Young Prokofiev. Composer Sergei Prokofiev: biography of the singer of life

Sergei Prokofiev's biography is summarized in this article.

Sergei Prokofiev short biography

Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev — Soviet composer, pianist, conductor

He was born on April 23 (April 11 according to the old style), 1891, in the Sontsovka estate in the Yekaterinoslav province (now the village of Krasnoye, Donetsk region of Ukraine).

Initial musical education the composer got home, studying with his mother, a pianist, as well as with the composer R. M. Gliere. By 1904 he was the author of 4 operas, a symphony, 2 sonatas and piano pieces.

In 1904, S. S. Prokofiev entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He studied composition with A. K. Lyadov, and instrumentation with N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. He graduated from it in 1909 in composition, in 1914 in piano and conducting.

While still a student, he played his “First Piano Concerto” with the orchestra and received an honorary Anton Rubinstein Prize.

From 1918 to 1933 he lived abroad. Having gone on tour in the USA in 1918, he moved to Germany in 1922, and in 1923 he moved to Paris, where he spent ten years. Abroad, Prokofiev worked a lot, wrote music, gave concerts, made long concert tours in Europe and America (he performed as a pianist and as a conductor). In 1933 he returned to his homeland.

In 1936, Prokofiev and his wife settled in Moscow and began teaching at the conservatory.

In the summer of 1941, Prokofiev was evacuated to North Caucasus where im was written String Quartet No. 2. During the Great Patriotic War and after it he created a number of patriotic works.

In 1948 he married Mira Mendelssohn.

For all his creative activity, Prokofiev wrote 8 operas, 7 ballets, 7 symphonies, 9 instrumental concerts, over 30 symphonic suites and vocal-symphonic works, 15 sonatas, plays, romances, music for theatrical performances and movies.

In 1955-1967. 20 volumes of collections of his musical compositions were published.

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

Possessing an innate literary and poetic talent, Prokofiev wrote almost the entire libretto for his operas; wrote stories that were published in 2003.

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

Sergei Prokofiev died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage March 5, 1953 in Moscow.

Famous works of Prokofiev: operas "The Tale of a Real Man", "Maddalena", "Player", " Fire Angel”, “War and Peace”, ballets “Romeo and Juliet”, “Cinderella”. Prokofiev also wrote many vocal and symphonic works, instrumental concertos.

Prokofiev's works for children:
The symphonic fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf" (1936), the ballets "Cinderella" and "The Tale of stone flower», piano pieces"Tales of an Old Grandmother", ballet "The Tale of the Jester Who Outwitted Seven Jesters", opera based on a plot Italian fairy tale Carlo Gozzi "The Love for Three Oranges", an album of pieces for young pianists "Children's Music".

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 initial education boy 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 he sometimes, out of mischief, counted the number of mistakes in musical tasks each of the students, displayed 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 became Soviet time 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 composition theory classes and free composition Prokofiev, in general, did not suit the court - 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 young musician there was another 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

creative energy young composer Prokofiev was truly volcanic. He worked quickly, boldly, tirelessly, striving to capture the most different 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 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 in difficult years 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.

Indeed, he did so in chamber music, for example, in the vocal tale " ugly duck"(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 name, 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 music 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 tours Soviet Union were an occasion to communicate both with old friends and with a new audience. 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 home country("Alexander Nevsky", 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 a fairy tale (for a reader and 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 heroic pages Russian history, was perceived during the years of the Patriotic War (namely, then the opera was created) unusually sharp 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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Biography of Prokofiev - the great Russian and Soviet composer- so big and versatile that sometimes it's hard to imagine - how did it all fit in one person? Pianist, music writer, film composer, conductor - in addition, Sergei Sergeevich created his own unique composing style, was fond of chess and Christian Science. From this article you can find out short biography Prokofiev, as well as the main periods of his creative life.

Childhood and youth

The biography of Sergey Sergeevich Prokofiev begins in the village of Sontsovka, located in the Yekaterinoslav province (modern Donetsk region of Ukraine), on April 15 (27), 1891, in merchant family. Sergei's mother, Maria Grigorievna, mastered the piano while studying at the gymnasium and often performed works by Beethoven and Chopin at home. Little Seryozha often sat down at the keys next to his mother, memorizing her playing visually and by ear. At the age of five he began his musical biography Prokofiev Seryozha, having composed at such a young age his first piece - "Indian gallop". Maria Grigoryevna taught her son to notate works, and all subsequent small rondos and waltzes own composition the child prodigy Prokofiev recorded on his own.

At the age of nine, Prokofiev wrote his first opera called The Giant, and at 11 he played it. famous composer and teacher Sergei Taneev. Taneyev was impressed by the boy's talent and agreed with his friend, also a famous composer Reinhold Gliere, to train Serezha Prokofiev.

Study and the beginning of creativity

All early biography Sergei Prokofiev is compiled according to his personal diaries which he kept in detail and accurately throughout his life. Already in 1909, at the age of 18, Sergei graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory as a conductor, and five years later, also as a pianist. His teachers were such great musicians as Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadov and Cherepnin. Also during his studies, he met other future great composers - Sergei Rachmaninov and Igor Stravinsky. In the photo below, Prokofiev while studying at the conservatory.

After his debut performance with his own works on the piano, Prokofiev's work was called bold and original, with "unbridled play of fantasy and extravagance of style." The status of an "extreme modernist" was assigned to the novice composer.

In 1913, after Prokofiev's performance of the Second Piano Concerto, the audience was clearly divided into those who admired the composer and those who criticized him, calling the work "scandalous and futuristic".

The best works and world recognition

From 1918 to 1936, the biography of the composer Prokofiev tells about his American period of life. Sergey Sergeevich accepted October revolution calmly, since he never belonged to either the white or the red movement. He emigrated in search of new inspiration.

Having achieved recognition on the other side of the ocean, the composer returns to his homeland. During the Great Patriotic War, he did not stop working, his the best works at this point it becomes the ballet "Cinderella", the opera "War and Peace" and the "Fifth Symphony". "Fifth", along with the "Seventh Symphony" by Shostakovich, are considered the most important works created during World War II. An excerpt from Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony performed by a symphony orchestra can be seen below.

In 1948, Sergei Prokofiev, along with other avant-garde composers such as Shostakovich and Khachaturian, was criticized for "formalism and futurism" by the Committee for Arts, after which many of Sergei Sergeyevich's works were banned. But fortunately, Joseph Stalin was very interested in the work and biography of Prokofiev, and therefore in 1949, on the personal order of the leader, the ban was lifted, and the actions of the Committee were severely condemned.

Composer's unique style

In world history, the biography of Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev is distinguished, first of all, by the creation of a unique musical language. The techniques that distinguish the composer's works consisted in the use of a special form of the dominant (later it was called the Prokofiev dominant), linear and dissonant chords, as well as chromatic clusters that combine pitches when performing "intrusive" musical phrases. The compositional, anti-romantic rhythmics, which give many of Prokofiev's works an expressive fragmentation, are also peculiar.

Film works

Throughout his life, the composer wrote music for eight Soviet films. The most famous film works in the biography of Prokofiev are compositions written for the films of the famous director Sergei Eisenstein: "Alexander Nevsky" (1938) and "Ivan the Terrible" (1945). Eisenstein was delighted to work with the great composer, as the director and musician had a similar, avant-garde approach to creativity. Subsequently, Prokofiev finalized the music composed for these films into the form of independent works. An excerpt from the film "Ivan the Terrible" with Prokofiev's composition can be seen below.

Artwork for children

IN creative biography Prokofiev and for children, many works have been written, for example, the ballets Cinderella and The Tale of the Stone Flower, compositions for the choir Ballad of a Boy Remaining Unknown, Winter Campfire, On Guard of the World.

But Prokofiev's most famous children's work is without a doubt symphonic tale"Peter and the wolf". Sergei Sergeevich composed this work and put it on his own text in 1936, for staging in children's theater. "Peter and the Wolf" was the composer's first work after returning to his homeland.

In addition to performances, there are several animated versions of this fairy tale: the first was created in 1946 at the Walt Disney Studios. Then two Soviet puppet cartoons were released (in 1958 and 1976), as well as a Polish-British one, also puppet cartoon won an Oscar in 2006.

other hobbies

Being a very versatile person, Sergei Prokofiev was engaged not only in music - his second passion was literature. Everything that came out of his pen was marked by the uncommonness of his writing abilities: this is the huge "Autobiography", covering the composer's life from birth to 1909, and his diaries, and all the librettos and stories he composed, filled with optimism and wonderful feeling humor.

In addition to music and literature, Sergei Sergeevich was seriously fond of chess and called it "the music of thought." From 1914 to 1937, Prokofiev managed to play games with such famous chess players as Capablanca, Lasker and Tartakower.

The composer was also an adherent of Christian Science, the methods of which allowed him to overcome the excitement before performances. Prokofiev liked to read the book "Science and Health" by Mary Baker Eddy, in his diaries he mentioned it more than once, saying that this book helped shape his personal attitude to good, evil, God and man.

Personal life

In 1923, Prokofiev married the Catalan chamber singer Lina Codina, who bore him two sons, Svyatoslav and Oleg. In the photo below, the composer with his wife and sons.

Despite mutual understanding with his wife and eighteen years life together, in 1941 Prokofiev left the family and began to live with a student of the Faculty of Philology Mira Mendelson. In 1948, Sergei Prokofiev married Mira without divorcing his first wife. In subsequent legal proceedings, both marriages were declared valid. In this regard, the term "Prokofiev's case" was introduced by Soviet lawyers, referring to such incidents. A photo of Prokofiev and his second wife is presented below.

Sergei Sergeevich lived with Mira Mendelson-Prokofieva until the end of his days. Great composer Prokofiev died on March 5, 1953 - on the same day Joseph Stalin died, and therefore the death of the composer for a long time remained unnoticed.

One of the brightest composers of the 20th century is Prokofiev Sergei Sergeevich, whose biography tells of incredible performance and bright talent.

After all, he actively showed himself as talented:

  • musician;
  • composer;
  • writer;
  • conductor;
  • pianist.

Prokofiev is known as an innovator who created his own original style of using means of expression.

Sergei Sergeevich is characterized by:

  • originality of instrumentation;
  • unusual musical thinking;
  • extravagance, creative fantasy;
  • inventiveness, originality;
  • high compositional skill.

With his work, the composer had a huge impact on many musicians, both domestic and foreign. He is named among the most frequently performed musicians of the 20th century.

Brief biography of Prokofiev

Years of life: 11 (23) 04/1891 - 03/05/1953.

Place of birth: Sontsovka estate.

Place of death - Moscow.

The first works were created at the age of 9.

1904-1917 - studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

1918-1932 - tours around the world.

1923 - first marriage, the birth of 2 sons.

Since 1933 - worked as a teacher at the Moscow Conservatory.

During the war years - activities in the evacuation, the second marriage was concluded in 1948.

Childhood and early education

The village of Sontsovka is the cradle of a talented composer. It was here in 1891, on April 11 (23), that Seryozha Prokofiev was born.

His father (of merchant origin) Sergei Alekseevich worked as an agronomist in the village. Maria Grigoryevna, a talented pianist, from childhood brought up in her son a love for musical country. The boy's talent was born on the works of the great Beethoven, Chopin.

Training in primary school Sergei received at home. The son was taught mathematics by his father, languages ​​by his mother. But music fascinated him especially. At the age of five, he already tried himself as a composer. The miniature play "Indian gallop" saw the light of day.

Education at the St. Petersburg Conservatory

In 1903, Prokofiev's studies began at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

A young man graduated from it, acquiring the following specialties:

  • composer - 1909;
  • pianist - 1914;
  • organist - 1917

During the years of study, the operas "The Gambler", "Magdalena" were born.

Tours of S. S. Prokofiev around the world

The composer's work was improved in a controversial atmosphere in the field of art. There were new trends, controversial topics. Sergei Sergeevich showed independence, independence, did not swim "in the general flow." His pre-revolutionary works were distinguished by their diversity of genres.

The first performance in the period of 1908 already famous musician took place in Petersburg. Subsequently, concert activity was carried out regularly.

Starting in 1918, his numerous tours began in different countries:

  • France;
  • Japan;
  • England.

Over the course of 15 years, foreign tours lasted. From time to time Sergei Prokofiev lived on a permanent basis in Germany, in France.

During the period of constant tours, Prokofiev visited the cities of the USSR with concerts. The return home with a settlement in Moscow took place in 1932.

Features of the composer's work in wartime

Since 1933, the period of teaching at the Moscow Conservatory began. In difficult times of the Second World War active creativity continues.

It was at this stage of creativity that the ballet "Cinderella", the opera "War and Peace" saw the light, films were sounded. The cantata "Toast" was dedicated to Joseph Stalin. She was popular at birthday parties.

In the 1930s, Prokofiev also created for children. Particularly famous were the fairy tale for the reader with the orchestra "Peter and the Wolf", children's works for the piano and numerous songs.

However, the creation individual works was interrupted by the war and completed after it. Among them, for example, the ballet "Cinderella". During the war, Prokofiev was evacuated. Creative activity continued everywhere until returning to Moscow. In many works the theme of war sounded.

The last years of life and death of a musician

On the recommendations of doctors in 1946, the musician moved to the village of Nikolina Gora (to the dacha). Last years and the days were overshadowed by criticism "for formalism" and condemning statements by Khrennikov and other composers. After these events, Prokofiev lived as a "recluse", but he still worked actively.

Prokofiev was awarded, among others, such awards and titles:

The great Prokofiev died in 1953, on March 5 in the city of Moscow, as a result of a hypertensive crisis, without leaving work even in the last hours. He was buried on the territory of the Novodevichy cemetery.

Personal life of Sergei Alekseevich

For the first time Sergey Sergeevich married Lina Kodina. The marriage with a singer of Spanish origin was registered in 1923. Two sons (Svyatoslav, Oleg) appeared in this marriage. family in in full force moved to Moscow by 1936.

And in 1938 the musician met with Mira Mendelsohn, a young student from the Institute of Literature. Communication was not limited creative cooperation already in 1941. She became his wife officially in 1948.

The marriage with Lina was declared invalid, as it was concluded abroad. Although subsequently there was a lot of controversy on this issue.

The most famous works of the pianist

Each segment of the composer's life was marked by new works. Thanks to S. S. Prokofiev, the world musical treasury was replenished with more than 130 opuses.

Most famous operas and ballets:

He wrote wonderful concertos for piano and violin with orchestra, dramas, oratorios. The whole world was impressed by his Seventh Symphony. Also outstanding are many pieces, sonatas, a large number of symphonies for piano.

Prokofiev S. S. wrote the book "Childhood" about himself. According to eyewitnesses describing the portrait of the musician, he liked to demonstrate outrageousness, use catchy colors and unexpected combinations in clothes.

In addition to the musical gift, he also possessed a literary (literary) talent. His diaries are a kind of autobiography, sincere and objective. In addition to his love of music and literature, he had a great interest in chess.

Chess

This game was not just a hobby for Prokofiev. He took the lesson very seriously and was a strong chess player. Even records found chess games on the reverse side of the scores.

He was proud of the game played in a draw with the German world chess champion E. Lasker. There were also games with D. Oistrakh, M. Botvinnik, R. Capablanca and others. The composer called chess the music of thought.

Year of Prokofiev in Russia

2016 in our country, at the suggestion of V.V. Putin, was named after Prokofiev in connection with the celebration of his 125th birthday. The entire musical community celebrated this event.

The grand opening of the event took place at the Mariinsky Theatre. The year ended with the Prokofiev-GALA concert.

In a programme anniversary year were provided:

  • VDNH-exhibition;
  • expositions in various museums;
  • student work festivals;
  • scientific and practical music Forum and others.

Events throughout the year were presented brightly and unconventionally. They helped contemporaries (with an emphasis on the youth audience) discover the beauty and appeal of the great musician's creations.

Collaboration with Eisenstein

S. S. Prokofiev participated in the creation works of genius cinema art together with Eisenstein. This was proved by the premiere of the film "Alexander Nevsky". S. Eisenstein noted the crystalline purity and laconic style of Prokofiev's music.

After that, cooperation continued on the film "Ivan the Terrible", but the work was subjected to strict censorship by Stalin. Work on the film "The Love of a Poet" ended due to the death of Eisenstein. Prokofiev's work in cinema enriched the possibilities of the screen's sound-visual counterpoint.

World classics recognize Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev as a Russian musical innovator, a conductor of national traditions. In honor of the great innovator of music, monuments, museums were opened, streets were named, musical educational establishments and even a crater on Mercury.

THE GREAT SON OF THE LAND OF DONETSK SERGEY PROKOFIEV

Considered one of the largest, most influential and most performed composers of the 20th century. He was also a pianist and conductor. Two years ago, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the birth of the great composer, concerts and festivals were organized in Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany and other countries with which the name of the master is associated. Donbass, where the musician was born and spent his childhood, announced 2011 Year of Prokofiev.

From Sontsovka

Disputes often broke out around the work of this composer, since originality and originality always cause a contradictory reaction. However, not only fans Prokofiev feel the power and brightness of his talent. What is now called charisma was inherent in the composer. Strict, collected, extremely picky about everything related to his work, he cursed with performers and directors, once even scolded David Oistrakh right at the concert, and Galina Ulanova said: “You need drums, not music.”

For 50 years creative activity he wrote 130 musical works. The composer's talent was embodied in a wide genre palette: ballets, operas, symphonies, music for films and, of course, music for children.

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great musician, UNESCO declared 1991 Year of Prokofiev. At the same time, thanks to the efforts of grateful fellow countrymen, a memorial zone was created in the village of Krasnoe Prokofiev. The St. Peter and Paul Church was restored, in which the future musician was baptized.

DATA

Svyatoslav Richter wrote: “Once on a sunny day I was walking along the Arbat and saw unusual person. He carried a defiant power and passed me by like a phenomenon. In bright yellow boots, with a red-orange tie. I could not help but turn around after him - it was Prokofiev».

Name Prokofiev named Concert hall Donetsk regional philharmonic society, academic orchestra and a music academy. Not a decade passes international festival"Prokofiev Spring", which is organically woven into the competition of young pianists "In the homeland of Sergei Prokofiev". Award established Sergei Prokofiev, which is awarded to musicians for creative achievements.

Updated: April 13, 2019 by: Elena


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