V. VenchakovaCreativity S
In 1918, Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev started an album in which all his friends were supposed to leave notes on the same topic: “What do you think about the sun?” It was not by chance that the composer chose it, because the sun is the source of life, and he himself has always, in all his works, been the singer of life.
We know what kind of composer Prokofiev was from his works, but we can best learn about what kind of person he was, what he loved, what he strove for, from his “Autobiography.”
“I have had a penchant for recording since childhood, and it was encouraged by my parents,” says Sergei Prokofiev on the first pages of “Autobiography.” “At the age of six I was already writing music. At seven, having learned to play chess, I started a notebook and began writing down games; the first of them is the “shepherd’s” checkmate I received in three moves. In nine years, stories of fighting tin soldiers were written, taking into account losses and diagrams of movements. At twelve I spied my music professor writing a diary. This seemed absolutely wonderful, and I began to conduct my own, under terrible secret from everyone."
Prokofiev was born and spent his childhood on the Sontsovka estate (in the current Donetsk region), where his father, a learned agronomist, was the manager. Already as 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.
Not yet knowing the notes, according to his ears, the boy was trying to play something of his own on the piano. And he learned notes, mainly in order to write down “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 “Faust” by Gounod), Seryozha decided to compose his own opera, the plot of which he also came up with himself. It was an opera “The Giant” in three acts with adventures, fights and so on.
Prokofiev's parents were educated people and they themselves took up initial training boy in all school subjects. But, of course, they 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 famous composer and teacher Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, who advised him to invite the young composer Reinhold Moritsevich Gliere, who had just graduated from the conservatory, to Sontsovka for the summer to study with Seryozha.
Gliere spent two summers in a row in Sontsovka, hanging out with Seryozha, and also playing chess and croquet with him - in the role of no longer a teacher, but 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 substantial baggage of works. The thick folder contained two operas, a sonata, a symphony and many small piano pieces - “Songs” - written under the direction of Gliere. Some of the “Songs” were so original and sharp in sound that one of Seryozha’s friends advised calling them not “Songs”, but “Dogs”, because they “bite”.
Years of study at the conservatory
At the conservatory, Seryozha was the youngest among his 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 errors in the musical problems of each of the students, calculated 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. This was Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky, a future famous composer who became the head of the Moscow school of composers in Soviet times. Despite the difference in years (Myaskovsky was twenty-five, and Prokofiev was fifteen), a lifelong friendship began between them. They always showed each other their works and discussed them - personally and in letters.
In the classes of the theory of composition and free composition, Prokofiev, in general, was not at home - his unique talent was too disrespectful to the conservatory tradition. The most bold essays Prokofiev did not even dare to show it to the teachers, knowing that this would cause bewilderment or irritation. The attitude of the teachers was reflected in very average grades in Prokofiev’s composer’s diploma. But the young musician had one more specialty in reserve - piano - for which he graduated from the conservatory again in the spring of 1914.
“If I was indifferent to the poor quality of the composer’s diploma,” Prokofiev later recalled, “this time my ambition got to me, and I decided to finish first in piano.”
Prokofiev took a risk: instead of a classical piano concerto, he decided to play his own First Concerto, which had just been published, handing over the notes to the examiners in advance. The jubilant music of the concert, full of youthful enthusiasm, captivated the audience, Prokofiev’s performance was triumphant, and he received a diploma with honors and the Anton Rubinstein Prize.
Results of creative activity
The creative energy of the young composer Prokofiev was truly volcanic. He worked quickly, boldly, tirelessly, striving to cover a wide variety of genres and forms. The first piano concerto was followed by the second, and after that 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 a failed ballet. The worship of pagan gods, the frantic “Dance of the Evil Ones”, 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, and energetic rhythms. The inspired optimism of the suite, the light that permeates it, is all the more remarkable because it was created during the difficult years of the First World War.
Sergei Prokofiev very quickly entered the first rank of composers, known not only at home, but also abroad, although his music has always caused controversy, and some works, especially stage ones, waited for years to be performed. But it was the stage that especially attracted the composer. I was attracted by the opportunity, following the path of Mussorgsky, to express in musical intonations the most subtle, secret shades of feeling, to create living human characters.
True, he also did this in chamber music, for example, in the vocal fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling” (after Andersen). Each of the inhabitants poultry yard endowed with its own unique character: a sedate mother duck, small enthusiastic ducklings and himself main character, before turning into beautiful swan unhappy and despised by everyone. Having heard this fairy tale by Prokofiev, A. M. Gorky exclaimed: “But he wrote this about himself, about himself!”
The works of the young Prokofiev are surprisingly varied and sometimes sharply contrasting. In 1918, his “Classical Symphony” was performed for the first time - an elegant composition sparkling with fun and subtle humor. Its name, as if emphasizing the deliberate stylization - imitation of the manner of Haydn and Mozart - is now perceived by us without quotation marks: this is a true classic of music of the Soviet period. In the composer’s work, the symphony began a bright and clear line, which is drawn right up to his later works - the ballet “Cinderella”, the Seventh Symphony.
And almost simultaneously with the “Classical Symphony”, a 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 with some complex and unclear associations associated with the revolutionary events that shook the 1917 Russia and the whole world. The “strange turn” of creative thought later surprised Prokofiev himself.
Abroad
An even stranger twist occurred 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, you will not be understood.” 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 greatly over the years.
But the years spent abroad did not mean a complete separation from the homeland. Three concert trips to the Soviet Union were an opportunity to communicate with both old friends and new audiences. In 1926, the opera “The Love for Three Oranges,” conceived in his homeland but written abroad, was staged in Leningrad. The year before, Prokofiev wrote the ballet Leap of Steel, a series of scenes from the life of the young Soviet republic. Colorful everyday sketches and musical and choreographic portraits of the Commissioner, the Orator, the Worker, and the Sailor are adjacent to 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, traveling outside its borders only for a short time. The years following his return turned out to be perhaps the most fruitful in his life and generally very productive. One after another, works are created, 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 the oratorio - all this was included in the golden fund of music of the Soviet period.
Convey the plot of Shakespearean tragedy through dance and dance music- such a task seemed impossible and even unnatural to many. Prokofiev approached her as if no ballet conventions existed.
In particular, he abandoned constructing the ballet as a series of complete numbers, in the pauses between which the dancers bow and thank the audience for the applause. In Prokofiev, both music and choreographic action develop continuously, following the laws of drama. This ballet, first staged 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”. Music written in documentary text: it uses articles, speeches and letters by K. Marx and V.I. Lenin. The work was so unheard of new that the cantata had to wait for 20 years to be performed...
Different stories, different genres...
Works of the mature period
But, taking a general look at the works of the mature period and comparing them with the early ones, one can clearly see the general trend: the irrepressible ebullience of creative thought is replaced by wise balance, interest in the incredible, fabulous, legendary is replaced by interest in the real human destinies(“Semyon Kotko” - an opera about a 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 that was always characteristic of Prokofiev did not disappear. In the fairy tale (for the reader and the symphony orchestra), addressed to the youngest listeners, a lot of interesting information is given in a humorous form. Each character is characterized by some kind of instrument. The result was a kind of guide to the orchestra and at the same time cheerful, funny music. - one of the works in which the composer achieved “new simplicity,” as he himself called it, that is, such a manner of presenting thoughts that easily reaches the listener without reducing or impoverishing the thought itself.
The pinnacle of Prokofiev's work is his opera War and Peace. The plot of the great work of L. Tolstoy, recreating the heroic pages of Russian history, was perceived in the years Patriotic War(and it was then that the opera was created) unusually sharp and modern.
This work combines the best, most typical features of his work. Prokofiev is here both a master of a characteristic intonation portrait, and a monumentalist who freely composes mass folk scenes, and, finally, a lyricist who created an unusually poetic and feminine image of Natasha.
Prokofiev once compared creativity to shooting at moving targets: “Only by taking aim ahead, at tomorrow, will you not be left behind, at the level of yesterday’s requirements.”
And all his life he took “an eye forward”, and, probably, that is why all his works - both written in the years of creative growth and in the years of his last serious illness - have remained with us and continue to bring joy to listeners.
Major works:
Operas:
"The Gambler" (1916)
"The Love for Three Oranges" (1919).
"Fire 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 a Jester Who Tricked Seven Jesters” (1915)
"Steel Leap" (1925)
« Prodigal son"(1928)
"Romeo and Juliet" (1936)
"Cinderella" (1944)
"The Tale of the Stone Flower" (1950)
The biography of Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) began in the provincial wilderness, in Sontsovka - not far from Yekaterinoslav, where his father was the manager of an estate. Here, under the guidance of his mother, a good pianist, music lessons began when the future author of “The Love for Three Oranges” was not yet five years old. Prokofiev began to invent and compose music around the same time, and he never abandoned this activity. It was an organic need every day of his life. The definition of “composer” was as natural for Prokofiev as “man”.
Two operas - "The Giant" and "On the Deserted Islands", composed and even recorded by Prokofiev at the age of 9-10, of course, cannot be taken into account when considering his creative path, they are childishly naive. But they can serve as evidence of talent, perseverance, and an indicator of the desire for some kind of scale.
The eleven-year-old composer was introduced to S.I. Taneyev. Great musician and the strict teacher recognized the boy’s undoubted talent and recommended that he study music seriously. The next chapter of Prokofiev’s biography is already completely unusual: during the summer months of 1902 and 1903, Taneyev’s student R. M. Glier studied composition with Seryozha Prokofiev. The result of the first summer was a four-movement symphony, and the result of the second summer was the opera “A Feast in the Time of Plague.” It was, as Prokofiev recalled many years later, “a real opera, with vocal parts, an orchestral score and an overture in sonata form.”
At the age of 13, Prokofiev, as is known, embarked on the path of professional music studies within the walls of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Studying with A.K. Lyadov, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov in composition and with A.A. Winkler and A. Esipova in piano, S. Prokofiev was not limited to completing class assignments. He wrote a lot, not always coordinating how and what to write with academic rules. Even then, the creative self-will so typical of Prokofiev was evident, the source of many conflicts with “recognized authorities”, the source of a purely individual, Prokofiev style of writing.
In December 1908, seventeen-year-old Prokofiev performed for the first time in a public concert. Among other piano pieces, he played “Obsession,” in which one can hear typically Prokofiev’s acutely dissonant harmony, springy rhythm, and deliberately dry, daring motorism. Criticism reacted instantly: “The young author, who has not yet completed his artistic education, belonging to the extreme movement of modernists, goes much further in his courage than modern Frenchmen.” The label is stuck: “extreme modernist.” Let us remember that by the end of the first decade of the century, modernism flourished magnificently and gave more and more new shoots. Therefore, Prokofiev had quite a lot of “definitions” that often sounded like abusive nicknames. Prokofiev did not find anything with the conservatory “boss” and teachers. common language. He became closest friends only with N.N. Tcherepnin, who taught conducting. During these same years, Prokofiev began a friendship with N. Ya. Myaskovsky, a respectable musician, ten years older than him.
Young Prokofiev becomes frequent guest"Evenings modern music", where all sorts of new works were performed. Prokofiev was the first performer in Russia of piano pieces by Arnold Schoenberg, who had not yet created his own dodecaphonic system, but wrote quite “sharply.”
Judging by the dedication written by Prokofiev on the score of the symphonic painting “Dreams”: “To the author who began with “Dreams” (i.e. Scriabin), Prokofiev did not escape the passion that gripped the vast majority of young musicians. But for Prokofiev this passion only slipped , without leaving a noticeable mark.By his character, Prokofiev - a clear, decisive, businesslike, athletic person, least of all resembled a composer who was close to Scriabin's sophistication, dreaminess, or - in another sense - ecstasy.
Already in the “March” for piano, part of the “Ten Pieces” cycle (1914), one can hear the resilient, strong-willed, catchy manner typical of Prokofiev in subsequent decades, which is close to Mayakovsky’s writing style of those years.
Two successive piano concertos (1912, 1913) are evidence of the composer’s creative maturity. They are different: in the First, the desire to shock at any cost makes itself felt, to stun the audience; The Second Concert is much more poetic. Prokofiev himself wrote about his concerts: “Reproaches for the pursuit of external splendor and a certain “footballiness” of the First Concert led to a search for greater depth of content in the Second."
The public and the overwhelming majority of critics greeted Prokofiev's appearance on the St. Petersburg concert stage with friendly boos. In the feuilleton of the Petersburg newspaper they wrote that “Prokofiev sits down at the piano and begins to either wipe the keys or try which ones sound higher or lower.”
By 1914, Prokofiev “did away” with the conservatory in both specialties - composition and pianism.
As a reward, his parents offered him a trip abroad. He chose London. The opera and ballet troupe of Sergei Diaghilev toured there, the repertoire of which was of great interest to Prokofiev. In London he was captivated by Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe and two of Stravinsky's ballets, The Firebird and Petrushka.
In conversations with Diaghilev, the first, still unclear, outlines of a ballet on a Russian prehistoric theme emerged. The initiative belonged to Diaghilev, and the Rite of Spring undoubtedly prompted him to these thoughts.
Upon returning to Russia, Prokofiev gets to work. As has often happened in history ballet theater, a weak dramatic basis, even with excellent music, does not lead to success. This was the case with Prokofiev’s concept of the ballet “Ala and Lolliy”, the libretto for which was composed by the poet Sergei Gorodetsky. The music is clearly influenced by Stravinsky. This is understandable, given that the atmosphere of Scythian “barbarism” in “Aly and Lollia” is the same as in “The Rite of Spring” and even some of the plot moves are very similar. And besides, music of such gigantic impressive power as “The Rite of Spring” could not fail to capture the young Prokofiev. Somewhat later - between 1915 and 1920 - the ballet "The Tale of a Jester Who Tricked Seven Jesters" appeared. This time Prokofiev writes the libretto himself, borrowing the plot of Russian fairy tales from the collection of A. Afanasyev. The composer was a success with mischievous music of a Russian character. The ballet turned out to be lively, replete with witty episodes and reminiscent of “buffoon games”. In it, Prokofiev “had plenty of fun” with irony, grotesque, sarcasm - so typical of him.
Many of the young Prokofiev’s contemporaries and even researchers of his work overlooked the “lyrical current” in his music, breaking through the acutely satirical, grotesque, sarcastic images, through the deliberately rough, ponderous rhythms. And there are many of them, these lyrical, shy intonations in piano cycles“Fleetingness” and “Sarcasm”, in the secondary theme of the first part of the Second Sonata, in romances based on poems by Balmont, Apukhtin, Akhmatova.
From here the threads will stretch to "Tales of an Old Grandmother", "Romeo and Juliet", to the music of Natasha Rostova, to "Cinderella", to Pushkin's waltzes. Let us note that these works are dominated by strong but shy feelings, “afraid” of their external expression. Prokofiev is ironic about the exaggerations of the romantic “world of excited feelings.” For such anti-romantic skepticism - among many other works - the romance "The Magician" based on the poems of Agnivtsev is very indicative.
Prokofiev's anti-romantic tendencies are also reflected in his sympathy for prose and prosaic texts. Here we can talk about the influences of Mussorgsky, especially since Prokofiev often prefers the type of melody that is close to speech intonations. In this regard, his “Ugly Duckling” for voice and piano, which can hardly be called a romance, is very indicative. Wise and good fairy tale Andersen, who instills faith in goodness and light, attracted Prokofiev with her humanism.
One of the first performances of “The Ugly Duckling” was heard by A. M. Gorky in a concert in which he read the first chapter of his “Childhood”. Admired by “The Duckling,” Gorky expressed a guess: “...but he wrote this about himself, about himself!”
In January 1916, Prokofiev had to go through an ordeal that made him remember the evening of the premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. This was the first performance of the Scythian Suite, which he himself conducted. The public loudly expressed their indignation at the “wild work.” A reviewer for “Theater Sheet” wrote: “It is absolutely incredible that such a play, devoid of any meaning, could be performed on serious concert.... These are some impudent, impudent sounds that express nothing except endless bragging.”
Prokofiev stoically withstands this kind of critical assessment and this kind of reaction from the audience. Having attended public performances by D. Burliuk, V. Kamensky, V. Mayakovsky, he gets used to the idea that innovative trends in any art cannot but cause violent reactions from the public, which has its own established tastes and considers any violation of them an attack on personality and dignity , decency.
In the pre-revolutionary years, Prokofiev was busy working on the opera "The Gambler" based on the story by Dostoevsky. Here he comes even closer to Mussorgsky. For many reasons, Prokofiev will postpone The Gambler for almost ten years; its premiere will take place in Brussels only in 1929.
While working on The Player, perhaps in contrast to the innovations generously scattered in the score, Prokofiev conceived a symphony built according to the strict canon of classical examples of this genre. Thus arises one of the most charming works of the young Prokofiev, his Classical Symphony. Cheerful, bright, without a single “wrinkle on the forehead” music, with just its theme touches another emotional sphere, dreamy lyrics, this is the melody of violins in an extremely high register, sounding at the beginning of the second movement. The first performance of the Classical Symphony, dedicated to B.V. Asafiev, took place under the direction of the author after the revolution, in 1918. A.V. Lunacharsky was present at the concert.
In a conversation with him, Prokofiev expressed a desire to go on a long concert train abroad. Lunacharsky did not object. So, in 1918 Prokofiev went abroad.
At first he gave concerts in Japan, and from there he headed to the USA. In his memoirs, Prokofiev writes: “From Yokahama, with a wonderful stop in Honolulu, I moved to San Francisco. There they did not immediately let me ashore, knowing that Russia was ruled by “maximalists” (as the Bolsheviks were called in America at that time) - the people are not entirely understandable and, probably, dangerous. Having been kept on the island for three days and questioned in detail (“Have you been in prison?” - “You have been.” - “That’s bad. Where?” - “You, on the island.” - “Oh, you want to joke!”), I was allowed into the United States.”
Three and a half years spent in the USA added the opera “The Love for Three Oranges” and several chamber works to the list of Prokofiev’s works.
Leaving Russia, Prokofiev took with him the theater magazine "Love for Three Oranges", where the script was published fairy tale of the same name Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi, revised by V. Meyerhold. Based on it, Prokofiev wrote the libretto and music of the opera.
“The Love for Three Oranges” can be called an ironic fairy tale, in which reality, fantasy, and theatrical conventions are intertwined into a fascinating performance, endowed with a bright stage form, akin to the Italian “commedia dell’arte.” During the time - almost half a century - that separates us from the premiere of "The Love for Three Oranges", this opera has entered the repertoire of many theaters.
For the first time, after much ordeal, it was staged in Chicago at the end of 1921. Two weeks before the premiere of Oranges, the first performance of the Third Piano Concerto took place there, in Chicago. The author played the solo part. In this concert, the “Russian spirit” reigns in the language, in the images, sometimes soulful like a pipe (introduction), sometimes ominously fabulous in Koscheev’s way, sometimes sweeping, like the generous power of Russian youth. Of the five piano concertos (the Fourth and Fifth were written in the early 30s), it is the Third that enjoys the greatest popularity to this day, perhaps also because the voice of piano “omnipotence” is heard in it, making one remember the pathos of the concerts of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov . This feature of the concert was figuratively and vividly expressed by the poet Konstantin Balmont: “And the invincible Scythian beats the tambourine of the sun.”
Having moved to Europe, to Paris, at the beginning of 1920, Prokofiev renewed his ties with Diaghilev, but not for long. The meeting with Stravinsky turned into a quarrel, and this led to changes in the relationship with Diaghilev. A most experienced impresario, a man with an excellent “sense of smell,” Diaghilev felt that Prokofiev could not count on success with that part of the public that some respectfully call “elite,” others more soberly call snobs. In short, she, the “elite,” did not like the Violin Concerto, written long ago but first performed in Paris in 1923, which, in her opinion, was not “peppered” enough. And then Prokofiev, wanting to take revenge, “peppered” the Second Symphony so much that it recoiled even the “left side” of the hall. Prokofiev was not in the “Parisian tone”, not in favor. This means, according to Diaghilev’s logic, there is no need to know him.
In the diplomatic world, in influential “salons”, interest in the “land of the Bolsheviks” grew day by day. This did not escape Diaghilev’s attention. After two years of coldness, Sergei Diaghilev turned to Prokofiev in the old, friendly way. It was about a ballet from... Soviet life. I. Ehrenburg was supposed to be the author of the libretto. Final choice fell on G. Yakulov. The title of the ballet "Steel Leap" was intriguing. Staged by choreographer Leonid Myasin, "Leap of Steel" neither in Paris nor in London, where it was shown during the tour of Diaghilev's troupe, was not successful and, strictly speaking, could not have had it. The ballet, devoid of cross-cutting action, consisted of separate, unrelated episodes: the train with the bagmen, the Commissioners, the toffees and cigarette makers, the Orator. In the second (last) scene of the ballet on stage, the ballet troupe demonstrated the movement of machines, machine tools, and the whine of steam hammers.
In 1927, Sergei Prokofiev made a large concert tour of the Soviet Union. He was enchanted by the Leningrad production of Three Oranges and the reception he received as a composer and pianist in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kyiv, and Odessa. It was as if he had re-breathed the air of his native land.
Of the works of the late 20s, the most interesting are the Third Symphony (we will return to it later) and the ballet “Prodigal Son”, staged in May 1929. Here Prokofiev again showed the power of his talent. The music of "The Prodigal Son" captivates with its wise simplicity, warmth, and nobility of theme. Contrasting scenes: the bacchanalia of the feast and the morning after a riotous night, and then the scene full of sorrow and humility of the return of the hero of the ballet-parable to his father’s roof - produce strong impression. The ballet "Prodigal Son" is the closest approach to the three ballets written by Prokofiev after returning to his homeland, the ballets that increased his world fame.
Prokofiev had long dreamed of returning home. In the memoirs of one of his French friends, Sergei Sergeevich quotes: “The air of a foreign land does not arouse inspiration in me, because I am Russian and there is nothing more harmful for a person than living in exile, being in a spiritual climate that does not correspond to his race. I must "I must again plunge into the atmosphere of my homeland, I must see real winter and spring again, I must hear Russian speech, talk with people close to me. And this will give me what is so lacking here, for their songs are my songs."
In 1933, Sergei Prokofiev returned to his homeland. But the homeland has changed. Over the sixteen post-revolutionary years it has grown new audience with your own beliefs, needs, tastes. This was not the audience that Prokofiev remembered from his youth, and not the one that he met abroad. Artistic and aesthetic culture has grown enormously, tightly bound to the revolutionary worldview, which makes it possible to freely, truthfully perceive and interpret the phenomena of life in the same way, understanding where history is moving. Trying his hand at new conditions for him, Prokofiev accepts an offer to write music for the film “Lieutenant Kizhe”. This is where Prokofev’s inherent musical wit made itself felt! The era of Pavlov’s barracks drill, the cheerless whistling of flutes accompanied by the beat of drums, the couriers galloping on crossbars with their eyes bulging from zeal, was an era when cutesy ladies-in-waiting and cooks sang a hundred times a day: “The blue dove is moaning, he is moaning day and night ... "Freedom for music! Moreover, the music is ironic. Prokofiev composed exactly the kind of music that was expected from him: sharp, extremely precise, instantly merging with the action, with the person, with the landscape. And “Kizhe’s Wedding”, and “Troika”, and the terrible drum roll to which the “criminal Kizhe” was led to Siberia - all this sounded extremely expressive thanks to the grotesqueness that unites the eerie and the funny.
Thus began a new, most important stage in Prokofiev’s creative biography. In the same year, 1933, he wrote the music for the production of “Egyptian Nights” at the Moscow Chamber Theater and again proved that even in this genre, which gives the composer seemingly the most modest opportunities, it is possible to create works of high merit.
To the genre of film music and music in drama theater Prokofiev appeals repeatedly. His music for two films by Sergei Eisenstein: “Alexander Nevsky” and “Ivan the Terrible” left a particularly great impression. In the music for "Alexander Nevsky" (1938), Prokofiev continued the line of epic symphonism coming from Borodin. Such episodes as “Rus under the Mongol Yoke”, “Battle of the Ice”, and the chorus “Rise up, Russian people” are captivating with their realistic power and strict monumentality. It is not the illustration for the film frame, but the symphonic generalization of the theme, concretized on the screen, that occupies the composer. Despite the fact that music is tightly connected with the image, it has an independent, very high value, as evidenced by the cantata “Alexander Nevsky” created on its basis for orchestra, choir and soloist.
The music for the film “Ivan the Terrible” (1942) was written in the same way. After Prokofiev’s death, conductor A. Stasevich combined the most significant episodes of music into the oratorio “Ivan the Terrible” - a work of enormous, stunning power.
The second half of the 30s was marked by the composition of one of Prokofiev's best works - the ballet Romeo and Juliet. Staged at the beginning of 1940 by L. Lavrovsky on the stage of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. S. M. Kirov, it played a huge role in the history of world choreographic culture, being the first performance that fully embodied Shakespeare’s tragedy through the means of music, dance and pantomime. G. Ulanova - Juliet, K. Sergeev - Romeo, R. Gerbek - Tybalt, A. Lopukhov - Mercutio are rightfully among the most outstanding performers of Shakespearean roles. With his ballet, Prokofiev raised the level of ballet music to a level that it had not reached since Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Stravinsky, which in turn set new challenges for every composer writing ballet music. The symphonic principles that determine the style and essence of the music of Romeo and Juliet were further developed in two of Prokofiev's ballets - Cinderella (1944) and The Tale of the Stone Flower (1950).
With "Cinderella" was born one of the most poetic performances about the sad life of a stepdaughter, humiliated and ridiculed by the evil stepmother and her daughters Zlyuka and Krivlyaka. In those distant years, when romances were written based on the poems of Balmong, Apukhtin and Akhmatova, full of the charm of “The Old Grandmother's Tale,” the seeds were sown that rose in the score of “Cinderella” with music radiating waves of humanity and love of life. In every episode where Cinderella appears or where she is only “mentioned”, the music is filled with fragrant warmth and affection. Of everything written by Prokofiev, “Cinderella” is closest to the ballet dramaturgy of Tchaikovsky, who also more than once thought about a ballet based on this plot...
Prokofiev's last ballet is "The Tale of the Stone Flower". " Malachite Box"Bazhova was filled with wonderful Russian music, generated by fantastic and real images ancient tales of the Ural stone-cutters and in the most vivid image of them Copper Mountain the mistress, now a beautiful woman, now an evil malachite lizard, keeping the secret of a stone flower.
Next to ballets, his operas occupy an important place in Prokofiev’s creative biography. The composer followed a difficult path in this genre. Starting with the one-act “Maddalena,” a bloody drama set against the backdrop of the lush life of 15th-century Venice, he turns to his next opera, Dostoevsky’s “The Gambler,” and from him to the already mentioned fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi, “The Love for Three Oranges,” the first opera has won lasting success. After the ironic, light and cheerful music of "Oranges", the composer suddenly plunges into the darkness of the Middle Ages in an opera based on the plot of V. Bryusov's story "The Fire Angel", where eroticism and the horrors of the Inquisition alternate with frenzied prophecies and cabalistics. The music, written under the influence of expressionist aesthetics, which was completely unusual for Prokofiev, was later used by him in the Third Symphony.
For many years, Prokofiev did not turn to the opera genre. And only in 1939 I became interested in V. Kataev’s story “I am the son of the working people.” Based on it, he wrote the opera "Semyon Kotko". Prokofiev spoke in a completely new language in many episodes of this opera, obviously restoring in his memory childhood impressions of Ukraine, about the songs that rang in Sontsovka, about the atmosphere itself, saturated with the fertile Ukrainian warmth. Is this where the lyrical intonations in the duet dialogues between Semyon Kotko and his beloved Sofia Tkachenko, or the characteristics of Frosya and Mikolka, delighting with their touching naivety, arose? Despite the inherent merits of Semyon Kotko, Prokofiev’s predilection for prosaism and conversational style of intonation initially prevented Prokofiev’s first opera on a modern plot from taking a place in the repertoire of our theaters. This manner will be reflected to an even greater extent in the last opera, “The Tale of a Real Man” (1948), based on the book by B. Polevoy.
The fate of two polarly different operas was completely different: the lyrical comedy “Betrothal in a Monastery” (1940) and the monumental epic “War and Peace” (1941-1952). The first of them is a lace stylization comic opera 18th century, with typical characters of the Italian comedy theater: the grumpy father of a young beauty, who is married to a rich merchant, but loves a handsome, poor young man; with an ugly, nosy chaperone, who set her goal to marry the merchant rejected by the beauty; with a parallel developing intrigue of the second pair of lovers and with a finale in which all three couples safely go down the aisle. Speaking about stylization, we did not mean “imitation”, but only a trend, a touch genre features opera music of Mozart and Rossini, giving Prokofiev’s music a new charm.
Is it necessary to prove how unusual and incredibly difficult the creative feat of creating an opera based on the plot of the epic novel “War and Peace” is? The first difficulty is the relationship between the scale of the literary original and the maximum stage time possible in opera. Even the first edition created by Prokofiev, lasting two evenings, could not cover Tolstoy’s epic in all its details, although the opera involves 73 characters (!), not counting the guests at the ball, soldiers, peasants, and partisans.
In Prokofiev's "War and Peace" there are scenes that leave an impression that is truly unforgettable: Natasha's first ball; scene in Otradnoye: conversation between Natasha and Sonya at the window and Prince Andrei’s thoughts about spring; Natasha's failed escape from Akhrosimova's house; the Rostovs' visit to old man Bolkonsky. One of the most stunning episodes of the opera is the scene of Andrei Bolkonsky's delirium and death. And, although the opera has many excellent episodes in Act III: before the Battle of Borodino, the Shevardinsky redoubt, and the final, very impressive scene - the Smolensk road and the triumph of Russian weapons - the greatest impression is left by the music telling about the spiritual world of the heroes of the personal drama: Natasha, Andrey, Pierre Bezukhov, Anatole, etc.
Prokofiev returned to War and Peace several times, making adjustments to the dramaturgy, adding some, changing or even removing other episodes, apparently not being satisfied with what had been achieved. With the opera "War and Peace" he introduced into the history of Russian classical opera a grandiose work, rich in patriotic ideas.
Prokofiev wrote “War and Peace” in difficult times, while in evacuation in the Caucasus: in Nalchik and Tbilisi. Conceived before the war, the opera “came out” in a single stream, undoubtedly as a response of the patriotic composer to the terrible events of the war years.
In the same years, the three-part symphonic suite “1941” (“In battle, “At night” and “For the brotherhood of peoples”) and the cantata for soloists, choir and orchestra “The Ballad of a Boy Who Remained Unknown” with poems by Pavel Antokolsky appeared. works, as well as in the songs “Tankman’s Oath”, “Warrior’s Love”, “Son of Kabarda”, the composer strives for a wide range of genres in which the themes that worried him, like every Soviet person, can be expressed. The theme of war is given directly, in an “opened form,” while in others it is contained in the depths of the plan and is perceived through the prism of complex associations.
This is his Seventh Piano Sonata, captivating with the power of its figurative structure, which is based on the clash and fierce struggle of two hostile elements. It was created during the most intense time of the war, when the fate of the country was being decided, when images of life and death were so tragically intertwined. That bright world, in the name and for the salvation of which the battle is being fought, is revealed in the amazingly melodious music of the second part. This music is of deep nobility, warmth and purity. The ending is fast and forceful. An avalanche of sounds, raging, uncontrollable, at the same time harsh and jubilant, unfolds and rushes forward, relying on the steel elasticity of the rhythm.
None of the nine piano sonatas has literary program. And yet, the figurative structure of each is quite clear. In the Sixth Sonata (1940), will and clarity triumph, alongside humor and lyricism, but in the finale they are confronted with a harsh and angry theme; in the Eighth (1944) the lyrics dominate, only emphasized by contrasting themes; in the last, Ninth Sonata (1947), everything is light, transparent, shrouded in a haze of either dreaminess or sadness, like on a fine autumn day.
Sergei Prokofiev was a magnificent pianist, a renowned performer of his music. But other pianists, such as Sofronitsky, Neuhaus, Gilels, Yudina, Richter, and after them younger ones, introduced Prokofiev’s sonatas into their repertoire, discovering more and more depths in this rich world of images, ideas, and states of mind.
In Prokofiev's sonatas it is easier to establish patterns of content and arrange them in a sequential series than in his symphonies, which are largely associated with theatrical music or with thematic material intended for other genres and forms. The second symphony was, to a certain extent, experimental in nature and was written, in the composer’s words, to “conquer Paris” or consolidate the “conquest.” The material for the Third Symphony was, as indicated, the music of the opera "Fiery Angel", in the Fourth, just like Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms", commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Orchestra, all thematic themes are directly related to the ballet "Prodigal Son". And only the last three symphonies - the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh - were written, like the Classical, as works with a pre-thought-out concept. About the Fifth Symphony (1944), the author wrote: “I conceived it as a symphony of the greatness of the human spirit.” It truly has majesty and will, the breadth and brightness of Borodin's epic tale about the hero, features that make the symphony similar to Prokofiev's most monumental works, the music for Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible, and the opera War and Peace.
Written in the late 40s, the Sixth Symphony, according to the author, should be associated with the recent past, with echoes of the war years. Its dense, gloomy atmosphere brings to mind the Second Symphony, oversaturated with expressionist complexities. In perfect contrast, the antipode of these symphonies is the radiant and youthful Seventh, composed in 1952, one of latest works Sergei Sergeevich. Everything about it is simple, wise and light. Lyrical emotion of the first part, charming waltz school ball- II, reflection - III and a sunny, youthful, ringing, like the beach in Artek, finale. After Haydn, not many such wonderfully cheerful symphonies were written in the entire history of this genre.
Prokofiev loved children and willingly turned to music for young listeners. In the cheerful "Chatterbox" based on the poems of Agnia Barto (1939), about "Peter and the Wolf" - fascinating story about the fearless pioneer (1936), in the exciting suite “Winter Fire” (1949), understandable even to the smallest, everywhere where Prokofiev addresses children, one hears and feels love for the new growth - the future of the Earth.
A great musician, Prokofiev was also a great worker, who devoted fifty of his sixty-two years to composing music. His huge talent after rapid flowering in his youth, he underwent difficult tests on foreign soil. After a fifteen-year absence, returning to his homeland, Prokofiev felt an irresistible need to comprehend what had happened over the years in our country. Smart, carefully “reading” the book of life, he comprehended the greatness of the revolutionary transformations that covered all aspects of the activity of Soviet society and Soviet people. In 1937, for the twentieth anniversary of October, he created a Cantata, taking texts from the “Communist Manifesto”, “Theses on Feuerbach”, from V. I. Lenin’s book “What is to be done?”, and from the Constitution of the Soviet Union. An unusual work of enormous artistic and journalistic power emerged.
And at the end of 1950, a solemn and strict oratorio “Guarding the World” was performed based on the poems of S. Marshak. “I wanted to express in this piece my thoughts about peace and war, the confidence that there will be no war, that the peoples of the earth will defend peace, save civilization, children, our future,” the author wrote.
The cardinal advantage (or, if you want, disadvantage) of my life has always been the search for an original, my own musical language. I hate imitation, I hate hackneyed techniques...
You can be abroad for as long as you like, but you must definitely return to your homeland from time to time for the true Russian spirit.
S. Prokofiev
The future composer spent his childhood in a musical family. His mother was a good pianist, and the boy, falling asleep, often heard the sounds of L. Beethoven's sonatas coming from afar, several rooms away. When Seryozha was 5 years old, he composed his first piece for piano. S. Taneyev became acquainted with his childhood compositional experiments in 1902, and on his advice, composition lessons began with R. Gliere. In 1904-14. Prokofiev studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with N. Rimsky-Korsakov (instrumentation), J. Vitols (musical form), A. Lyadov (composition), A. Esipova (piano).
At the final exam, Prokofiev brilliantly performed his First Concerto, for which he was awarded the prize. A. Rubinstein. The young composer eagerly absorbs new trends in music and soon finds his own path as an innovative musician. Performing as a pianist, Prokofiev often included his own works in his programs, which evoked a strong reaction from listeners.
In 1918, Prokofiev left for the USA, further starting a series of trips to foreign countries - France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain. In an effort to win a worldwide audience, he gives many concerts and writes major works - the operas “The Love for Three Oranges” (1919), “Fiery Angel” (1927); ballets “Leap of Steel” (1925, inspired by revolutionary events in Russia), “Prodigal Son” (1928), “On the Dnieper” (1930); instrumental music.
At the beginning of 1927 and at the end of 1929, Prokofiev performed with great success in the Soviet Union. In 1927, his concerts took place in Moscow, Leningrad, Kharkov, Kyiv and Odessa. “The reception that Moscow gave me was out of the ordinary. ...The reception in Leningrad turned out to be even warmer than in Moscow,” the composer wrote in his Autobiography. At the end of 1932, Prokofiev decides to return to his homeland.
From the mid-30s. Prokofiev's creativity reaches its peak. He creates one of his masterpieces - the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” by W. Shakespeare (1936); lyric-comic opera “Betrothal in a Monastery” (“Duenna”, after R. Sheridan - 1940); cantatas “Alexander Nevsky” (1939) and “Zdravitsa” (1939); a symphonic tale based on his own text “Peter and the Wolf” with character instruments (1936); Sixth Piano Sonata (1940); cycle of piano pieces “Children's Music” (1935). In the 30-40s. Prokofiev's music is performed by the best Soviet musicians: N. Golovanov, E. Gilels, V. Sofronitsky, S. Richter, D. Oistrakh. The highest achievement of Soviet choreography was the image of Juliet created by G. Ulanova. In the summer of 1941, at a dacha near Moscow, Prokofiev wrote what was commissioned from him by the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. S. M. Kirov ballet-fairy tale “Cinderella”. The news of the outbreak of war with Nazi Germany and the subsequent tragic events caused a new creative upsurge in the composer. He creates a grandiose heroic-patriotic opera-epic “War and Peace” based on the novel by L. Tolstoy (1943), and with director S. Eisenstein he is working on the historical film “Ivan the Terrible” (1942). Disturbing images, reflections of military events and at the same time indomitable will and energy are characteristic of the music of the Seventh Piano Sonata (1942). Majestic confidence is captured in the Fifth Symphony (1944), in which the composer, in his words, wanted to “glorify the free and happy person, his mighty powers, his nobility, his spiritual purity.”
In the post-war period, despite a serious illness, Prokofiev created a lot significant works: Sixth (1947) and Seventh (1952) symphonies, Ninth Piano Sonata (1947), new edition the opera War and Peace (1952), the Cello Sonata (1949) and the Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1952). Late 40's - early 50's. were overshadowed by noisy campaigns against the “anti-people formalist” trend in Soviet art, persecution of many of its best representatives. Prokofiev turned out to be one of the main formalists in music. The public defamation of his music in 1948 further worsened the composer's health.
Prokofiev spent the last years of his life at his dacha in the village of Nikolina Gora, surrounded by his beloved Russian nature, he continued to compose continuously, violating the prohibitions of doctors. Difficult life circumstances also affected creativity. Along with genuine masterpieces among the works recent years there are works of a “simplified concept” - the overture “Meeting of the Volga with the Don” (1951), the oratorio “On Guard of the World” (1950), the suite “Winter Bonfire” (1950), some pages of the ballet “The Tale of the Stone Flower” (1950), Seventh Symphony. Prokofiev died on the same day as Stalin, and the farewell to the great Russian composer last way were overshadowed by nationwide excitement in connection with the funeral of the great leader of the peoples.
The style of Prokofiev, whose work spans 4 and a half decades of the turbulent 20th century, has undergone a very great evolution. Prokofiev paved the way for new music of our century together with other innovators of the beginning of the century - C. Debussy. B. Bartok, A. Scriabin, I. Stravinsky, composers of the New Vienna school. He entered art as a daring subverter of the dilapidated canons of late romantic art with its exquisite sophistication. Developing in a unique way the traditions of M. Mussorgsky and A. Borodin, Prokofiev introduced into music unbridled energy, pressure, dynamism, the freshness of primordial forces, perceived as “barbarism” (“Obsession” and Toccata for piano, “Sarcasms”; symphonic “Scythian Suite” by ballet "Ala and Lolliy"; First and Second piano concertos). Prokofiev's music echoes the innovations of other Russian musicians, poets, painters, and theater workers. “Sergei Sergeevich plays on the most tender nerves of Vladimir Vladimirovich,” said V. Mayakovsky about one of Prokofiev’s performances. Bittering and juicy Russian-village imagery through the prism of refined aesthetics is characteristic of the ballet “The Tale of the Jester Who Told Seven Jesters” (based on fairy tales from the collection of A. Afanasyev). Lyricism was relatively rare at that time; in Prokofiev he is devoid of sensuality and sensitivity - he is shy, gentle, delicate (“Fleetingness”, “Tales of an Old Grandmother” for piano).
Brightness, diversity, and increased expression are typical of the style of the foreign fifteenth anniversary. This is the opera “The Love for Three Oranges”, splashing with fun and enthusiasm, based on the fairy tale by C. Gozzi (“a glass of champagne”, as defined by A. Lunacharsky); the magnificent Third Concerto with its vigorous motor pressure, set off by the wonderful pipe melody of the beginning of the 1st movement, the soulful lyricism of one of the variations of the 2nd movement (1917-21); the intensity of strong emotions in “Fire Angel” (based on the novel by V. Bryusov); the heroic power and scope of the Second Symphony (1924); “cubist” urbanism of “Steel Skok”; lyrical introspection of “Thoughts” (1934) and “Things in themselves” (1928) for piano. Style of the period 30-40s. marked by wise self-restraint characteristic of maturity, combined with the depth and national origin of artistic concepts. The composer strives for universal human ideas and themes, generalizing images of history, bright, realistically concrete musical characters. This line of creativity especially deepened in the 40s. due to the difficult trials that befell Soviet people during the war years. Revealing the values of the human spirit and deep artistic generalizations become Prokofiev’s main aspiration: “I adhere to the conviction that a composer, like a poet, sculptor, painter, is called to serve man and the people. He must chant human life and lead a person to a bright future. This, from my point of view, is the unshakable code of art.”
Prokofiev left a huge creative heritage- 8 operas; 7 ballets; 7 symphonies; 9 piano sonatas; 5 piano concertos (of which the Fourth is for one left hand); 2 violin, 2 cello concertos (Second - Symphony-concert); 6 cantatas; oratorio; 2 vocal-symphonic suites; many piano pieces; pieces for orchestra (including “Russian Overture”, “Symphonic Song”, “Ode to the End of the War”, 2 “Pushkin Waltzes”); chamber works (Overture on Jewish themes for clarinet, piano and string quartet; Quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and double bass; 2 string quartet; 2 sonatas for violin and piano; Sonata for cello and piano; whole line vocal compositions to the words of A. Akhmatova, K. Balmont, A. Pushkin, N. Agnivtsev, etc.).
Prokofiev's work has received worldwide recognition. The enduring value of his music lies in his spiritual generosity and kindness, in his commitment to high humanistic ideas, in his wealth artistic expression his works.
A man-phenomenon, in bright yellow shoes, checkered, with a red-orange tie, carrying a defiant force - this is how the great Russian pianist described Prokofiev. This description fits both the personality of the composer and his music perfectly. Prokofiev’s work is a treasury of our musical and national culture, but the composer’s life is no less interesting. Having left for the West at the very beginning of the revolution and living there for 15 years, the composer became one of the few “returnees,” which turned into a deep personal tragedy for him.
It is impossible to summarize the work of Sergei Prokofiev: he wrote a huge amount of music, worked in a completely different genres, ranging from small piano pieces to film scores. Irrepressible energy constantly pushed him to various experiments, and even the cantata glorifying Stalin amazes with its absolutely brilliant music. Perhaps a concerto for bassoon with folk orchestra did not write and the work of this great Russian composer will be discussed in this article.
Childhood and first steps in music
Sergei Prokofiev was born in 1891 in the village of Sontsovka, Ekaterinoslav province. From early childhood, two of his characteristics were determined: an extremely independent character and an irresistible craving for music. At the age of five, he already begins to compose small pieces for piano, and at 11 he writes a real children's opera, “The Giant,” intended for performance at a home theater evening. At the same time, a young man was discharged to Sontsovka, at that time still unknown composer Reinhold Gliere to teach the boy the initial skills of composing technique and playing the piano. Gliere turned out to be an excellent teacher; under his strict guidance, Prokofiev filled several folders with his new works. In 1903, with all this wealth, he went to enter the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov was impressed by such diligence and immediately enrolled him in his class.
Years of study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory
At the conservatory, Prokofiev studied composition and harmony with Rimsky-Korsakov and Lyadov, and piano playing with Esipova. Lively, inquisitive, sharp and even caustic in his tongue, he gains not only many friends, but also ill-wishers. At this time, he begins to keep his famous diary, which he will only finish with his move to the USSR, recording in detail almost every day of his life. Prokofiev was interested in everything, but most of all he was interested in chess. He could stand for hours at tournaments, watching the masters play, and he himself achieved significant success in this area, of which he was incredibly proud.
Prokofiev's piano work was replenished at this time with the First and Second Sonatas and the First Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. The composer's style was determined immediately - fresh, completely new, bold and daring. He seemed to have neither predecessors nor followers. In reality, this is, of course, not entirely true. The themes of Prokofiev's work emerged from the short but very fruitful development of Russian music, logically continuing the path begun by Mussorgsky, Dargomyzhsky and Borodin. But, refracted in the energetic mind of Sergei Sergeevich, they gave birth to a completely original musical language.
Having absorbed the quintessence of the Russian, even Scythian spirit, Prokofiev’s work acted on listeners like a cold shower, causing either stormy delight or indignant rejection. He is in literally burst into the musical world - he graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory as a pianist and composer, playing his First Piano Concerto at the final exam. The commission, represented by Rimsky-Korsakov, Lyadov and others, was horrified by the defiant, dissonant chords and the striking, energetic, even barbaric manner of playing. However, they could not help but understand that they were facing a powerful phenomenon in music. The high commission's rating was five with three pluses.
First visit to Europe
As a reward for successfully graduating from the conservatory, Sergei receives a trip to London from his father. Here he became closely acquainted with Diaghilev, who immediately recognized remarkable talent in the young composer. He helps Prokofiev arrange a tour in Rome and Naples and gives an order to write a ballet. This is how “Ala and Lolliy” appeared. Diaghilev rejected the plot because of its “banality” and gave advice next time to write something on a Russian theme. Prokofiev began working on the ballet “The Tale of the Jester Who Tricked Seven Jesters” and at the same time began to try his hand at writing an opera. The canvas for the plot was Dostoevsky’s novel “The Gambler,” which the composer had loved since childhood.
Prokofiev does not ignore his favorite instrument. In 1915, he began to write a cycle of piano pieces, “Fleetingness,” while discovering a lyrical gift that no one had previously suspected in the “football composer.” Prokofiev's lyrics are a special topic. Incredibly touching and tender, dressed in a transparent, finely calibrated texture, it first of all captivates with its simplicity. Prokofiev's work showed that he was a magnificent melodist, and not just a destroyer of traditions.
The foreign period of Sergei Prokofiev's life
In fact, Prokofiev was not an emigrant. In 1918, he turned to Lunacharsky, the then People's Commissar of Education, with a request for permission to travel abroad. He was given a foreign passport and accompanying documents without an expiration date, in which the purpose of the trip was to establish cultural ties and improve his health. The composer's mother remained in Russia for a long time, which caused Sergei Sergeevich a lot of anxiety until he was able to summon her to Europe.
First, Prokofiev goes to America. Literally a few months later, another greatest Russian pianist and composer, Sergei Rachmaninov, arrives there. Competing with him was Prokofiev’s main task at first. Rachmaninov immediately became very famous in America, and Prokofiev jealously celebrated his every success. His attitude towards his senior colleague was very mixed. The name of Sergei Vasilyevich often appears in the composer's diaries of this time. Noting his incredible pianism and appreciating his qualities as a musician, Prokofiev believed that Rachmaninov unnecessarily pandered to the tastes of the public and wrote little of his own music. Sergei Vasilyevich really wrote very little in more than twenty years of life outside Russia. At first after emigrating, he was in a deep and prolonged depression, suffering from acute nostalgia. The work of Sergei Prokofiev, it seemed, did not suffer at all from the lack of connection with his homeland. It remained just as brilliant.
Life and work of Prokofiev in America and Europe
On a trip to Europe, Prokofiev again meets with Diaghilev, who asks him to rework the music of “The Fool”. The production of this ballet brought the composer his first sensational success abroad. It was followed by the famous opera “The Love for Three Oranges”, the march from which became the same encore piece as Rachmaninov’s C-sharp-minor Prelude. This time, America submitted to Prokofiev - the premiere of the opera “The Love for Three Oranges” took place in Chicago. Both of these works have a lot in common. Humorous, sometimes even satirical - as, for example, in “Love”, where Prokofiev ironically portrayed sighing romantics as weak and painful characters - they sparkle with typically Prokofiev energy.
In 1923, the composer settled in Paris. Here he meets the charming young singer Lina Kodina (stage name Lina Lubera), who will later become his wife. An educated, sophisticated, stunning Spanish beauty, she immediately attracted the attention of others. Her relationship with Sergei was not very smooth. For a long time he did not want to legitimize their relationship, believing that the artist should be free from any obligations. They got married only when Lina became pregnant. They were an absolutely brilliant couple: Lina was in no way inferior to Prokofiev - neither in independence of character, nor in ambition. Quarrels often broke out between them, followed by tender reconciliation. Lina’s devotion and sincerity of feelings is evidenced by the fact that she not only followed Sergei to a country that was foreign to her, but also, having drank the cup of the Soviet punitive system to the bottom, was faithful to the composer until the end of her days, remaining his wife and caring for his legacy.
The work of Sergei Prokofiev at that time experienced a noticeable bias towards the romantic side. From his pen came the opera “Fire Angel” based on Bryusov’s novella. The gloomy medieval flavor is conveyed in the music with the help of dark, Wagnerian harmonies. This was a new experience for the composer, and he worked on this work with enthusiasm. As always, he succeeded in doing this perfectly. The thematic material of the opera was later used in the Third Symphony, one of the most overtly romantic works of which the composer Prokofiev's work does not include many.
The air of a foreign land
There were several reasons for the composer's return to the USSR. The life and work of Sergei Prokofiev were rooted in Russia. After living abroad for about 10 years, he began to feel that the air of a foreign land was negatively affecting his condition. He constantly corresponded with his friend, composer N. Ya. Myaskovsky, who remained in Russia, finding out the situation in his homeland. Certainly, soviet government did everything to get Prokofiev back. This was necessary to strengthen the country's prestige. Cultural workers were regularly sent to him, describing in vivid colors what a bright future awaited him in his homeland.
In 1927, Prokofiev made his first trip to the USSR. They received him with delight. In Europe, despite the success of his writings, he did not find proper understanding and sympathy. Rivalries with Rachmaninov and Stravinsky were not always resolved in Prokofiev’s favor, which hurt his pride. In Russia, he hoped to find what he so lacked - true understanding his music. The warm reception given to the composer on his trips in 1927 and 1929 made him seriously think about his final return. Moreover, friends from Russia excitedly told him in their letters how wonderful it would be for him to live in the country of the Soviets. The only one who was not afraid to warn Prokofiev against returning was Myaskovsky. The atmosphere of the 30s of the 20th century had already begun to thicken overhead, and he understood perfectly well what could really await the composer. However, in 1934, Prokofiev made the final decision to return to the Union.
Homecoming
Prokofiev completely sincerely accepted communist ideas, seeing in them, first of all, the desire to build a new, free society. He was impressed by the spirit of equality and anti-bourgeoisism, which he diligently supported state ideology. To be fair, it should be said that many soviet people They also shared these ideas completely sincerely. Although the fact that Prokofiev’s diary, which he kept punctually throughout all previous years, ends just with his arrival in Russia, makes one wonder whether Prokofiev was really so ignorant of the competence of the USSR security agencies. Outwardly it was open Soviet power and loyal to her, although he understood everything perfectly.
Nevertheless, the native air had an extremely fruitful influence on Prokofiev’s work. According to the composer himself, he sought to get involved in work on Soviet themes as quickly as possible. Having met the director, he enthusiastically gets to work on the music for the film “Alexander Nevsky”. The material turned out to be so self-sufficient that it is now performed at concerts in the form of a cantata. In this work, full of patriotic enthusiasm, the composer expressed love and pride towards his people.
In 1935, Prokofiev completed one of his best works, the ballet Romeo and Juliet. However, the audience did not see him soon. Censors rejected the ballet because of its happy ending, which did not live up to Shakespeare's original, and dancers and choreographers complained that the music was unsuitable for dance. The new plasticity and psychologization of movements required by the musical language of this ballet were not immediately understood. The first performance took place in Czechoslovakia in 1938; in the USSR, audiences saw it in 1940, when the main roles were played by Konstantin Sergeev. It was they who managed to find the key to understanding the stage language of movements to Prokofiev’s music and glorify this ballet. Until now, Ulanova is considered the best performer of the role of Juliet.
"Children's" work of Prokofiev
In 1935, Sergei Sergeevich and his family first visited the children's musical theater under the direction of N. Sats. Prokofiev was no less captivated by the action on stage than his sons. He was so inspired by the idea of working in a similar genre that he wrote in a short time musical fairy tale"Peter and the Wolf." During the course of this performance, the children have the opportunity to get acquainted with the sound of various musical instruments. Prokofiev’s work for children also includes the romance “Chatterbox” based on the poems of Agnia Barto and the suite “Winter Fire”. The composer loved children very much and enjoyed writing music for this audience.
The end of the 1930s: tragic themes in the composer’s work
At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, Prokofiev's musical work was imbued with alarming intonations. This is his triad of piano sonatas, called “military” - the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth. They were finished in different time: The Sixth Sonata - in 1940, the Seventh - in 1942, the Eighth - in 1944. But the composer began working on all these works at approximately the same time - in 1938. It is not known whether there is more in these sonatas - 1941 or 1937. Sharp rhythms, dissonant harmonies, funeral bells literally overwhelm these compositions. But at the same time, typically Prokofiev’s lyricism was most clearly manifested in them: the second parts of the sonatas are tenderness intertwined with strength and wisdom. The premiere of the Seventh Sonata, for which Prokofiev received the Stalin Prize, took place in 1942, performed by Svyatoslav Richter.
Prokofiev's case: second marriage
There was also drama in the composer’s personal life at this time. The relationship with Ptashka—that’s what Prokofiev called his wife—was cracking at all the seams. An independent and sociable woman, accustomed to social communication and experiencing an acute shortage of it in the Union, Lina constantly visited foreign embassies, which attracted close attention from the state security department. Prokofiev told his wife more than once that it was worth limiting such reprehensible communication, especially during an unstable international situation. The composer's biography and work suffered greatly from Lina's behavior. However, she did not pay any attention to the warnings. Quarrels often broke out between the spouses, and the relationship, already stormy, became even more tense. While relaxing in a sanatorium, where Prokofiev was alone, he met a young woman, Mira Mendelssohn. Researchers are still arguing whether it was specifically sent to the composer in order to protect him from his wayward wife. Mira was the daughter of a Gosplan employee, so this version does not seem very unlikely.
She was not distinguished by any particular beauty or any creative abilities; she wrote very mediocre poetry, not hesitating to quote them in her letters to the composer. Her main advantages were her adoration for Prokofiev and complete submission. Soon the composer decided to ask Lina for a divorce, which she refused to give him. Lina understood that as long as she remained Prokofiev’s wife, she had at least some chance of surviving in this country that was hostile to her. What followed was an absolutely amazing situation, which in legal practice even got its name - “Prokofiev’s case.” Official bodies of the Soviet Union explained to the composer that since his marriage to Lina Codina was registered in Europe, from the point of view of the laws of the USSR it was invalid. As a result, Prokofiev married Mira without dissolving his marriage to Lina. Exactly a month later, Lina was arrested and sent to a camp.
Prokofiev Sergei Sergeevich: creativity in the post-war years
What Prokofiev subconsciously feared happened in 1948, when the infamous government decree was issued. Published in the newspaper Pravda, it condemned the path taken by some composers as false and alien to the Soviet worldview. Prokofiev was among these “lost” people. The characteristics of the composer's work were as follows: anti-national and formalistic. It was a terrible blow. For many years, he doomed A. Akhmatova to “silence” and pushed D. Shostakovich and many other artists into the shadows.
But Sergei Sergeevich did not give up, continuing to create in his style until the end of his days. Prokofiev's symphonic work of recent years became the result of his entire career as a composer. The seventh symphony, written a year before his death, is a triumph of wise and pure simplicity, the light to which he walked for many years. Prokofiev died on the same day as Stalin. His departure went almost unnoticed due to nationwide grief over the death of the beloved leader of the peoples.
Prokofiev's life and work can be briefly described as a constant striving for light. Incredibly life-affirming, it brings us closer to the idea embodied by the great Beethoven in his swan song - the Ninth Symphony, where in the finale the ode “To Joy” sounds: “Embrace millions, merge in the joy of one.” The life and work of Prokofiev is the path of a great artist, who dedicated his entire life to the service of Music and its great Mystery.
Prokofiev Sergei Sergeevich (1891-1953), composer, pianist, conductor.
Born on April 23, 1891 in the Solntsevka estate (now the village of Krasnoye) in the Donetsk region, where his father served as a manager. In 1904, Prokofiev entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory; studied composition with A.K. Lyadov, and instrumentation with N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.
He graduated from the conservatory in 1909 as a composer, after which he re-entered it as a piano major. If the composer’s diploma, in Prokofiev’s own words, was “ Bad quality"(his relationship with teachers did not work out), then graduating from the conservatory in 1914 as a pianist turned out to be brilliant - he was awarded the Anton Rubinstein Prize and given a diploma with honors.
While still studying at the conservatory, Prokofiev wrote his First Piano Concerto, which he triumphantly performed at the final exam. In total he has five concertos for piano, two for violin and one for cello. In 1917, Prokofiev wrote the First Symphony, calling it “Classical”. Until 1952, when the last, Seventh Symphony, was created, the composer constantly turned to this genre. Nevertheless, the main genres in his work are opera and ballet. Prokofiev composed the opera “Maddalena” in 1911, and the ballet “The Tale of the Jester Who Tricked Seven Jesters” - in 1915. The opera “The Gambler” (1916) based on the story by F. M. Dostoevsky was a real success.
From 1918 to 1933 Prokofiev lived in America. Abroad he successfully gave concerts and wrote music. In 1919, his famous opera “The Love for Three Oranges” after C. Gozzi appeared, in 1925 - the ballet “Leap of Steel”, in 1928 - the ballet “Prodigal Son”. The pinnacles of his ballet creativity are “Romeo and Juliet” (1936) and “Cinderella” (1944). In the opera genre greatest achievements Prokofiev’s “War and Peace” (1943) based on L.N. Tolstoy and “Betrothal in a Monastery” (1940) based on the plot of “Duenna” by R. Sheridan are rightfully considered.
Prokofiev's outstanding talent was highly appreciated both at home and abroad. In 1934, the composer was elected a member of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, in 1946 - an honorary member of the Prague "Skills Conversation", in 1947 - a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
He was repeatedly a laureate of the USSR State Prize, and posthumously (1957) Prokofiev was awarded the Lenin Prize.
Prokofiev died in Moscow in a communal apartment on Kamergersky Lane from a hypertensive crisis on March 5, 1953. Since he died on the day of Stalin’s death, his death went almost unnoticed, and the composer’s relatives and colleagues faced great difficulties in organizing the funeral. S. S. Prokofiev was buried in Moscow on Novodevichy Cemetery. In memory of the composer, a memorial plaque was installed on the house in Kamergersky Lane.
