“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 hackneyed tricks” (S. Prokofiev).

S.S. Prokofiev is the author of 8 operas, 8 ballets, 7 symphonies and other orchestral compositions, 9 concertos for solo instrument and orchestra, 9 piano sonatas, oratorios and cantatas, chamber vocal and instrumental compositions, music for cinema and theater. He wrote in all contemporary genres.

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Sergei Prokofiev at age 7
S.S. Prokofiev was born in Yekaterinoslav province in the family of an agronomist. The childhood years of the future composer passed in a musical family. His mother was a good pianist, and she was also her son's first teacher. She taught him not only music, but also French and German, and his father taught him mathematics. At the age of 5, Prokofiev composed his first piece for piano, and at the age of 9, the opera The Giant.
In 1902, the young composer was introduced to S. Taneyev in Moscow, and he was impressed by the boy's abilities. At his request, R. Gliere worked with him on the theory of composition.
In 1904-1914. S. 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 performed his First Concerto and was awarded the Prize. A. Rubinstein.

Sergei Prokofiev in 1918
Since 1918, the young musician began touring abroad: the USA, France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain. At the same time he was composing.

Early work

In 1919, an opera was written in 4 acts with a prologue "Love for Three Oranges". The libretto was created by the composer himself based on the fairy tale of the same name by Carlo Gozzi.
The first production of the opera took place in Chicago on December 30, 1921 in French. In the USSR it was performed on February 18, 1926 at the Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (Leningrad). The merry and cheerful opera immediately fell in love with the audience.
Opera "Fiery Angel" based on the novel of the same name by V. Bryusov (libretto by S. Prokofiev) was completed in 1927, but the stage premiere took place only in 1954 in Paris. The action takes place in Germany in the 16th century. The plot of the opera is complex and filled with occultism, so for many years theaters did not dare to stage it.
one-act ballet "Steel lope", created in 1925, inspired by the revolutionary events in Russia. The first performance took place in Paris, at the Theater Sarah Bernhardt, by the Diaghilev's Russian Ballet Company on June 7, 1927. Diaghilev made an unexpected order to Prokofiev: a "Bolshevik" ballet about contemporary Soviet Russia. But the idea of ​​the new ballet was not to glorify the ideas of Bolshevism, but to vividly illustrate the industrial progress in the Soviet Union. Libretto by G. Yakulov and the composer himself.

Scene from the ballet "Steel lope"
The music of the ballet is colorful, with bright orchestration. This work by S. Prokofiev is considered a masterpiece. Boris Asafiev wrote that the ballet expresses “the true style of our era, because here one can speak of forged rhythms, of intonations resilient as steel, and of musical ebb and flow like the breath of giant bellows!”
one-act ballet "Prodigal Son" was created on the famous plot of the parable from the Gospel of Luke and was first staged in Paris by the troupe of the Russian Ballet S. Diaghilev at the Theater Sarah Bernhardt on May 20, 1929. The music of the ballet is distinguished by refined lyricism and exquisite orchestration.

Scene from the ballet The Prodigal Son (Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg)
The musical themes of The Prodigal Son were used by the composer in composing the Fourth Symphony and in three of the Six Concert Pieces for piano.

The heyday of creativity

In 1927-1929. S. Prokofiev successfully toured the Soviet Union. Since 1932 he lives in Russia, his work reaches its peak. His music is performed by the best Soviet musicians: N. Golovanov, E. Gilels, B. Sofronitsky, S. Richter, D. Oistrakh.
During these years he creates one of his masterpieces: ballet "Romeo and Juliet" according to W. Shakespeare (1936); lyric-comic Opera Betrothal in a Monastery"(" Duenna ", according to R. Sheridan, 1940); Cantata "Alexander Nevsky"(1939) and "Toast"(1939); symphonic tale with own text "Peter and the Wolf" with instrument-characters (1936); sixth sonata for piano (1940); cycle of piano pieces "Children's Music"(1935). 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, S. Prokofiev wrote a ballet-tale ordered by the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater "Cinderella".

Ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (1936)

Scene from the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Ballet in 4 acts. Choreographer - L. Lavrovsky.
The action takes place in Verona at the beginning of the Renaissance.
Prokofiev's music and Lavrovsky's staging created vivid characterizations of the characters. As conceived by the composer, the main theme of the ballet was not so much the love of the main characters, but their unwillingness to obey outdated traditions. In Lavrovsky's play, the main character was Juliet.
The best definition of "Romeo and Juliet" was given by the musicologist G. Ordzhonikidze: "Romeo and Juliet" by Prokofiev is a reformist work. It can be called a symphony-ballet... it is all permeated with a purely symphonic breath... In every beat of the music one can feel the quivering breath of the main dramatic idea. The most expressive means, the extremes of the musical language are used here in a timely manner and are internally justified... Prokofiev's ballet is distinguished by a deep originality of music. It manifests itself primarily in the individuality of the dance beginning, characteristic of Prokofiev's ballet style. For classical ballet, this principle is not typical, and usually it manifests itself only in moments of spiritual uplift - in lyrical adagios. Prokofiev extends the named dramatic role of the adagio to the entire lyrical drama.

Symphonic fairy tale for children "Peter and the Wolf" (1936)

Created on the initiative of N.I. Sats for a performance at her Central Children's Theatre. The premiere took place on May 2, 1936. The work is performed by a reader, the text for which was written by the composer himself, and by the orchestra.
Each character in this work is represented by a certain instrument and a separate motif:

Petya - bowed string instruments, mainly violins);
Birdie - flute in high register;
Duck - oboe, "quacking" melody in lower register;
Cat - clarinet, depicts the grace of a cat;
Grandfather is a bassoon imitating grumbling;
Wolf - three horns;
Hunters - timpani and bass drum, wind instruments.

Plot

Early morning. Pioneer Petya on a large green lawn. His familiar Bird, noticing Petya, flies down. The duck goes to the pond and starts arguing with the bird about who should be considered a real bird: her or the bird. The cat is watching their dispute, but Petya warned the bird about the danger, and it flies away, and the duck dives into the pond. Petya's grandfather appears and starts grumbling at his grandson, warning him that a big gray wolf is walking in the forest, and takes him away. Soon a wolf appears. The cat quickly climbs the tree, and the duck falls into the mouth of the wolf.
Petya with the help of a rope gets over the fence and ends up on a tall tree. He asks the bird to distract the wolf and throws a noose around his tail. The wolf tries to free himself, but Petya ties the other end of the rope to a tree, and the noose is tightened even tighter on the wolf's tail.
The hunters in the forest have been following the wolf for a long time. Petya helps them tie up the wolf and take him to the zoo. The tale ends with a general procession, in which all its characters participate: Petya walks in front, the hunters lead the wolf behind him, a bird flies over them, behind - grandfather with a cat. A quiet quacking is heard: this is the voice of a duck sitting in the belly of a wolf, who was in such a hurry that he swallowed it alive.
“The main goal of the fairy tale is to acquaint younger students with musical and instruments” (N. Sats).

Creativity during the war

Ballet "Cinderella" (1945)

Ballet in 3 acts. Libretto by H. Volkov based on the fairy tale by Ch. Perrault. The plot of the fairy tale is known to all. Cinderella is a classical ballet that continues the traditions of a fairy-tale performance, with an abundance of variations, divertissement and apotheoses built on waltzes, with colorful pictorial moments. "Great Waltz" is one of the most striking waltzes of the composer. The ballet ends with another beautiful waltz with a quiet but triumphant sound of Cinderella's themes, her dreams and love.
The new creative upsurge of S. Prokofiev was associated with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and subsequent tragic events in the history of the motherland.
He creates a grandiose heroic-patriotic epic opera "War and Peace" based on the novel by L. Tolstoy (1943), and works with director S. Eisenstein on the historical film "Ivan the Terrible" (1942).

Opera "War and Peace"

Opera in 13 scenes with choral prologue; libretto by S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelssohn-Prokofiev based on the novel of the same name by L.N. Tolstoy.
The premiere took place at the Maly Opera Theater in Leningrad on June 12, 1946 under the direction of S. Samosud.
Of course, the entire content of the novel could not be fully included in the opera. The composer and librettist selected those episodes and events that were most important for creating a musical and dramatic work. The result was a grandiose historical canvas, consisting, as it were, of two parts: 7 paintings of "peace" and 6 paintings of "war". The libretto was changed several times so that the theme could adequately translate into an abbreviated plot. Prokofiev used a recitative-declamatory technique in combination with arias in the opera. Choirs play an important role in opera. The final version of the opera was staged at the Moscow Musical Theatre. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko in 1957
In the Fifth Symphony (1944), the composer, in his words, wanted to "sing of a free and happy man, his mighty strength, his nobility, his spiritual purity."
During this period of time, S. Prokofiev wrote music for the films Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (in two series, 1944-1945).

The post-war period of the composer's work

In the post-war period, Prokofiev was ill, but he was able to create many significant works: sixth(1947) and Seventh (1952) symphony, ninth piano sonata (1947), new edition of the opera "War and Peace" (1952), Cello Sonata(1949) and Symphony-concert for cello and orchestra (1952).
Late 40s-early 50s. a campaign began against the "anti-national formalist" direction in Soviet art, the persecution of many of its best representatives. Prokofiev was called one of the main formalists in music. The public defamation of his music in 1948 further worsened the composer's health. In 1948, the First Congress of the Union of Composers of the USSR was held, which continued the "irreconcilable struggle against formalism." Many of Prokofiev's works were criticized, including his Sixth Symphony (1946) and opera "The Tale of a Real Man", the opera is non-standard and experimental.
Prokofiev spent the last years of his life at his dacha in the village of Nikolina Gora in the midst of his beloved Russian nature. He continued to compose, although the doctors strictly forbade him to do so.
During this period of time, both outstanding works and passing ones were created on the topic of the day (the overture "Meeting of the Volga with the Don", 1951, the oratorio "On Guard of the World"), etc.
S.S. Prokofiev died on the same day as Stalin (March 5, 1953), and the farewell to the great Russian composer on his last journey was obscured by the nationwide "grief" in connection with the funeral of the great leader of the peoples. He introduced new energy, dynamism, fresh ideas into music, which was perceived as an "anti-popular formalist direction".
Prokofiev was an innovator of the musical language. The originality of his style is most noticeable in the field of harmony. For example, he used a dissonant chord in the tonic function and variable meter ("Sarcasms"). He used a special form of dominant, called "Prokofiev's". In his works, a specific rhythm is recognizable, which was very characteristic of his piano works (Toccata, "Delusion", Seventh Sonata, etc.).
The originality of Prokofiev's style is also manifested in the orchestration. Some of his compositions are characterized by super-powerful sounds based on dissonant brass and complex polyphonic patterns of the string group.
Prokofiev left a huge creative heritage: 8 operas; 7 ballets; 7 symphonies; 9 piano sonatas; 5 piano concertos (Fourth - for one left hand); 2 violin, 2 cello concertos; 6 cantatas; oratorio; 2 vocal and symphonic suites; many piano pieces; pieces for orchestra (among them "Russian Overture", "Symphonic Song", "Ode to the End of the War", 2 "Pushkin's Waltzes"); chamber compositions; 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 to the words of A. Akhmatova, K. Balmont, A. Pushkin and others.
Creativity S. Prokofiev received worldwide recognition. He is one of the most performed authors of the 20th century. Prokofiev was also an outstanding conductor and pianist.

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 of Theatrical Art. 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 partly a child at heart, he felt the children's inner world well 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 the English composer Benjamin Britten's guide to the symphony orchestra for young people (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), written almost ten years later and similar in concept.

"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)

The recognized masterpiece of the 20th century, many of which top the international charts of 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 at the National Theater in Brno, 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, music critics still 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, accordion and noise orchestra, 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

Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev - the greatest children's composer of the 20th century

The 20th century is a difficult time, when terrible wars and great achievements of science took place, when the world plunged into apathy and rose again from the ashes.

A century when people lost and found art again, when new music was born, new painting, a new picture of the universe.

Much of what was valuable before was lost or lost its meaning, giving way to something new, not always better.

A century when classical melodies began to sound quieter, less bright for adults, but at the same time revealed their amazing potential for the younger generation. It can even be said that, in a certain sense, since the 20th century, the classics have lost something important for adults, but somehow sounded especially vivid for children.

This is guaranteed by the popularity of the melodies of Tchaikovsky and Mozart, the incessant excitement that arises around the animated creations of the Disney studio, whose works are valuable precisely for the very music that sounds for fairy-tale characters and those who are shown their stories on the screens.

There are many other examples, and the most significant is the music of Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev, a composer whose hard and hard work made him one of the most, if not the most recognizable, cited, performed composers of the 20th century.

Of course, Prokofiev did a lot for the "adult" music of his time, but what he did as a children's composer is unimaginably more valuable.

Prokofiev attached particular importance to the pianoforte

Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev is a prominent figure among the musicians of the twentieth century. He was the most famous composer of the Soviet Union and at the same time became one of the most important musicians in the whole world.

He created music, simple and complex, in some ways very close to the bygone "golden age" of the classics, and in some ways unimaginably distant, even dissonant, he was always looking for something new, developing, making his sound like nothing else.

For this, Prokofiev was loved, idolized, admired, full houses always gathered at his concerts. And at the same time, at times he was so new and self-willed that they did not understand him, so much so that once at one of the concerts half the audience got up and left, and another time the composer was almost declared an enemy of the Soviet people.

But still he was, he created, he amazed and delighted. He delighted adults and children, created, like Mozart, like Strauss and Bach, something new that no one before him could come up with. Prokofiev became for Soviet music what he had become for Russian music just a century earlier.

“The composer, like the poet, sculptor, painter, is called to serve the person and the people. It should beautify human life and protect it. First of all, he is obliged to be a citizen in his art, to sing of human life and lead a person to a brighter future,” - thus, echoing Glinka in his own words, Prokofiev saw his role.

As a children's composer, Prokofiev was not only inventive, melodic, poetic, bright, they say that he was able, keeping a piece of childhood in his own heart, to create music that was understandable and pleasant to the children's heart, as well as to those who still remembered how it was to be a child .

About the Three Orange Princesses

Throughout his life, Prokofiev worked on form, style, manner of performance, on rhythm and melody, on his famous polyphonic patterning and dissonant harmony.

All this time he created both children's music and adult music. One of Prokofiev's first children's works was the opera in ten scenes, The Love for Three Oranges. Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Carlo Gozzi, this work was light and cheerful, as if inspired by the traditional sound of the mischievous Italian theater.

The work told about princes and kings, good magicians and evil witches, about enchanted curses and how important it is not to become discouraged.

The Love for Three Oranges was a reflection of Prokofiev's youthful talent, striving to combine his nascent style with fresh memories of a carefree childhood.

A new tune for an old fairy tale

No less significant, but more mature and, perhaps, more striking, much more famous work by Prokofiev was Cinderella.

This ballet, dynamic, marked by elements of beautiful music of romanticism, which the author had mastered and supplemented by that time, was like a breath of fresh air when clouds were gathering over the world.

“Cinderella” came out in 1945, when the fire of the great war subsided in the world, it seemed to call to be reborn, to reject darkness from the heart and smile at the new life. Its harmonious and gentle sound, the inspiring motif of Charles Perrault's light fairy tale and the excellent staging gave the old story a new, life-affirming start.

“... I am especially glad that I saw you in a role that, along with many other images of world fiction, expresses the wonderful and victorious power of a childish, obedient to circumstances and true to oneself purity ... That power is dear to me in its threatening opposite to that, also age-old, deceitful and cowardly , kowtowing court element, the current forms of which I do not like to madness ... "

This is how Boris Pasternak wrote to Galina Ulanova about her role in the ballet Cinderella, thus making a compliment not only to the performer of the role, but also to its creator.

Ural tales

The last children's work of Sergei Sergeyevich came out after his death, they say that even on the fateful day he worked on orchestrating the numbers of the Stone Flower.

Sonorous and unlike anything, but for some reason very close to many, evoking a feeling of contact with something mysterious and beautiful, the melodies of this work gave musical life to the no less unusual and unlike anything Ural tales of P.P. Bazhov.

The music of Prokofiev, which he did not hear on stage, and the fabulous, reserved motifs of The Malachite Box, The Mountain Master, The Stone Flower became the basis of a truly unique ballet that reveals not only the amazing facets of musical art, but also the world of hidden legends of the Ural Mountains , which has become accessible and close to young listeners, and listeners who have preserved the youth of the spirit.

Prokofiev himself said that his children's music contains a lot of things that are important and bright for him.

The smells and sounds of childhood, the wandering of the moon across the plains and the cry of a rooster, something close and dear to the dawn of life - that's what Prokofiev put into his children's music, because it turned out to be understandable to him and to mature people, but, like him, preserved in heart a piece of childhood. Therefore, it became close to the children, whose world Prokofiev always sought to understand and feel.

About pioneers and gray predators

Of particular importance among the works of Prokofiev is the work "Peter and the Wolf". This work, where each character is performed by a separate musical instrument, specially written by the maestro for children, absorbed all the best that Sergei Sergeevich sought to perpetuate in music for his most sensitive audience.

A simple and instructive story about friendship, mutual assistance, knowledge of the world, about how everything works around and how a worthy person should behave, appears through Prokofiev's elegant and very lively music, complemented by the voice of a reader effectively interacting with various musical instruments in this symphonic tale .

The premiere of the work took place in 1936, one might say, by creating a fairy tale for children about a young pioneer, Prokofiev demonstrated that he had returned to his homeland forever.

An important role of the reader in the first version of "Peter and the Wolf" was played by Natalia Sats, who not only possessed an excellent performing talent, but was also the world's first woman opera director.

In the future, Prokofiev's work, which gained worldwide fame, became close and understandable to the children of the whole Earth, was repeatedly reprinted, embodied on the stage, on screens, on the radio.

"Peter and the Wolf" was embodied as a Disney cartoon, thanks to which the slightly modified Soviet pioneer became on a par with world-famous fairy-tale characters, to whom the studio gave the best animated birth.

Jazz, blues, rock variations of the symphonic fairy tale were released, in 1978 rock idol David Bowie played the role of the reciter of "Peter and the Wolf", and a short cartoon based on Prokofiev's fairy tale won the Golden Knight of the Oscar just recently - in 2007.

Of particular importance is the pedagogical value of "Petya and the Wolf" - a symphonic tale is used, like many of Prokofiev's works, to teach young musicians in specialized schools, but, in addition, the story of the adventures of a brave and kind pioneer almost from its very appearance has become an element of a general education school music programs.

For many years, Prokofiev's fairy tale has been helping to reveal to children the mystery of music, the right taste for symphonic classics, the idea of ​​morality, of universal human values.

In a simple and accessible form, Prokofiev managed to embody important and necessary things, for other ways of demonstrating which sometimes great efforts are spent and thick book volumes are written.

The most children's music

In addition to Cinderella and The Stone Flower, there are many more works by Prokofiev written for children. Piano piece, soft and nostalgic "Tales of the Old Grandmother".

Mischievous and dynamic, similar in its daring to The Love for Three Oranges, is the ballet The Tale of the Fool Who Outwitted Seven Fools. Serious and wise "realistic" suite "Winter fire" on the verses of S. Marshak about the life of the pioneers.

Sparkling patter song "Chatterbox", inspired by the poems of Agnia Barto. Prokofiev created for children, as if for himself, with great pleasure.

But among the works of the children's composer Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev, there is one that is, perhaps, of greater value than The Stone Flower or Cinderella. The piano cycle "Children's Music" - 12 pieces, telling in the author's inimitable light and gentle manner about the everyday life of children's days and those special moments that are so sharp, bright and unexpectedly able to turn these everyday life into a fairy tale, adventure or just a memory for life.

The piano cycle "Children's Music" has become a real treasure for teachers teaching children how to play the keys. Prokofiev himself, a brilliant pianist, managed to create something that is fully accessible only to children, intended for children who want to hear music extracted with their own hands from behind the black cover of the piano.

He made "Children's Music" fully meet not only the possibilities, but also the needs of a young pianist who is studying the secrets of sound. The piano cycle combines smoothness and sharpness, transitions of rhythms and harmonies, the ability to use either the simplest or complex keyboard shortcuts in such a way that the young virtuoso can learn and, while learning, smile at his excellent results.

"Children's Music" - heartfelt, bright, filled with crystal purity and tenderness, unusualness and fabulousness, became Prokofiev's gift to novice pianists and their teachers, who received an easy and convenient means to keep their student's attention and develop abilities.

operas

• "Giant", opera in 3 acts, 6 scenes. Plot and libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1900 (1900)
• "On Desert Islands"(1901-1903, only the Overture and Act 1 were written in three scenes). Not fulfilled. Preserved in fragments
• "Maddalena", opera in one act, op. 13. Plot and libretto M. Lieven. 1913 (1911)
• "Player", opera in 4 acts, 6 scenes, op. 24. The plot of F. Dostoevsky. Libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1927(1915-16)
• «Love for three oranges», opera in 4 acts, 10 scenes with a prologue, op. 33. Author's libretto after Carlo Gozzi. 1919
• "Fire Angel ", opera in 5 acts, 7 scenes, op. 37. The plot of V. Bryusov. Libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1919-27
• "Semyon Kotko", opera in 5 acts, 7 scenes based on the story by V. Kataev "I am the son of the working people", op. 81. Libretto by V. Kataev and S. Prokofiev. 1939
• "Betrothal in a Monastery", lyric-comic opera in 4 acts, 9 scenes based on Sheridan's play "The Duenna", op. 86. Libretto by S. Prokofiev, verse texts by M. Mendelssohn. 1940
• "War and Peace ", opera in 5 acts, 13 scenes with a choral epigraph-prologue based on the novel by L. Tolstoy, op. 91. Libretto by S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelssohn. 1941-52
• "A Tale of a Real Man", opera in 4 acts, 10 scenes based on the story of the same name by B. Polevoy, op. 117. Libretto by S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelssohn-Prokofiev. 1947-48
• "Distant Seas", lyric-comic opera based on the play by V. Dykhovichny "Honeymoon Journey". Libretto by S. Prokofiev and M. Mendelssohn-Prokofiev. Not finished. 1948

ballets

• "The Tale of the Jester (Seven Jesters Who Changed Jokes)", ballet in 6 scenes, op. 21. Story by A. Afanasiev. Libretto by S. Prokofiev. 1920 (1915)
• "Steel skok", ballet in 2 scenes, op. 41. Libretto by G. Yakulov and S. Prokofiev. 1924
• "Prodigal son", ballet in 3 acts, op. 46. ​​Libretto B. Kokhno. 1929
• "On the Dnieper", ballet in 2 scenes, op. 51. Libretto by S. Lifar and S. Prokofiev. 1930
• "Romeo and Juliet ", ballet in 4 acts, 10 scenes, op. 64. The plot of W. Shakespeare. Libretto by S. Radlov, A. Piotrovsky, L. Lavrovsky and S. Prokofiev. 1935-36
• "Cinderella", ballet in 3 acts, op. 87. Libretto by N. Volkov. 1940-44
• "The Tale of the Stone Flower", ballet in 4 acts based on P. Bazhov's tales, op. 118. Libretto by L. Lavrovsky and M. Mendelssohn-Prokofieva. 1948-50

Music for theatrical performances

• "Egyptian Nights", music for the performance of the Chamber Theater in Moscow after W. Shakespeare, B. Shaw and A. Pushkin, for a small symphony orchestra. 1933
• "Boris Godunov", music for an unrealized performance in the theater. V. E. Meyerhold in Moscow for a large symphony orchestra, op. 70 bis. 1936
• "Eugene Onegin", music for the unrealized performance of the Chamber Theater in Moscow based on the novel by A. Pushkin, staged by S. D. Krzhizhanovsky, op. 71. 1936
• "Hamlet", music for the play staged by S. Radlov at the Leningrad Drama Theatre, for small symphony orchestra, op. 77. 1937-38

Film music

• "Lieutenant Kizhe", film score for small symphony orchestra. 1933
• "The Queen of Spades", music for an unrealized film for a large symphony orchestra, op. 70. 1938
• "Alexander Nevskiy", film score for mezzo-soprano, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra. Directed by S. M. Eisenstein. 1938
• "Lermontov", film score for large symphony orchestra. Directed by A. Gendelstein. 1941
• "Tonya", music for a short film (not released) for large symphony orchestra. Directed by A. Room. 1942
• "Kotovsky", film score for large symphony orchestra. Directed by A. Feinzimmer. 1942
• "Partisans in the steppes of Ukraine", film score for large symphony orchestra. Director I. Savchenko. 1942
• "Ivan groznyj", film score for mezzo-soprano and large symphony orchestra, op. 116. Directed by S. M. Eisenstein. 1942-45

Vocal and vocal-symphonic music

Oratorios and cantatas, choirs, suites

• Two poems for women's choir and orchestra to the words of K. Balmont, op. 7. 1909
• "Seven of them" to the text by K. Balmont "Calls of Antiquity", cantata for dramatic tenor, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra, op. 30. 1917-18
• Cantata for the 20th anniversary of October for symphony orchestra, military orchestra, accordion orchestra, percussion orchestra and two choirs on texts by Marx, Lenin and Stalin, op. 74. 1936-37
• "Songs of Our Days", suite for soloists, mixed choir and symphony orchestra, op. 76. 1937
• "Alexander Nevskiy", cantata for mezzo-soprano (solo), mixed choir and orchestra, op. 78. Words by V. Lugovsky and S. Prokofiev. 1938-39
• "Toast", cantata for mixed choir accompanied by a symphony orchestra, op. 85. Folk text: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Mordovian, Kumyk, Kurdish, Mari. 1939
• "The Ballad of a Boy Remaining Unknown", cantata for soprano, tenor, choir and orchestra, op. 93. Words by P. Antokolsky. 1942-43
• Sketches for the Anthem of the Soviet Union and the Anthem of the RSFSR, op. 98. 1943
• "Flourish, mighty land", cantata for the 30th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution for mixed choir and orchestra, op. 114. Text by E. Dolmatovsky. 1947
• "Winter bonfire", suite for readers, boys' choir and symphony orchestra to words by S. Ya. Marshak, op. 122. 1949
• "Guarding the World", oratorio for mezzo-soprano, reciters, mixed choir, boys' choir and symphony orchestra to words by S. Ya. Marshak, op. 124. 1950

For voice and piano

• Two poems by A. Apukhtin and K. Balmont for voice with piano, op. 9. 1900
• "Ugly duck"(Andersen's fairy tale) for voice and piano, op. 18. 1914
• Five poems for voice with piano., op. 23. Words by V. Goryansky, 3. Gippius, B. Verin, K. Balmont and N. Agnivtsev. 1915
• Five poems by A. Akhmatova for voice and piano., op. 27. 1916
• Five songs (without words) for voice and piano., op. 35. 1920
• Five poems by K. Balmont for voice and piano., op. 36. 1921
• Two songs from the film "Lieutenant Kizhe" for voice and piano., op. 60 bis. 1934
• Six songs for voice with piano., op. 66. Words by M. Golodny, A. Afinogenov, T. Sikorskaya and folk. 1935
• Three children's songs for voice with piano., op. 68. Words by A. Barto, N. Sakonskaya and L. Kvitko (translated by S. Mikhalkov). 1936-39
• Three romances to words by A. Pushkin for voice and piano., op. 73. 1936
• "Alexander Nevsky", three songs from the film(words by B. Lugovsky), op 78. 1939
• Seven songs for voice with piano., op. 79. Words by A. Prokofiev, A. Blagov, M. Svetlov, M. Mendelssohn, P. Panchenko, without author's name and folk. 1939
• Seven mass songs for voice with piano., op. 89. Words by V. Mayakovsky, A. Surkov and M. Mendelssohn. 1941-42
• Arrangements of Russian folk songs for voice and piano., op. 104. Folk words. Two notebooks, 12 songs. 1944
• Two duets, arrangements of Russian folk songs for tenor and bass with piano., op. 106. Folk text, recorded by E. V. Gippius. 1945
• Soldier's marching song, op. 121. Words by V. Lugovsky. 1950

For symphony orchestra

Symphonies and symphoniettas

• Symphonietta A-dur op. 5, in 5 parts. 1914 (1909)
• Classical (First) symphony D-dur, op. 25, in 4 parts. 1916-17
• Second Symphony d minor, op. 40, in 2 parts. 1924
• Third Symphony c minor, op. 44, in 4 parts. 1928
• Symphonietta A-dur op. 48, in 5 parts (third edition). 1929
• Fourth Symphony C-dur, op 47, in 4 movements. 1930
• Fifth Symphony B-dur, op. 100. in 4 parts. 1944
• Sixth Symphony es-moll, op. 111. in 3 parts. 1945-47
• Fourth Symphony C-dur, op. 112, in 4 parts. Second edition. 1947
• Seventh Symphony cis minor, op. 131, in 4 parts. 1951-52

Other works for symphony orchestra

• "Dreams", symphonic picture for large orchestra, op. 6. 1910
• "Autumn", symphonic sketch for small symphony orchestra, op. 8. 1934 (1915-1910)
• "Ala i Lolly", Scythian suite for large symphony orchestra, op. 20, in 4 parts. 1914-15
• "Jester", suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 21 bis, in 12 parts. 1922
• Andante from the Fourth Sonata for piano., transcription by the author for symphony orchestra, op. 29bis. 1934
• "The Love for Three Oranges", symphonic suite from the opera, op. 33 bis, in 6 parts. 1934
• Overture on Jewish Themes, transcription by the author for symphony orchestra, op. 34. 1934
• "Steel Jump", symphonic suite from the ballet, op. 41bis. in 4 parts. 1926
• Overture for flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 trumpets, trombone, celesta, 2 harps, 2 piano, cello, 2 double basses and percussion B-dur, op. 42. Two versions: for a chamber orchestra of 17 people and for a large orchestra (1928). 1926
• Divertimento for orchestra, op. 43, in 4 parts. 1925-29
• "The Prodigal Son", symphonic suite from the ballet, op. 46 bis, in 5 parts. 1929
• Andante from quartet h-moll, arranged by the author for string orchestra, op. 50 bis. 1930
• Four portraits and denouement from opera “The Gambler”, symphonic suite for large orchestra, op. 49. 1931
• "On the Dnieper", a suite from a ballet for a large orchestra, op. 51 bis, in 6 parts. 1933
• Symphonic song for large orchestra, op. 57. 1933
• "Lieutenant Kizhe", symphonic suite from the film score, op. 60, in 5 parts. 1934
• "Egyptian Nights", a symphonic suite from the music for the play at the Moscow Chamber Theatre, op. 61, in 7 parts. 1934
• Romeo and Juliet, first suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 64 bis, in 7 parts. 1936
• "Romeo and Juliet", the second suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 64 ter, in 7 movements. 1936
• "Peter and the Wolf", a symphonic fairy tale for children, for reciter and large symphony orchestra, op. 67. Words by S. Prokofiev. 1936
• Russian overture for symphony orchestra, op. 72. Two options: for a quadruple composition and for a triple composition. 1936
• "Summer day", children's suite for small orchestra, op. 65 bis, in 7 parts. 1941
• "Semyon Kotko", suite for symphony orchestra, op. 81 bis, in 8 parts. 1941
• Symphonic March B-dur for large orchestra, op. 88. 1941
• "1941 year", symphonic suite for large orchestra, op. 90, in 3 parts. 1941
• "Ode to the End of the War" for 8 harps, 4 pianos, an orchestra of wind and percussion instruments and double basses, op. 105. 1945
• "Romeo and Juliet", the third suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 101, in 6 parts. 1946
• "Cinderella", the first suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 107, in 8 parts. 1946
• "Cinderella", the second suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 108, in 7 parts. 1946
• "Cinderella", the third suite from the ballet for large symphony orchestra, op. 109, in 8 parts. 1946
• Waltzes, suite for symphony orchestra, op. 110. 1946
• Holiday Poem ("Thirty Years") for symphony orchestra, op. 113. 1947
• Pushkin Waltzes for Symphony Orchestra, op. 120. 1949
• "Summer night", symphonic suite from the opera Betrothal in a Monastery, op. 123, in 5 parts. 1950
• "The Tale of the Stone Flower", wedding suite from the ballet for symphony orchestra, op. 126, in 5 parts. 1951
• "The Tale of the Stone Flower", a gypsy fantasy from a ballet for symphony orchestra, op. 127. 1951
• "The Tale of the Stone Flower", Ural Rhapsody from the ballet for symphony orchestra, op. 128. 1951
• Festive poem "Meeting of the Volga with the Don" for symphony orchestra, op. 130. 1951

Concerts with orchestra

• The first concert for f-p. with an orchestra Des-dur, op. 10, single piece. 1911-12
• The second concert for piano. with an orchestra g-moll, op. 16, in 4 parts. 1923 (1913)
• First concerto for violin and orchestra D-dur, op. 19, in 3 parts. 1916-17
• Third concert for piano. with an orchestra C-dur, op. 26, in 3 parts. 1917-21
• Fourth concert for piano. with an orchestra for the left hand B-dur, op. 53, in 4 parts. 1931
• Fifth concert for piano. with an orchestra G-dur, op. 55, in 5 parts. 1932
• Concerto for cello and orchestra e minor, op. 58, in 3 parts. 1933-38
• Second concerto for violin and orchestra g-moll. op. 63, in 3 parts. 1935
• Symphony-concert for cello and orchestra e-moll. op. 125, in 3 parts. 1950-52
• Concertino for cello and orchestra g-moll, op. 132. in 3 parts. Finished after the death of S. Prokofiev by M. Rostropovich. 1952
• Concerto for 2 pianos and string orchestra, op. 133, in 3 parts. Not finished. 1952

For brass band

• Four marches, op. 69. 1935-37
• March B-dur op. 99. 1943-44

For instrumental ensembles

• Humorous scherzo for 4 bassoons, op. 12bis. 1912
• Overture on Jewish Themes for clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello and piano. c minor, op. 34. 1919
• Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass g-moll, op. 39, in 6 parts. 1924
• Quartet for 2 violins, viola and cello in h-moll, op. 50, in 3 parts. 1930
• Sonata for 2 violins C-dur, op. 56, in 4 parts. 1932
• First sonata for violin and piano. f-moll, op. 80, in 4 parts. 1938-46
• Second quartet (on Kabardian themes) for 2 violins, viola and cello in F-dur, op. 92, in 3 parts. 1941
• Sonata for flute and piano. D-dur, op. 94, in 4 parts. 1943
• Second sonata for violin and piano.(transcription of the sonata for flute and piano) D-dur, op. 94bis. 1943-44
• Sonata for cello and piano. C-dur, op. 119, in 3 parts. 1949

Arrangement for 2 pianos. in 4 hands. 1918

for violin

• Five melodies for violin and piano., op. 35 bis. 1925
• Sonata for solo violin D-dur, op. 115, in 3 parts. 1947

For cello

• Ballade for cello and piano. c minor, op. 15. 1912
• Adagio from the ballet "Cinderella" for cello and piano., op. 97bis. 1944

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

Brief biography Sergei Prokofiev and a lot of interesting facts about the composer read on our page.

Brief biography of Prokofiev

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

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

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

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

Prokofiev - composer

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

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

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

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

Interesting Facts:

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

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

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

Sergei Prokofiev and cinema

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

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

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

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

Sergei Prokofiev in the life of outstanding musicians

• Sergei Taneev said about the nine-year-old Seryozha Prokofiev that he had outstanding abilities and perfect pitch.
• At the recording of the music for the film Lieutenant Kizhe, the young conductor Isaak Dunayevsky led the symphony orchestra. Subsequently, in personal correspondence, Dunaevsky expressed an ambiguous attitude towards Prokofiev due to the latter's privileged position.
• The biography of Prokofiev indicates that the composer Boris Asafiev was a conservatory classmate and long-term friend of Prokofiev. Despite this, at the First Congress of Soviet Composers in 1948, a speech was read on his behalf, in which the work of the "formalist" Prokofiev was equated with fascism. In addition, Asafiev, on behalf of Zhdanov, edited the resolution "On the opera" Great Friendship "by V. Muradeli", in which, by the way, he was appointed chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Union of Composers.
• The ballet "On the Dnieper" became the debut production for two choreographers of different generations - Serge Lifar as choreographer of the Paris Opera in 1930, and Alexei Ratmansky at the American Ballet Theater (2009).
• Mstislav Rostropovich was very friendly with Sergei Prokofiev, for whom the composer created the Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra.
• The role of Polina in the premiere production of the Bolshoi Opera The Gambler (1974) was the last role of Galina Vishnevskaya before emigrating.
• Galina Ulanova, the first performer of the role of Juliet, recalled that she was one of those who believed that "there is no sadder story in the world than Prokofiev's music in ballet." The composer's melody, its rapidly changing tempos and moods created problems for understanding the idea and performing the role. Years later, Galina Sergeevna will say that if she were asked what the music of Romeo and Juliet should be, she would answer - only the one that Prokofiev wrote.

• S.S. Prokofiev is the favorite composer of Valery Gergiev. His career as a conductor at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theater began with the opera War and Peace. Perhaps for this reason, the Mariinsky Theater is the only one in the world whose repertoire includes 12 productions of Prokofiev's works. On the occasion of the composer's 125th birthday in April 2016, the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra played all 7 of his symphonies in three anniversary days. It was Valery Gergiev who saved the composer's dacha from destruction by buying it out and transferring it to his charitable foundation, which plans to make a cultural center there.

As is often the case with geniuses, interest in music Sergei Prokofiev increases the more time passes from the date of its writing. Outstripping not only her generation of listeners, she is not a frozen classic in the 21st century of dissonances, but a living source of energy and strength of genuine creativity.

Video: watch a film about S. Prokofiev