental force of music plunged the listener into “horror and awe” (V. G. Karatygin), some of the audience left the hall, including the then director of the conservatory, composer A. K. Glazunov.

Especially unlucky melodies which Prokofiev's critics found "intolerably banal", while the opposite was true. Thus, in Prokofiev's works it is almost impossible to find sequences typical of the romantics, which personified banality in the composer's "anti-romantic" aesthetics. Textbook examples of Prokofiev's lyrical melody - the second theme from the finale of the Third Piano Concerto (Cis-dur / cis-moll, c.110 and beyond), New Year's Ball Waltz from the opera "War and Peace" (h-moll; included in the orchestral suite "Waltzes ”, op. 110), a side part from part I of the Seventh Symphony (F-dur, starting from v.5 after v.4), a complex of short themes related to the lyrical characterization of Juliet (in the ballet Romeo and Juliet) and etc. It is characteristic that Prokofiev rarely used authentic folk prototypes in melody, and in the case when it was necessary to present the melody in Russian style, fundamentally composed "Russian melodies" himself. For example, to create the color of urban romance in the music for the film "Lieutenant Kizhe", Prokofiev took the text of the most popular Russian song "The Dove Dove is Moaning", but at the same time he did not borrow the well-known melody, but came up with his own - no less bright and memorable. All themes in the cantata "Alexander Nevsky" are also original, not based on any "folk" borrowings. However, when writing the Overture on Jewish Themes, op. 34, the composer did not hesitate to use the melodies of Eastern European Jews provided by the clarinetist S. Beilison. Prokofiev borrowed themes for the Second String Quartet (the so-called Kabardian Quartet) from the music of the peoples of the North Caucasus.

Prokofiev was sensitive to his own music and, if possible, used his findings more than once. When re-used, the degree of change in the source material varied from a simple change in the performing cast (for example, a piano arrangement of March from the opera "The Love for Three Oranges") and re-orchestration (The Departure of Guests from "Romeo and Juliet" - a slightly modified Gavotte from the "Classic" written 20 years earlier symphony") to a deep revision of parts and "completion" of new music (as in the case of the First Cello Concerto, which, after a deep revision, was embodied in the Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra). The reason for re-use was often the failure or "cold reception" of the premiere performance, which the composer perceived as his own flaw in the fundamentally high-quality material. So, musical material the opera "Fiery Angel" was included in the Third Symphony, the ballet "Prodigal Son" - in the Fourth Symphony. Often, Prokofiev composed orchestral and/or piano suites of short duration from the music of ballets and operas, the music of which (like suites from Romeo and Juliet, The Jester, Three Oranges, Seeds of Kotko, Cinderella, etc. .) after such a reduction really became repertoire.

literary heritage

Prokofiev possessed outstanding literary abilities, which manifested themselves in Autobiography, Diary, stories, opera librettos, on the basis of which the composer is characterized as a music writer. literary heritage Prokofiev testifies to the optimism, wit, and brilliant sense of humor characteristic of the composer's creative nature.

"Autobiography", covering the period of life from birth to 1909, is, despite the modest title, a completely finished literary work. Prokofiev carefully worked on the text for 15 years. The first part of the book "Childhood" was completed in 1939, the second part "Conservatory" was created from 1945 to 1950 with a break in 1947-1948. In the "Short Autobiography", completed in 1941, the biography covers the period up to 1936.

The "Diary", which Prokofiev kept from the beginning of September 1907 to June 1933, provides rich material for studying the life and work of the composer. In 2002, Svyatoslav Prokofiev wrote: “Prokofiev’s diary is a unique work that has full right get your opus number in his catalog".

The unique project "Wooden Book" stands apart - an album with a cover of two boards, ordered by Prokofiev in 1916. From 1916 to 1921, famous cultural figures, "the best representatives of almost all trends in the art of the early 20th century," recorded in an album their answers to a single question: "What do you think of the sun?" In the “Wooden Book”, out of a total of 48 celebrities, in particular, Balmont, Mayakovsky, Chaliapin, Stravinsky, Anna Dostoevskaya, Petrov-Vodkin, Burliuk, Remizov, Prishvin, Alekhine, Jose Raul Capablanca, Larionov, Goncharova, Arthur Rubinstein, Reinhold Glier , Mikhail Fokin.

Personality

From the time of his studies at the conservatory, Prokofiev strove to be in the spotlight and often demonstrated his outrageousness. Contemporaries noted that even appearance Prokofiev, who allowed himself bright, catchy colors and combinations in clothes. The surviving photographs testify to the composer's elegance and the ability to dress with taste.

In 1954, Shostakovich wrote: “S. S. Prokofiev’s labor discipline was really amazing, and, which was incomprehensible to many, he simultaneously worked on several works.” In addition to studying music, the composer had a great interest in chess and literature. Possessing the gift of a rich imagination, Prokofiev from his youth used to switch intellectual activity from composing music to solving chess problems or literary creativity. During the Russo-Japanese War, attention young musician chained the navy, and the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Conservatory was presented as a sea dock, "into which a cruiser will now be introduced for repair." Around the same time, Prokofiev wrote the end of the poem "The Count". If Prokofiev had not become a composer, he would have had enough reasons to become a writer, and he did not part with chess from early childhood until the last years of his life.

Chess

The cult of precision, which Prokofiev professed from childhood to the end of his life, found expression in his passion for chess. The composer's "Autobiography" contains the first of the surviving author's manuscripts of children's musical compositions, made in 1898, on the back of which the position of the unfinished chess game. In the same place, Prokofiev proudly describes the draw with Emanuel Lasker in 1909 in St. Petersburg and gives a recording of the game Lasker - Prokofiev in 1933 in Paris, which he lost.

Prokofiev was a rather strong chess player, and his match with David Oistrakh in Moscow in 1937, won by the violinist with a minimum margin of 4:3, aroused great public interest. Edward Winter ( Edward Winter) lists some of Prokofiev's meetings at the board with famous chess players:

• in May 1914, during simultaneous playing sessions in St. Petersburg with José Raul Capablanca, the composer won one game and lost two
• in February 1922 in a simultaneous game in New York with Capablanca
• in 1918 and 1931 with Misha Elman
• winter 1921/22 in Chicago with Eduard Lasker
• in 1933 in Paris with Savely Tartakower
• November 9, 1937 at a chess match in Moscow with David Oistrakh.

The composer's aphorisms are known: "Chess for me is a special world, a world of struggle of plans and passions" and "Chess is the music of thought." Innovation was characteristic of Prokofiev's creative nature from an early age, when in January 1905 the young man "rushed about with the idea of ​​transferring chess from a square board to a hexagonal one, which would have hexagonal fields." Despite the fact that “the invention was not thought through to the end”, since the movements of the rook and bishop were unexpectedly similar, and “the move of the pawn is completely unclear”, later the idea was embodied in the creation of “nine chess” with a board on 24x24 squares and rules of the game with using nine sets of figures.

Relationships with other composers

D. B. Kabalevsky wrote that such different and unlike remarkable musicians of our time N. Ya. Myaskovsky and S. S. Prokofiev were connected by a deep and long friendship.

The musical styles of S. V. Rakhmaninov and S. S. Prokofiev also differed significantly. In the documentary "Geniuses. Sergei Prokofiev” in 2003, Svyatoslav Prokofiev spoke about the relationship between the two composers as follows: “They had a completely correct relationship, but they did not mutually love the music of the other. And what is funny, both treated each other with slight condescension. Prokofiev recorded Prelude No. 5, Op. 23 g-moll Rachmaninov. Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev have always acted as rivals, which is confirmed by the words of Svyatoslav Prokofiev. In the same film, musicologist Viktor Varunts noted that Prokofiev was offended by the recognition of Stravinsky's work throughout Europe, which Prokofiev failed to achieve.

Prokofiev's attitude towards Shostakovich was generally skeptical, especially in the pre-war period, as some of Prokofiev's scathing comments about his music confirm. One such case was cited by D. B. Kabalevsky: “After the first performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, Prokofiev, in the presence of the author, sharply criticized this work, which he clearly did not like, and, at the same time, attacked everyone who praised him.” Shostakovich closely followed the work of his senior colleague, a year after whose death he highly appreciated his contribution to the treasury of Russian musical art: “ genius composer, he developed creative heritage left to us by the great luminaries of Russian musical classics - Glinka, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rakhmaninov.” Mstislav Rostropovich studied with Shostakovich for three years in the instrumentation class, then worked closely with Prokofiev on the creation of the Symphony Concerto for Cello, op. 125. Talking about the "magic chain" of composers in his creative destiny, the cellist noted that Shostakovich worked on the Cello Concerto No. 1 Es-dur, op. 107 (1959), "inspired, as it turned out, by Prokofiev's music in my performance". Krzysztof Meyer noted that this instrumental concert marked Shostakovich's exit from the crisis and undoubtedly was a new word in his work: "According to his modest confession, he wrote under the influence of Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto, intending to try his hand at this new genre for himself."

Christian Science

In early June 1924, Sergei and Lina Prokofiev learned about the miraculous healings performed by adherents of Christian Science. The composer's wife decided to turn to a healer to improve her condition after childbirth. Prokofiev also resorted to the help of Christian Science adherents, as he himself was troubled by his heart and headaches. Subsequently, as Prokofiev wrote in his Diary, the methods of Christian Science helped him and his wife get rid of their fear of speaking. Further reading of the book by Mary Baker Eddy "Science and Health" ( science and health) contributed to the formation of Prokofiev's own attitude to God, man, to the concepts of good and evil.

According to N. P. Savkina, Prokofiev's passion for Christian Science was significant and, in particular, explains his final decision to return to the USSR. Savkina wrote about the role of the teachings of M. Baker Eddy in the life of Prokofiev: “You can share the religious views of the composer or consider them naive, agree with the provisions of Christian Science or, like Mark Twain and Stefan Zweig, ironically over them. However, the composer's constant spiritual work, his tireless striving for self-improvement deserves the deepest respect. He made his choice and took responsibility for it."

According to I. G. Vishnevetsky, Prokofiev chose the spiritual practice of Christian Science in the need to explain the structure of the world with a higher harmonic design, to determine a clear and pure path.

Despite the fact that before the publication of the "Diary" in 2002, biographers, possibly excluding N. P. Savkina, did not have data on the use of M. Baker Eddy's movement techniques by the composer, some musicians, in particular I. G. Sokolov, about the influence of Christian science on the personality of Prokofiev was known back in Soviet times. A more complete assessment of Prokofiev's personality can be made by researchers after 2053, when, according to the composer's will, access to all his archives will be opened.

reception

Grades and place in culture

Prokofiev is ranked among the most performed authors of the 20th century. D. D. Shostakovich gave a high assessment of the work of S. S. Prokofiev: “I am happy and proud that I had the good fortune to witness the brilliant flowering of Prokofiev’s genius ... I will never get tired of listening to his music to study his precious experience.

Alfred Schnittke spoke of Prokofiev as one of the the greatest composers in Russian musical history, cited the “pair” of Prokofiev and Shostakovich as an example of the competition of two principles in the history of music. According to Schnittke, both composers belonged to the Russian musical culture: "This is undoubted, and for me Shostakovich is no less a Russian composer than Prokofiev, who outwardly bears much more signs of Russian music." Schnittke's composition "Dedication to Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich" for piano in 6 hands of 1979 is known.

A similar assessment was given by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, for whom the music of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Stravinsky represents a Russian phenomenon: "And it is precisely because it is Russian that it is international."

2016 was declared the Year of Prokofiev in Russia.

Music use and plagiarism

In the West, Prokofiev's music is sometimes used as a background in describing the Russian way of life and, more broadly, for the symbolic embodiment of the "Russian soul". In this sense, the American film director (Love and Death, 1975) and the English rock musician Sting used Prokofiev's music for the film Lieutenant Kizhe in their song The Russians (1985). Similarly, the "Dance of the Knights" from "Romeo and Juliet" is used in the song by Robbie Williams Party Like a Russian.The director of the film "Conan the Barbarian" asked the composer, when creating the main character's leitmotif, to write music stylistically close to "Ala and Lollia", a Scythian suite, Op. 20.

In the 2016 film Prokofiev is Ours, the American musicologist Simon Morrison stated his confidence that several fragments from Prokofiev’s suite Lieutenant Kizhe, repeated in the film Avatar, testify not to a coincidence, but to 100% plagiarism of the only genius in the 20th century regarding melody in music.

It is unlikely that the neighborhood among the mentioned persons would have been positively perceived and flattered by the composer, who from childhood decided to compose only serious music. Noting the presence of two different professions- "composer" (English composer) and "Hollywood composer" (English Hollywood-composer) - Schnittke spoke about Prokofiev's work in cinema in the following words: “In the modern West, not a single decent, self-respecting composer works in cinema. The cinema cannot but dictate its conditions to the composer. The case of S. Eisenstein and S. Prokofiev is the only one, perhaps there are still individual exceptions. But already D. Shostakovich obeyed the dictates of the director. There's nothing you can do - this is not the dictates of an evil director, but the specifics of the genre.

Music by S. S. Prokofiev was used in productions musical theater, in particular:

• "Russian soldier" - one-act ballet M. M. Fokina to the music of the suite "Lieutenant Kizhe", premiered on January 23, 1942 in Boston
• "Scythian Suite (Ala and Lolly)" - a one-act ballet by G. D. Aleksidze, premiered on July 6, 1969 at the S. M. Kirov Theater
• "Ivan the Terrible" - a two-act ballet by choreographer Y. N. Grigorovich to the composer's music for the film of the same name by S. M. Eisenstein, revised by M. I. Chulaki, first shown on February 20, 1975 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, set design by S. B. Virsaladze
• "Violin Concerto No. 2" - a one-act ballet by choreographer Anton Pimonov to the music of the composer's work of the same name; the premiere took place on July 4, 2016 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, set design by Anastasia Travkina and Sergey Zhdanov, costumes by Arina Bogdanova

Family

In 1919, Prokofiev met the Spanish (Catalan) chamber singer Lina Kodina, in 1923 he married her in the German city of Ettal, while the wife took her husband's surname. In 1936, Prokofiev, with his wife and sons Svyatoslav and Oleg, finally moved to the USSR and settled in Moscow.

S. S. Prokofiev and M. A. Mendelson. Nikolina Gora, 1946

In 1938, Prokofiev met a student at the Literary Institute, Mira Alexandrovna Mendelson, who volunteered to help him translate Sheridan and prepare the libretto for the opera Betrothal in a Monastery. Communication outgrew the framework of the creative community of the composer and librettist, and from March 1941 Prokofiev began to live with Mendelssohn separately from his family. A few years later, the Soviet government declared marriages concluded outside the USSR with foreigners who were not certified by the consulates invalid. On January 15, 1948, Prokofiev formally married Mira Mendelssohn without filing a divorce from Lina Prokofieva (according to S. Morrison, January 13). Subsequently, as a result of the trial, both marriages were recognized as valid, and, according to the statements of the son of the composer Svyatoslav and V.N. Chemberdzhi, the term "Prokofiev's Incident". In 1948, Lina Prokofieva was convicted under Article 58 and sentenced to 20 years in strict regime camps; rehabilitated only after the death of Prokofiev - in 1956. During the years of the mother's imprisonment, the children of Prokofiev were not taken into the family by the newlyweds and for the most part were left to their own devices.

• Wife - Prokofieva, Lina Ivanovna (Lina Lubera, 1897-1989)
  • Son - Prokofiev, Svyatoslav Sergeevich (1924-2010)
    • Grandson - Prokofiev, Sergei Svyatoslavovich (born 1954)
  • Son - Prokofiev, Oleg Sergeevich (1928-1998)
    • Grandson - Prokofiev, Sergei Olegovich (1954-2014)
    • Grandson - Prokofiev, Gabriel (born 1975)
• Wife - Mendelssohn, Mira Alexandrovna (Mendelssohn-Prokofieva, 1915-1968)

Compositions

operas

• "The Giant" (written by a 9-year-old composer, this opera is staged in a number of theaters to this day).
• "On the Deserted Islands" (1901-1903, Overture and Act 1 written in three scenes)
• "Maddalena" (1911; 2nd edition 1913)
• The Gambler (after F. M. Dostoevsky, premiere in the 2nd edition, in French, 1929, Brussels)
• "Love for Three Oranges" (after K. Gozzi, 1921, Chicago; 1926, Leningrad)
• “Fiery Angel” (after V. Ya. Bryusov, fragments in concert performance 1928, Paris; world premiere (in Italian) 1955, Venice)
• "Semyon Kotko" (according to V.P. Kataev, 1940, Moscow)
• “Betrothal in a monastery”, other names. Duenna (after R. Sheridan, 1946, Leningrad)
• "War and Peace" (according to L. N. Tolstoy), 1943; final revision 1952; 1946, Leningrad; 1955, ibid.; 2012, Moscow)
• "The Tale of a Real Man" (according to B.P. Polevoy, closed performance at a rehearsal 1948, Leningrad; performance edited by M. Ermler and G. Rozhdestvensky 1960, Moscow; concert performance (with cuts) conducted by V. Gergiev 2002, Rotterdam ; world premiere full version operas conducted by A. Lubchenko 2015, Vladivostok)

ballets

• "The Tale of the Jester Who Outwitted Seven Jesters" (1921, Paris)
• Trapeze (1925, Gotha), to the music of the Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass g-moll, op. 39, with the addition of 2 additional parts
• "Steel lope" (1927, Paris)
• "The Prodigal Son" (1929, ibid.)
• "On the Dnieper" (1932, Paris Opera),
• "Romeo and Juliet" (according to W. Shakespeare; 1938, Brno, to the music of the first and second suites; premiere of the full version - 1940, Leningrad)
• "Cinderella" (1945, Moscow)
• "The Tale of the Stone Flower" (according to P.P. Bazhov; 1954, Moscow)

For choir and soloists with orchestra

• “Seven of them”, cantata. Prokofiev's original subtitle: "Chaldean spell for soloist, choir and orchestra" (words by K. D. Balmont in Prokofiev's alteration, 1917-1918)
• Cantata for the 20th anniversary of October. On the texts of K. Marx, V. I. Lenin and I. V. Stalin (1936-1937)
• "Alexander Nevsky", cantata (words by Prokofiev and V. A. Lugovsky, 1939)
• "Toast", cantata for the 60th anniversary of Stalin (the words "folk", 1939)
• “Flourish, mighty land!”, cantata for choir and orchestra
• "The Ballad of the Boy Who Remained Unknown", cantata for choir, soloists and orchestra to words by P. Antokolsky
• "Winter Bonfire", suite for orchestra and children's choir(words by S. Ya. Marshak, 1949)
• "Songs of Our Days", cantata for soloists and orchestra
• “On guard of the world”, oratorio (words by S. Ya. Marshak, 1950)

for orchestra

• Symphony No. 1
• Symphony No. 2
• Symphony No. 3
• Symphony No. 4
• Symphony No. 5
• Symphony No. 6
• Symphony No. 7
• Ala and Lolly (Scythian Suite, 1915)
• "Peter and the Wolf" (author's subtitle: Symphonic Tale for Children; 1936)
• Pushkin Waltzes (1949)
• Three suites to the music of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (1936, 1936, 1946)

Film music

• "Lieutenant Kizhe" (1934)
• The Queen of Spades (1936; the film burned down in the fire of Mosfilm)
• "Alexander Nevsky" (1938)
• "Partisans in the steppes of Ukraine" (1941)
• "Kotovsky" (1942)
• "Tonya" (from the collection "Our Girls", 1942)
• "Lermontov" (1943; together with V. Pushkov)
• "Ivan the Terrible" (1945)

For instrument with orchestra

• for piano and orchestra

Piano Concerto No. 1 Des-dur, op. 10 (1912) Piano Concerto No. 2 in g-moll, op. 16 (1913; 2nd edition, 1923) Piano Concerto No. 3 in C-dur, op. 26 (1921) Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-dur, op. 53 (1931; for the left hand) Piano Concerto No. 5 in G-dur, op. 55 (1932)

• for violin and orchestra

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D-dur, op. 19 (1917) Violin Concerto No. 2 in g-moll, op. 63 (1935)

• for cello and orchestra

Concerto for cello and orchestra, op. 58 (1938; 2nd ed. under the title Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, op.125, 1952)

For instrumental ensemble

• Overture on Jewish Themes in c-moll, op. 34 (1919)
• Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass g-moll, op. 39 (1924)
• Two Sonatas for Violin and Piano (Second is an arrangement of the Sonata for Flute and Piano)
• Sonata for violin solo
• Sonata for two violins (1932)
• Sonata for cello and piano
• Sonata for flute
• Two string quartet

for piano

• Sonata No. 1 in F minor - op. 1 (1907-1909)
• 4 studies for piano - op. 2 (1909)
• 4 pieces for piano - op. 3 (1907-1908)
• 4 pieces for piano - op. 4 (1908)
• Toccata in D minor - op. 11 (1912)
• 10 pieces for piano - op. 12 (1906-1913)
• Sonata No. 2 in D minor - op. 14 (1912)
• "Sarcasms" - op. 17 (1912-1914; premiered 1916)
• "Fleeting" - op. 22 (1915-1917)
• Sonata No. 3 in A minor - op. 28 (1907-1917)
• Sonata No. 4 in C minor - 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 - op. 38 (1923)
• Divertissement - op. 43b (1938)
• 6 transcriptions for piano - op. 52 (1930-1931)
• 2 sonatinas for piano - op. 54 (1931-1932)
• 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 - op. 82 (1939-1940)
• Sonata No. 7 in B flat major - op. 83 (1939-1942)
• Sonata No. 8 in B flat major - 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 - op. 103 (1947)

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

Unfinished compositions

• Concerto No. 6 for two pianos and orchestra
• Concertino for cello and orchestra (1952, finale completed by M. Rostropovich, instrumentation performed by D. Kabalevsky)
• Opera "Distant Seas" after V. A. Dykhovichny (the first painting, written in the summer of 1948, has been preserved; concert performance: 2009, Moscow)
• Sonata for cello solo, op. 133

Literary writings

• Brief autobiography. In: S. S. Prokofiev. Materials, documents, memoirs. Comp., ed., note. and intro. articles by S. I. Shlifshtein. 2nd ed. M., 1961
• Autobiography. 2nd ed. M.: Soviet composer, 1982
  • Autobiography. M.: Classics XXI, 2007 (2nd extended edition, with audio supplement)
• Diary 1907-1933: in 3 volumes. Paris: sprkfv, 2002
• Stories. Moscow: Composer, 2003

Discography

A complete cycle of all Prokofiev's ballets was recorded by G. N. Rozhdestvensky. The most large-scale cycle of Prokofiev's operas (6 operas out of 8) was recorded under the direction of V. A. Gergiev. Among other conductors who made significant recordings of Prokofiev's operas are D. Barenboim, G. Bertini, I. Kertes, E. Kolobov, A. N. Lazarev, A. Sh. Melik-Pashaev, K. Nagano, A. Rodzinsky, G N. Rozhdestvensky, M. L. Rostropovich, T. Sokhiev, B. Haitink, R. Hickox, M. F. Ermler, V. M. Yurovsky, N. Yarvi.

A complete cycle of Prokofiev's symphonies was recorded by V. Weller, V. A. Gergiev, D. Kitaenko, Z. Koshler, T. Kuchar, J. Martinon, S. Ozawa, G. N. Rozhdestvensky, M. L. Rostropovich, N. Yarvi .

Among other conductors who made significant recordings of Prokofiev's symphonies are N. P. Anosov, E. Ansermet, C. Ancherl (No. 1), V. D. Ashkenazy, L. Bernstein, A. Dorati (No. 5), K. K Ivanov, G. von Karajan, R. Kempe (No. 7), K. P. Kondrashin (No. 1, 3, 5), S. Koussevitzky (No. 1, 5), E. Leinsdorf (No. 2, 3, 5) , 6), D. Mitropoulos, E. A. Mravinsky (No. 5, 6), D. F. Oistrakh (No. 5), Y. Ormandi, S. A. Samosud, E. F. Svetlanov, K. Tenstedt.

Significant recordings of Prokofiev's piano works were made by pianists Svyatoslav Richter (sonatas, concertos), Vladimir Ashkenazy (all concerts with the orchestra conducted by Andre Previn), John Browning (all concerts, conductor - Erich Leinsdorf), Vladimir Krainev (all concerts, conductor - Dmitry Kitayenko ), Victoria Postnikova (all concerts, conductor - Gennady Rozhdestvensky), Nikolai Petrov (sonatas), Alexander Toradze (all concerts with Valery Gergiev).

In 2016, in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the birth of S. S. Prokofiev, the Melodiya company released a jubilee set of recordings of seven ballets by the composer conducted by G. N. Rozhdestvensky and a rare 1938 recording of the performance of the Second Suite from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, op. 64 ter under the control of S. S. Prokofiev.

Titles, awards and prizes

• Six Stalin Prizes:
  • 1943 - II degree for the 7th sonata
  • 1946 - I degree for the 5th symphony and 8th sonata
  • 1946 - I degree for the music for the 1st series of the film "Ivan the Terrible"
  • 1946 - I degree for the ballet "Cinderella"
  • 1947 - I degree for sonata for violin and piano
  • 1951 - II degree for the vocal and symphonic suite "Winter Bonfire" and the oratorio "On Guard of the World" to the verses of S. Ya. Marshak
• 1933 - Honorary Professor of the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky
• 1943 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor
• 1944 - Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society
• 1947 - People's Artist of the RSFSR Retrieved June 3, 2017.
• 1947 - Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
• 1957 - Lenin Prize awarded posthumously for the 7th Symphony

Perpetuation of the composer's memory

Jubilee coin of the USSR, dedicated to S. S. Prokofiev, 1991, 1 ruble

Postage stamp of the USSR, dedicated to S. S. Prokofiev, 1991, 15 kopecks (TsFA 6314, Scott 5993)

• The Museum of S. S. Prokofiev is the first museum of the composer, which was opened in 1966 at the music school No. 1 named after S. S. Prokofiev in Moscow (Tokmakov lane, 8). The exposition tells about the life and work of the composer, it presents the things that surrounded the composer, books and notes, pianos, furniture and photographs of the Prokofiev family.
• Severodonetsk regional School of Music named after S. S. Prokofiev - opened on June 1, 1966 in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region.
• Moscow Regional College of Music named after S. S. Prokofiev in Pushkino.
• The Museum of S. S. Prokofiev - was opened on June 24, 2008 in Moscow in Kamergersky Lane, 6/5 in apartment No. 6. It is engraved on the memorial plaque: “In this house in 1947-1953 the outstanding Soviet composer Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev lived and worked ". The museum contains musical and literary autographs of the composer, rare photographs, documents and personal belongings of Prokofiev.
• On December 11, 2016, a monument to Prokofiev was unveiled in Kamergersky Lane, timed to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the composer's birth.
• The Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev International Competition in St. Petersburg, which is held annually in three specialties: composition, symphony conducting and piano.
• Monument to Prokofiev near the Prokofiev Music School in Moscow (1991, sculptor - V. Kh. Dumanyan, architect - A. V. Stepanov).
• Monument and concert hall named after Prokofiev in Chelyabinsk.
• Concert Hall named after S. S. Prokofiev of the Donetsk Philharmonic.
• Donetsk State Music Academy named after S. S. Prokofiev.
• Symphony Orchestra named after S. S. Prokofiev of the Donetsk Philharmonic.
• Children's Art School No. 1 named after S. Prokofiev in Vladivostok
• Children's School of Music No. 10 named after S. S. Prokofiev in Azov.
• Prokofiev street in Sumy in Ukraine.
• The Prokofiev Museum in the composer's homeland in the village of Sontsovka (from the 1920s until 2016 - Krasnoe) of the Pokrovsky district of the Donetsk region in Ukraine was opened for the 100th anniversary of Prokofiev in 1991.
• In 1991, a commemorative coin of the USSR was issued, dedicated to the centenary of the birth of S. S. Prokofiev.
• In 2012, the Sergei Prokofiev International Airport was opened in the city of Donetsk in Ukraine.
• Aeroflot's Airbus A319 (VP-BWA) is named "S. Prokofiev.
• On August 6, 2012, a crater on Mercury was named after Prokofiev.

Documentaries about Prokofiev

• "Composer Prokofiev" - a documentary educational film for grade 7. Directed by Popova, scriptwriter Rappoport, duration 26:36. Moscow, "Shkolfilm", USSR, 1975. The film is based on the film "Composer Sergei Prokofiev" produced by the Tsentrnauchfilm studio in 1960. Rare case of demonstration documentaries lasting about two and a half minutes, filmed in the summer of 1946 at the composer's dacha on Nikolina Gora: Prokofiev at the piano, then talks about creative plans. In other documentaries, only brief excerpts of this fragment.
• Sergei Prokofiev. Suite of Life” is a documentary film in two parts. Stage director Viktor Okuntsov, script: V. Okuntsov, E. Fradkina; production "Lentelefilm", TPO "Soyuztelefilm", USSR, 1991:
  • Full version of the film Sergei Prokofiev. Suite of life. Opus 1 on YouTube - Nina Dorliak, Anatoly Vedernikov, Natalya Sats are involved in the first part of the film. Duration: 1:08:10.
  • Full version of the film Sergei Prokofiev. Suite of life. Opus 2 on YouTube - the second part of the film with a duration of 01:06:20 starred: Evgeny Svetlanov, Valery Gergiev, Boris Pokrovsky, Daniil Zhitomirsky, Anatoly Vedernikov, Nina Dorliak, Svyatoslav Richter, Natalya Sats.
• Geniuses. Sergei Prokofiev. The Andrey Konchalovsky Foundation commissioned by the Kultura State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. State Internet Channel "Russia". Retrieved November 30, 2016. - the first documentary from the "Geniuses" series, Russia, 2003. The author of the idea is Andrey Konchalovsky, director Galina Ogurnaya, consultant Noel Mann. The film stars Tikhon Khrennikov, Mstislav Rostropovich, the son of the composer Svyatoslav Prokofiev, musicologists Viktor Varunts, Vladimir Zak, Marina Rakhmanova, director Boris Pokrovsky.

› Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev

photo 1918
S.S. Prokofiev

Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev was born on April 23, 1891 in the village of Sontsovka, Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Sontsovka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine). Father - Sergei Alekseevich Prokofiev (1846-1910) - from a merchant family, at the time of the birth of his son was the manager of the estate of Dmitry Sontsov. Mother - Maria Grigorievna Prokofieva (Zhitkova, 1855-1924).
From early childhood, the mother of the future composer instilled in him a love of music. She became the first music teacher Sergei Sergeevich. He composed his first music - a piece for piano - at the age of five, the notes for which were recorded by Maria Grigoryevna. Prokofiev recorded all his subsequent compositions himself. His mother also taught him French and German, and his father taught him mathematics. A visit to the opera in 1900 made a big impression on him. After that, Sergei Sergeevich decides to write his own opera and six months later he finishes the opera The Giant. In 1902, he performed excerpts from his works for Sergei Taneyev, and thanks to his request, Reinhold Gliere continued to study Prokofiev.
In 1904 he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory. One of his teachers at that time was Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. For the first time he publicly acts as a composer and performer in the St. Petersburg circle "Evenings of Modern Music" on December 31 (18 according to the old style) December 1908. In 1909 he graduated from the conservatory as a composer, but continued his studies at the conservatory in piano (he graduated in 1914) and organ (he studied until 1917). After performances in St. Petersburg and Moscow, his fame is growing. In 1911 the first printed edition works by Prokofiev. In 1914, for the performance of his First Piano Concerto, he was awarded a gold medal and an honorary prize named after A.G. Rubinstein. Prokofiev was the only son in the family, because of which he was not subject to conscription during the First World War (1914-1918), which allowed him to continue his music studies. In 1915 he performed for the first time abroad, in Italy.
At the end of 1917, he decides to leave Russia, and in May 1918 he leaves for Japan. In Tokyo, he gave two concerts, which were not successful. In August 1918, having received a US visa, he left Japan. In 1919, he marries the Spanish singer Carolina Codina, who changed her name to Lina Ivanovna after moving to the USSR. Since the second half of the twenties, he has performed a lot in America and Europe as a pianist and conductor, mainly with his own works. In 1924 and in 1928, two sons were born to Sergei and Karolina - Svyatoslav (1924-2010) and Oleg (1928-1998). In the second half of the thirties, he decides to move to the USSR with his family.
In 1936, Prokofiev moved to Moscow with his wife and children. From 1936 to 1939 he twice traveled abroad with concerts. During the Second World War, he continued to work on his works. The most significant work of the composer during this period is the opera "War and Peace". In 1941, Prokofiev left the family and joined Mira Aleksandrovna Mendelssohn, with whom he signed in 1948. In 1948, a resolution was issued with sharp criticism of several composers and Prokofiev. As a result, a secret order is issued that prohibits the performance of some of Prokofiev's works. All his works are also often criticized. The situation changes in 1949 after Stalin canceled the secret order. Since 1949, he spends most of his time at the dacha, continuing to work.
Sergey Sergeevich Prokofiev died on March 5, 1953 in Moscow from a heart attack. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Music section publications

7 works by Prokofiev

Sergey Prokofiev is a composer, pianist and conductor, author of operas, ballets, symphonies and many other works, known and popular throughout the world and in our time. Read stories about seven important works by Prokofiev 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. The mother of the young composer Maria Grigorievna recorded it in notes, 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, the 9-year-old Prokofiev composed his first opera, The Giant.

Despite the fact that, as Prokofiev himself recalled, his “ability to write down” “didn’t keep up with his thoughts,” in this naive children’s composition in the commedia dell’arte genre, the future professional’s serious approach to his work was already visible. 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".

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

Opera "Giant"
Conductor - Mikhail Leontiev
The author of the restoration of the orchestral version is Sergey 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, the newspapers wrote: “Prokofiev sits down at the piano and begins either to wipe the keys, or to try which of them sound higher or lower”. And about the first performance of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite, which was conducted by the author himself, the critics spoke as follows: “It is simply unbelievable that such a piece devoid of any sense could be performed at a serious concert ... These are some kind of impudent, impudent sounds that express nothing but endless boasting”.

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

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat major, Op. 10 (1911–1912)
Vladimir Krainev, piano
Academic Symphony Orchestra MGF
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 theatrical art them. Bakhrushina, Moscow

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

The modest composition of the Haydn-style orchestra and classical musical forms hinted that if “Papa Haydn” had lived to see those days, he might 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 world's best orchestras, 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 to this) that he would ultimately emerge victorious from the confrontation with the critics, especially if over time the First Symphony really becomes a classic. Which, in fact, happened.

Symphony No. 1 "Classical", in 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 immediacy of his worldview. Being somewhat of a child at heart, he had a good sense of the childish inner world and repeatedly wrote music for children: from the fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" (1914) to the text of the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen to the suite "The Winter Fire" (1949), composed already 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 Theatre. The young listeners fell in love with the fairy tale and remembered it thanks to the bright musical portraits of the characters, which 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 written almost ten years later and similar in concept (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell) English composer Benjamin Britten.

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

Ballet Romeo and Juliet (1935–1936)

At the recognized masterpiece of the twentieth century, many numbers from which top the international charts classical music, - 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. It is possible that such moods in the artists were partly inspired by the article “Muddle instead of Music”, published in the Pravda newspaper in January 1936, which harshly criticized the theatrical music of Dmitri Shostakovich. Both the theatrical community and Prokofiev himself took the article as an attack on contemporary art in general and decided, as they say, not to ask for trouble. At that time, a cruel joke even spread in the theatrical environment: “There is no sadder story in the world than Prokofiev’s music in ballet!”

As a result, Romeo and Juliet did not premiere until two years later in National theater Brno city in Czechoslovakia. And the domestic public saw the production only in 1940, when the ballet was nevertheless staged at the Kirov Theater. And despite another bout of government struggle with the 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
Recorded in 1959
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. The game according to the new rules required some adjustments in creativity. And Prokofiev created a number of works, at first glance, frankly "court" in nature: Cantata for the 20th anniversary of October (1937), written on the texts of the classics of Marxism-Leninism, the cantata "Toast", composed for the 60th anniversary of Stalin (1939), and cantata "Flourish, Mighty Land", dedicated already to the 30th anniversary of the October Revolution (1947). True, given Prokofiev's peculiar sense of humor, which now and then manifested itself in his musical language, until now music critics cannot give an unambiguous answer to the question 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 “On the 20th Anniversary of October”, which is called “The Crisis is Ripe,” the sopranos sing (or rather, squeak) in the highest register “The crisis is ripe!”, descending in semitones. This sound of a tense topic seems comical - and such ambiguous solutions are found in Prokofiev's "pro-Soviet" works at every turn.

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

State choir chapel
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 ghost of communism

Philosophers

Revolution

Music for the film "Alexander Nevsky" (1938)

Composers of the first half of the 20th century had to do a lot for the first time, and the samples of new art they created are now considered textbooks. This fully applies to film music as well. Just seven years after the appearance of the first Soviet sound film (Putevka v zhizn', 1931), Sergei Prokofiev joined the ranks of the cinematographers. Among his works in the genre of film music stands out a large-scale symphonic score written for Sergei Eisenstein's film "Alexander Nevsky" (1938), later revised into a cantata under the same title (1939). Many of the images laid down by Prokofiev in this music (the mournful scene of the “dead field”, the attack of the Crusaders, soulless and mechanical in sound, the joyful counterattack of the Russian cavalry), are still a stylistic guide for film composers around the world to this day.

Alexander Nevsky, cantata for mezzo-soprano, choir and orchestra (to words 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
USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra
Conductor - Evgeny Svetlanov
1966 recording
Sound engineer - Alexander Grossman

Song about Alexander Nevsky

Battle on the Ice

field of the dead

The cardinal advantage (or, if you like, disadvantage) of my life has always been the search for an original, my own musical language. I hate imitation, I hate cliches...

You can be as long as you like abroad, but you must certainly return to your homeland from time to time for the real Russian spirit.
S. Prokofiev

The childhood years of the future composer passed in a musical family. His mother was a good pianist, and the boy, falling asleep, often heard the sounds of L. Beethoven's sonatas coming from afar, several rooms away. When Seryozha was 5 years old, he composed his first piece for piano. In 1902, S. Taneyev became acquainted with his children's composing experiences, and on his advice, composition lessons began with R. Gliere. In 1904-14 Prokofiev studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with N. Rimsky-Korsakov (instrumentation), J. Vitols ( musical form), A. Lyadov (composition), A. Esipova (piano).

At the final exam, Prokofiev brilliantly performed his First Concerto, for which he was awarded the Prize. A. Rubinstein. The young composer eagerly absorbs new trends in music and soon finds his own path as an innovative musician. Speaking as a pianist, Prokofiev often included his own works in his programs, which caused a strong reaction from the audience.

In 1918, Prokofiev left for the USA, starting a series of trips to foreign countries - France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain. In an effort to win a world audience, he gives concerts a lot, writes major works - the operas The Love for Three Oranges (1919), The Fiery Angel (1927); ballets "Steel lope" (1925, inspired by the revolutionary events in Russia), "Prodigal Son" (1928), "On the Dnieper" (1930); instrumental music.

At the beginning of 1927 and at the end of 1929, Prokofiev performed with great success in the Soviet Union. In 1927, his concerts are held in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kyiv and Odessa. “The reception that Moscow gave me was out of the ordinary. ... The reception in Leningrad turned out to be even hotter than in Moscow,” the composer wrote in his Autobiography. At the end of 1932, Prokofiev decides to return to his homeland.

Since the mid 30s. Prokofiev's creativity reaches its heights. He creates one of his masterpieces - the ballet Romeo and Juliet by W. Shakespeare (1936); the lyric-comic opera Betrothal in a Monastery (The Duenna, after R. Sheridan - 1940); cantatas Alexander Nevsky (1939) and Toast (1939); a symphonic fairy tale to his own text "Peter and the Wolf" with instruments-characters (1936); Sixth Piano Sonata (1940); cycle of piano pieces "Children's Music" (1935). In the 30-40s. Prokofiev's music is performed by the best Soviet musicians: N. Golovanov, E. Gilels, B. Sofronitsky, S. Richter, D. Oistrakh. The highest achievement of Soviet choreography was the image of Juliet, created by G. Ulanova. In the summer of 1941, at a dacha near Moscow, Prokofiev was painting commissioned by the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre. S. M. Kirov ballet-tale "Cinderella". The news of the outbreak of war with fascist Germany and the subsequent tragic events caused a new creative upsurge in the composer. He created a grandiose heroic-patriotic epic opera "War and Peace" based on the novel by L. Tolstoy (1943), with director S. Eisenstein working on the historical film "Ivan the Terrible" (1942). Disturbing images, reflections of military events and, at the same time, indomitable will and energy are characteristic of the music of the Seventh Piano Sonata (1942). Majestic confidence is captured in the Fifth Symphony (1944), in which the composer, in his words, wanted to "sing of a free and happy man, his mighty strength, his nobility, his spiritual purity."

In the post-war period, despite a serious illness, Prokofiev created many significant works: the Sixth (1947) and Seventh (1952) symphonies, the Ninth Piano Sonata (1947), a new edition of the opera War and Peace (1952), the Cello Sonata (1949) and the Symphony Concerto for cello and orchestra (1952). Late 40s-early 50s. were overshadowed by noisy campaigns against the "anti-national formalist" direction in Soviet art, the persecution of many of its best representatives. Prokofiev turned out to be one of the main formalists in music. The public defamation of his music in 1948 further worsened the composer's health.

Prokofiev spent the last years of his life at a dacha in the village of Nikolina Gora among the Russian nature he loved, he continued to compose continuously, violating the prohibitions of doctors. The difficult circumstances of life also affected creativity. Along with genuine masterpieces, among the works of recent years there are works of a “simplistic conception” - the overture “Meeting of the Volga with the Don” (1951), the oratorio “On Guard of the World” (1950), the suite “Winter Bonfire” (1950), some pages of the ballet “Tale about a stone flower" (1950), Seventh Symphony. Prokofiev died on the same day as Stalin, and seeing off the great Russian composer in last way were overshadowed by popular excitement in connection with the funeral of the great leader of the peoples.

Prokofiev's style, whose work covers 4 and a half decades of the turbulent 20th century, has undergone a very great evolution. Prokofiev paved the way for the new music of our century, together with other innovators of the beginning of the century - C. Debussy. B. Bartok, A. Scriabin, I. Stravinsky, composers of the Novovensk school. He entered art as a daring subverter of the dilapidated canons of late Romantic art with its exquisite sophistication. In a peculiar way developing the traditions of M. Mussorgsky, A. Borodin, Prokofiev brought into music unbridled energy, onslaught, dynamism, freshness of primordial forces, perceived as “barbarism” (“ Delusion" and Toccata for piano, " Sarcasms"; symphonic "Scythian Suite" by ballet "Ala and Lolly"; First and Second Piano Concertos). Prokofiev's music echoes the innovations of other Russian musicians, poets, painters, theater workers. “Sergey Sergeevich plays on the most tender nerves of Vladimir Vladimirovich,” V. Mayakovsky said about one of Prokofiev's performances. Biting and juicy Russian-village figurativeness through the prism of exquisite aesthetics is characteristic of the ballet "The Tale of the Jester Who Outwitted Seven Jesters" (based on fairy tales from A. Afanasiev's collection). Comparatively rare at that time lyricism; in Prokofiev, he is devoid of sensuality and sensitivity - he is shy, gentle, delicate (“Fleeting”, “Tales of the Old Grandmother” for piano).

Brightness, variegation, increased expression are typical of the style of foreign fifteen years. This is the opera “Love for Three Oranges”, splashing with joy, with enthusiasm, based on the fairy tale by K. Gozzi (“a glass of champagne”, according to A. Lunacharsky); the splendid Third Concerto with its vigorous motor pressure, set off by the wonderful pipe melody of the beginning of the 1st part, the penetrating lyricism of one of the variations of the 2nd part (1917-21); the tension of strong emotions in "The Fiery Angel" (based on the novel by V. Bryusov); the heroic power and scope of the Second Symphony (1924); "Cubist" urbanism of "Steel lope"; lyrical introspection "Thoughts" (1934) and "Things in themselves" (1928) for piano. Style period 30-40s. marked by the wise self-restraint inherent in maturity, combined with the depth and national soil of artistic concepts. The composer strives for universal ideas and themes, generalizing images of history, bright, realistically concrete musical characters. This line of creativity was especially deepened in the 40s. in connection with the severe trials that have fallen to the lot Soviet people during the war years. Disclosure of the values ​​of the human spirit, deep artistic generalizations become the main aspiration of Prokofiev: “I am of the conviction that the composer, like the poet, sculptor, painter, is called to serve man and the people. It should sing of human life and lead a person to a brighter future. Such, from my point of view, is the unshakable code of art.

Prokofiev left a huge creative heritage - 8 operas; 7 ballets; 7 symphonies; 9 piano sonatas; 5 piano concertos (of which the Fourth is for one left hand); 2 violin, 2 cello concertos (Second - Symphony-concert); 6 cantatas; oratorio; 2 vocal and symphonic suites; many piano pieces; pieces for orchestra (including Russian Overture, Symphonic Song, Ode to the End of the War, 2 Pushkin Waltzes); chamber works (Overture on Jewish themes for clarinet, piano and string quartet; Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass; 2 string quartets; 2 sonatas for violin and piano; Sonata for cello and piano; a number of vocal compositions for words A. Akhmatova, K. Balmont, A. Pushkin, N. Agnivtsev and others).

Creativity Prokofiev received worldwide recognition. The enduring value of his music lies in his generosity and kindness, in his commitment to lofty humanistic ideas, in the richness of the artistic expression of his works.

Y. Kholopov

Artworks

In 1918, Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev got himself an album in which all his friends had to leave notes on the same topic: “What do you think about the sun?” The composer did not accidentally choose it, because the sun is the source of life, and he himself has always, in all his works, been the singer of life.

About what Prokofiev was a composer, we know from his works, but about what kind of person he was, what he loved, what he aspired to, we can best learn from his Autobiography.

“The propensity to record was characteristic of me from childhood, and it was encouraged by my parents,” Sergei Prokofiev reports on the first pages of Autobiography. “At the age of six, I was already writing music. At seven, having learned to play chess, he started a notebook and began to write down the games; the first of them is the "shepherd's" mate I received in three moves. At the age of nine, the stories of combat tin soldiers were written, taking into account losses and diagrams of movements. At twelve I spied my music professor writing a diary. It seemed absolutely wonderful, and I began to conduct my own, under a terrible secret from everyone.

Prokofiev was born and spent his childhood in the estate of Sontsovka (in the present Donetsk region), where his father, a learned agronomist, was a manager. Already a mature man, Prokofiev recalled with pleasure the Sontsovo steppe freedom, games in the garden with friends - village children, the beginning of music lessons under the guidance of his mother, Maria Grigorievna.

Still not knowing the notes, according to rumor, the boy tried to play something of his own on the piano. And he learned the notes, mainly in order to record this “his own”. And at the age of nine, after a trip to Moscow and under the impression of the first opera he heard (it was Gounod's Faust), Seryozha decided to compose his own opera, the plot of which he also invented himself. It was the opera "The Giant" in three acts with adventures, fights and more.

Prokofiev's parents were educated people and they themselves took up the boy's primary education in all school subjects. But they, of course, could not teach the rules of composing music. Therefore, taking her son on one of her usual winter trips to Moscow, Maria Grigorievna brought him to the well-known composer and teacher Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, who advised to invite the young composer Reinhold Moritsevich Gliere to Sontsovka for classes with Serezha for the summer.

Gliere spent two summers in a row in Sontsovka, hovering with Seryozha, and also playing chess and croquet with him - no longer in the role of a teacher, but of an older comrade. And when, in the fall of 1904, thirteen-year-old Sergei Prokofiev came to St. Petersburg to take an exam at the conservatory, he brought with him an unusually solid baggage of compositions. In a thick folder were two operas, a sonata, a symphony and many small piano pieces - "Songs" - written under the direction of Gliere. Some "Songs" were so original and sharp in sound that one of Serezha's friends advised calling them not "Songs", but "Dogs", because they "bite".

Years of study at the conservatory

At the conservatory, Serezha was the youngest among classmates. And, of course, it was difficult for him to make friends with them, especially since, out of mischief, he sometimes counted the number of errors in the musical tasks of each of the students, deduced the average figure for a certain period - and the results for many were disappointing ...

But then another student appeared at the conservatory, in the uniform of a lieutenant of a sapper battalion, always very restrained, strict, smart. It was Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky, a well-known composer in the future, who in Soviet times became the head of the Moscow composer school. Despite the age difference (Myaskovsky was twenty-five, and Prokofiev was fifteen), a lifelong friendship began between them. They always showed each other their compositions, discussed them - personally and in letters.

In the classes of the theory of composition and free composition, Prokofiev, in general, fell out of favor - his peculiar talent was too disrespectful to the conservative tradition. Prokofiev did not even dare to show the most daring compositions to teachers, knowing that this would cause bewilderment or irritation. The attitude of the teachers was expressed in very average grades in Prokofiev's composing diploma. But the young musician had one more specialty in reserve - piano - in which he once again graduated from the conservatory in the spring of 1914.

“If I was indifferent to the poor quality of the composer’s diploma,” Prokofiev later recalled, “this time I was seized by ambition, and I decided to finish the piano first.”

Prokofiev took a risk: instead of the classical piano concerto, he decided to play his own First Concerto, just published, handing over the notes to the examiners in advance. The jubilant music of the concert, full of young enthusiasm, captivated the audience, Prokofiev's performance was a triumph, and he received a diploma with honors and the Anton Rubinstein Prize.

Results of creative activity

The creative energy of the young composer Prokofiev was truly volcanic. He worked quickly, boldly, tirelessly, striving to cover a wide variety of genres and forms. The first piano concerto was followed by the second, followed by the first violin concerto, opera, ballet, romances.

One of the works of S.S. Prokofiev is especially characteristic of the early period. This is the "Scythian Suite", created on the basis of the music of the failed ballet. Worship of the pagan gods, the frantic "Dance of Evil", the quiet and mysterious picture of the sleeping Scythian steppe and, finally, the dazzling finale - "Sunrise" - all this is conveyed in stunningly bright orchestral colors, spontaneous increases in sonority, energetic rhythms. The inspirational optimism of the suite, penetrating its light, is all the more remarkable because it was created during the difficult years of the First World War.

Sergei Prokofiev very quickly entered the first row of composers known not only at home but also abroad, although his music has always caused controversy, and some works, especially stage ones, have been waiting for years to be performed. But it was the scene that especially attracted the composer. I was attracted by the opportunity, following the path of Mussorgsky, to express the most subtle, secret shades of feelings in musical intonations, to create living human characters.

True, he did this in chamber music as well, for example, in the vocal fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" (according to Andersen). Each of the inhabitants of the poultry yard is endowed with its own unique character: a sedate mother duck, little enthusiastic ducklings and himself main character, before turning into beautiful swan unfortunate and despised by all. Hearing this tale by Prokofiev, A. M. Gorky exclaimed: “But he wrote it about himself, about himself!”

The compositions of the young Prokofiev are surprisingly varied, and sometimes sharply contrasted. In 1918, his "Classical Symphony" was first performed - an elegant work sparkling with fun and subtle humor. Its title, as if emphasizing deliberate stylization - an imitation of the manner of Haydn and Mozart - is now perceived by us without quotes: this is a true classic of the music of the Soviet period. In the composer's work, the symphony began a bright and clear line, which is drawn right up to his later works - the ballet Cinderella, the Seventh Symphony.

And almost simultaneously with the Classical Symphony, the grandiose vocal-symphonic work The Seven of Them arose, again, like the Scythian Suite, reviving images of the deepest antiquity, but at the same time connected with some complex and unclear associations with the revolutionary events that shook the world. 1917 Russia and the whole world. The "strange turn" of creative thought subsequently surprised Prokofiev himself.

Abroad

An even stranger turn took place in the composer's biography itself. In the spring of 1918, having received a foreign passport, he left for America, not listening to the advice of friends who warned him: "When you return, they will not understand you." Indeed, a long stay abroad (until 1933) had a negative impact on the composer's contact with the audience, especially since its composition has changed and expanded over the years.

But the years spent abroad did not mean a complete separation from their homeland. Three concert trips to the Soviet Union were an occasion to communicate with old friends and new audiences. In 1926, the opera Love for Three Oranges was staged in Leningrad, which was conceived at home, but written abroad. The year before, Prokofiev had written the ballet "Steel Hop" - a series of paintings from the life of the young Soviet republic. Variegated everyday sketches and musical and choreographic portraits of the Commissar, Orator, Worker, Sailor side by side with industrial paintings ("Factory", "Hammers").

This work found life only on the concert stage in the form of a symphonic suite. In 1933, Prokofiev finally returned to his homeland, leaving it only for a short time. The years upon his return turned out to be perhaps the most fruitful in his life and, in general, very productive. Works are created one after another, and each of them marks a new, high stage in a particular genre. The opera "Semyon Kotko", the ballet "Romeo and Juliet", the music for the film "Alexander Nevsky", on the basis of which the composer created an oratorio - all this entered the golden fund of the music of the Soviet period.

To convey the plot of Shakespeare's tragedy by means of dance and dance music - such a task seemed to many impossible and even unnatural. Prokofiev approached her as if there were no ballet conventions.

In particular, he refused to build the ballet as a series of completed numbers, in the pauses between which the dancers bow and thank the audience for the applause. Prokofiev's music and choreographic action develop continuously, following the laws of drama. This ballet, staged for the first time in Leningrad, turned out to be an outstanding artistic event, especially since Galina Ulanova became the unsurpassed Juliet.

And a completely unprecedented task was solved by the composer in "Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of October". The music is based on a documentary text: articles, speeches and letters of K. Marx and V. I. Lenin are used in it. The work was so unheard of new that the cantata had to wait 20 years for its performance...

Different stories, different genres...

Works of the mature period

But, taking a general look at the works mature period and comparing them with the early ones, one can clearly see the general trend: the irrepressible boiling of creative thought is replaced by wise poise, interest in the incredible, fabulous, legendary is replaced by interest in real human destinies("Semyon Kotko" - an opera about young soldier), to the heroic past of the native country ("Alexander Nevsky", the opera "War and Peace"), to eternal theme love and death ("Romeo and Juliet").

At the same time, the humor always characteristic of Prokofiev did not disappear. In the tale (for a reader and a symphony orchestra), addressed to the youngest listeners, a lot of interesting information is given in a joking manner. Each character is characterized by some tool. It turned out to be a kind of guide to the orchestra and at the same time cheerful, funny music. - one of the works in which the composer achieved a "new simplicity", as he himself called it, that is, such a manner of presenting thoughts that easily reaches the listener, without reducing or impoverishing the thought itself.

The pinnacle of Prokofiev's work is his opera War and Peace. The plot of the great work of L. Tolstoy, recreating the heroic pages of Russian history, was perceived during the years of the Patriotic War (namely, when the opera was created) unusually acute and modern.

This work combined the best, most typical features of his work. Here Prokofiev is both a master of a characteristic intonational portrait, and a muralist who freely composes mass folk scenes, and, finally, a lyricist who created an unusually poetic and feminine image of Natasha.

Once Prokofiev compared creativity with shooting at moving targets: "Only taking aim forward, into tomorrow, you will not be left behind, at the level of yesterday's requirements."

And all his life he took the “aim forward”, and, probably, precisely because of this, all his works - both written during the years of his creative upsurge and during the years of his last serious illness - remained with us and continue to bring joy to the listeners.

Main compositions:

Operas:

"Player" (1916)
"The Love for Three Oranges" (1919).
"Fiery Angel" (1927),
"Semyon Kotko" (1939)
"Betrothal in a Monastery" (1940)
"War and Peace" (1943)
"The Tale of a Real Man" (1948)

Ballets:

"The Tale of the Jester Who Outwitted Seven Jesters" (1915)
"Steel lope" (1925)
"Prodigal Son" (1928)
Romeo and Juliet (1936)
"Cinderella" (1944)
"The Tale of the Stone Flower" (1950)

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