Sergei Prokofiev : A Former Child Prodigy And An Influential Russian Pianist

Sergei Prokofiev, aka Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev, was born on April 23, 1891, in Sontsovka, Ukraine, Russian Empire. He was a renowned Russian composer who wrote in a wide range of musical genres, including symphonies, concerts, film music, operas, ballets, and program pieces.

Early life

Born into a family of agriculturalists, Prokofiev’s musical ambitions found it’s fuel by hearing his mother playing Chopin and Beethoven on the piano in the evenings. Young Sergei composed his first piano piece at five and his first opera, aged nine. Village life, with its peasant songs, left a permanent imprint on him.

His mother, a good pianist, became the highly gifted child’s first mentor in music and also arranged trips to the opera in Moscow. A high evaluation was put upon Sergei Prokofiev’s talent by a Moscow composer and teacher, Sergey Taneyev. On his recommendation, the Russian composer, Reinhold Glière, twice went to Sontsovka in the summer months to become young Sergei’s first teacher in theory and composition. He prepared him for entrance into the St. Petersburg conservatory. After spending years at that institution (1904 to 1914) , Sergei Prokofiev saw a swift creative growth. He surprised his teachers by his originality. He got the Anton Rubinstein Prize in piano for a brilliant performance of his first large-scale work—the Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major after graduation.

The conservatory gave Prokofiev a firm foundation in the academic fundamentals of music, he avidly sought musical innovation. His enthusiasms found support by progressive circles advocating musical renewal. Prokofiev’s first public appearance as a pianist took place in 1908 at a concert series, Evenings of Contemporary Music, sponsored by a group in St. Petersburg. He met with friendly sympathy in a similar circle in Moscow, which helped him make his first appearances as a composer at the Moscow summer symphony seasons of 1911 and 1912.

Musical works

Prokofiev’s initial mature compositions include short pieces for piano marked that scandalized listeners. It also earned him fame and respect among admirers of modernist trends. His rhythmically hurtling yet tune-rich Piano Concerto No. 1 of 1912 was a prize-winner in Russia, sealing his early reputation.

In 1913, Prokofiev traveled to Paris and London, encountering Ballets Russes impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who would commission a series of works from Prokofiev — starting with Chout (The Fool), which Ravel hailed as “a work of genius.” After relocating to the West in the wake of the Russian Revolution, Prokofiev toured the U.S. as a pianist in 1918. American critics described the impressive “steel” in his fingers and, some censured his stylistic radicalisms. 

Prokofiev’s opera The Love for Three Oranges premiered in Chicago in 1921 and yielded an instrumental hit with “March.” After composing symphonies and operas in an expressionist vein, Prokofiev recorded his dazzling and ever-popular Piano Concerto No. 3 with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in 1932. He returned to record solo piano pieces, documenting his style at the keyboard. Further, he rebuilt bridges to the Soviet Union with commissions by the likes of the Kirov Theatre ( Romeo and Juliet).

Return to Soviet Union

Homesick and enticed by promises of state support, Prokofiev returned permanently to the Soviet Union in 1936. His initial work there yielding the famous children’s work Peter and the Wolf.

Because of Stalin’s influence, Prokofiev had to write patriotic stage works and other music designed for “the people.” These years produced his waltz-infused opera War and Peace and his score for Eisenstein’s film Alexander Nevsky. In a new generation of performers Prokofiev found proponents for his instrumental music, including a trio of “War Sonatas” for piano.

Prokofiev continued to compose great works in the post-war years, including his dark-hued Symphony No. 6 and luminous ballet Cinderella. Along with his colleagues, Prokofiev also faced criticism in the Zhdanov Decree (1948) for “anti-proletarian,” “formalist” tendencies in his music. He pursued art for art’s sake rather than the Stalinist doctrine of Socialist Realism. Many of Prokofiev’s works banned by Soviet authorities, and his final years were difficult. He died on the same day as Stalin in 1953. No one left flowers for the composer’s funeral. Gilels, Richter, Oistrakh, and Rostropovich remained devoted to performing his music in the East and West. Conductor Valery Gergiev , after his death, also pushed to bring Prokofiev’s musicals, and, incredibly, his operas alive for new generations. — Bradley Bamberger.

Death

The great Russian composer died on March 5, 1953, at age 61, of a supposed intracerebral brain hemorrhage. During his last 8 years, he suffered from episodic headaches, nausea, and dizziness .

Also read: Josef Hoffmann- former child prodigy and the founder of Modern Architecture