Russian Composer Sergei Prokofiev was Born in 1891

His major contributions to the string repertoire include five piano concertos, nine piano sonatas, seven symphonies, ballets Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, and The Love for Three Oranges, two violin concertos, and two violin and piano sonatas

 

Russian composer, pianist, and conductor Sergei Prokofiev was born on this day in 1891 — 133 years ago.

Recognized for his masterpieces across various musical genres, he stands as a prominent figure in 20th-century composition. Among his notable works are the March from The Love for Three Oranges, the suite Lieutenant Kijé, the ballet Romeo and Juliet, and Peter and the Wolf. His repertoire spans seven operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine piano sonatas.

A graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory — where he studied piano under Anna Yesipova and conducting with Alexander Tcherepnin — Prokofiev initially gained recognition as an unconventional composer-pianist, famed for his daringly dissonant and virtuosic compositions. In 1915, he departed from this norm with his composition Scythian Suite, originally composed for a ballet commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes. Diaghilev commissioned further ballets—Chout, Le pas d'acier, and The Prodigal Son—all of which garnered significant attention upon their premieres. Despite this success, Prokofiev's primary interest lay in opera, with notable works including The Gambler and The Fiery Angel. The Love for Three Oranges, commissioned by the Chicago Opera and stood as his sole operatic triumph during his lifetime.

Following the 1917 Revolution, Prokofiev left Russia with the approval of Soviet People's Commissar Anatoly Lunacharsky, residing successively in the United States, Germany, and Paris.

However, because opportunities for staging his ballets and operas diminished during the Great Depression, Prokofiev increasingly turned to the Soviet Union for commissions. In 1936, he returned to his homeland with his family. Notable Soviet successes include Lieutenant Kijé, Peter and the Wolf, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Alexander Nevsky, and his symphonies No. 5 and 6, On Guard for Peace, and Piano Sonatas Nos. 6–8.

The Nazi invasion of the USSR prompted Prokofiev to undertake his most ambitious project: an operatic adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, for which he collaborated on the libretto with his longtime companion and later second wife, Mira Mendelson. Despite criticism for "anti-democratic formalism" in 1948, he received unwavering support from a new generation of Russian performers, including Sviatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich, for whom he composed his Ninth Piano Sonata and Symphony-Concerto, respectively.

Dying in 1953, Prokofiev is remembered as one of the most influential composers of the 20th Century.

 

AUGUSTIN HADELICH & CHARLES OWEN | PROKOFIEV VIOLIN SONATA NO.2