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Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and Conducting, conductor who later worked in the Soviet Union. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous music genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century. His works include such widely heard pieces as the March from ''The Love for Three Oranges,'' the suite Lieutenant Kijé (Prokofiev), ''Lieutenant Kijé'', the ballet Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev), ''Romeo and Juliet''—from which "Dance of the Knights" is taken—and ''Peter and the Wolf.'' Of the established forms and genres in which he worked, he created—excluding juvenilia—seven completed operas, seven Symphony, symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a Cello Concerto (Prokofiev), cello conce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieutenant Kijé (Prokofiev)
Sergei Prokofiev's ''Lieutenant Kijé'' (russian: Поручик Киже, links=no, '' Poruchik Kizhe'') music was originally written to accompany the film of the same name, produced by the Belgoskino film studios in Leningrad in 1933–34 and released in March 1934. It was Prokofiev's first attempt at film music, and his first commission. In the early days of sound cinema, among the various distinguished composers ready to try their hand at film music, Prokofiev was not an obvious choice for the commission. Based in Paris for almost a decade, he had a reputation for experimentation and dissonance, characteristics at odds with the cultural norms of the Soviet Union. By early 1933, however, Prokofiev was anxious to return to his homeland, and saw the film commission as an opportunity to write music in a more popular and accessible style. After the film's successful release, the five-movement ''Kijé'' suite was first performed in December 1934, and quickly became part of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter And The Wolf
''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's story, while the orchestra illustrates it by using different instruments to play a "theme" that represents each character in the story. It is Prokofiev's most frequently performed work and one of the most frequently performed works in the entire classical repertoire. Background In 1936, Prokofiev was commissioned by Natalya Sats, the director of the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow, to write a musical symphony for children. Sats and Prokofiev had become acquainted after he visited her theatre with his sons several times. The intent was to introduce children to the individual instruments of the orchestra. The first draft of the libretto was about a Young Pioneer (the Soviet version of a Boy Scout) called Peter who rights a wrong by c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romeo And Juliet (Prokofiev)
''Romeo and Juliet'' (russian: Ромео и Джульетта, Romeo i Dzhulyetta), Op. 64, is a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev based on William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet''. First composed in 1935, it was substantially revised for its Soviet premiere in early 1940. Prokofiev reused music from the ballet in three suites for orchestra and a solo piano work. Background and premiere Based on a synopsis created by Adrian Piotrovsky (who first suggested the subject to Prokofiev) and Sergey Radlov, the ballet was composed by Prokofiev in September 1935 to their scenario which followed the precepts of "drambalet" (dramatised ballet, officially promoted at the Kirov Ballet to replace works based primarily on choreographic display and innovation). Following Radlov's acrimonious resignation from the Kirov in June 1934, a new agreement was signed with the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on the understanding that Piotrovsky would remain involved. However, the ballet's original happy en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scythian Suite
The ''Scythian Suite'', Op. 20 is an orchestral suite by Sergei Prokofiev written in 1915. Background Prokofiev originally wrote the music for the ballet ''Ala i Lolli'', the story of which takes place among the Scythians. Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, the ballet was written to a scenario by Russian poet Sergey Gorodetsky. But when Diaghilev rejected the score even before its completion, the composer reworked the music into a suite for concert performance. The suite was premiered on 16/29 January 1916 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer. A scheduled Moscow performance of the suite that December was cancelled at the last minute due to the difficulty of finding musicians to play the piece; it called for an enlarged orchestra and, as many performers had been mobilized due to World War I, enough players could not be found. Nevertheless, the Moscow music critic Leonid Sabaneyev gave the music a scathing review.Prokofiev "Autobiography": p. 256-57 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Love For Three Oranges
''The Love for Three Oranges'', Op. 33, also known by its French language title ' (russian: Любовь к трём апельсинам, links=no, ''Lyubov' k tryom apel'sinam''), is a satirical opera by Sergei Prokofiev. Its French libretto was based on the Italian play '' L'amore delle tre melarance'' by Carlo Gozzi. The opera premiered at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, on 30 December 1921. Composition history The opera was the result of a commission during Prokofiev's successful first visit to the United States in 1918. After well-received concerts of his works in Chicago (including his First Symphony), Prokofiev was approached by the director of the Chicago Opera Association, Cleofonte Campanini, to write an opera. Conveniently, Prokofiev had drafted a libretto during his trip to the US; he had based it on Carlo Gozzi's play in the '' Commedia dell'arte'' tradition, (which was itself based on Giambattista Basile's fairy tale "The Love for Three Oranges"). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chout
''Chout'', Op. 21 (pronounced "shoot"), is the usual English-language title of a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev, written in two versions between 1915 and 1921. It is sometimes known as "The Tale of the Buffoon", or simply "The Buffoon". There also exists a symphonic suite from the ballet, Op. 21 bis, which is much more often performed than the full ballet score. The original Russian-language full title was Сказка про шута, семерых шутов перешутившего (''Skazka pro shuta, semerykh shutov pereshutivshevo''), meaning "The Tale of the Buffoon who Outwits Seven Other Buffoons". The spelling "Chout" is a French romanization of the Russian word ''шут'' meaning "buffoon". Background ''Chout'' was Prokofiev's first completed ballet score for Sergei Diaghilev. Diaghilev had first commissioned ''Ala and Lolli'' but rejected the score submitted by Prokofiev. Although the composer recast some of the music as the ''Scythian Suite'', the project ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symphony-Concerto (Prokofiev)
Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto in E minor, Op. 125 (sometimes referred to as Sinfonia Concertante) is a large-scale work for cello and orchestra. Prokofiev dedicated it to Mstislav Rostropovich, who premiered it on February 18, 1952 with Sviatoslav Richter conducting (the only instance of Richter conducting). After this first performance (under the title 'Cello Concerto No. 2'), it was revised and given its current title. It is itself a revised version of his earlier Cello Concerto, Op. 58, written in 1933–1938. The work was written and revised mostly in 1950 and 1951, a period when Prokofiev was in declining health and official disfavor for musical formalism. One of his final completed works, it is about 40 minutes long in three movements: #Andante (11 minutes) #Allegro (18 minutes) #Andante con moto – Allegretto – Allegro marcato (11 minutes) This work inspired Dmitri Shostakovich to write his Cello Concerto No. 1, also dedicated to Rostropovich. History The prem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cello Concerto (Prokofiev)
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 58 is a concerto written by Sergey Prokofiev between 1933 and 1938. Its duration is approximately 35 minutes. It consists of three movements: #Andante – Poco meno mosso (andante assai) – Adagio #Allegro giusto #Tema (allegro) – Interludio 1 – Variations 1–3 – Interludio 2 – Variation 4 – Reminiscenza (meno mosso) – Coda (poco sostenuto) – Più mosso History The concerto was premiered on 26 November 1938 in Moscow by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra. Alexander Melik-Pashayev was the conductor and Lev Berezovsky played the cello. The premiere of Prokofiev's Cello Concerto (Op. 58) was generally thought to have been very poorly interpreted by the cellist. The pianist Sviatoslav Richter, who rehearsed the piece with Berezovsky prior to its premiere, considered the soloist ill-suited to the piece ("the music was foreign to his nature") but felt that the conductor was also responsible for the performance's failure: "Melik-Pashayev's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Prodigal Son (ballet)
''Prodigal Son'', or ''Le Fils prodigue'', Op. 46 (russian: Блудный сын) is a ballet created for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes by George Balanchine to music by Sergei Prokofiev (1928–29). The libretto, based on the parable in the Gospel of Luke, was by Boris Kochno, who added a good deal of drama and emphasized the theme of sin and redemption ending with the Prodigal Son's return. Susan Au writes in ''Ballet and Modern Dance'' that the ballet was the last of the Diaghilev era, choreographed the year the great impresario died. She continues: "Adapted from the biblical story, it opens with the prodigal's rebellious departure from home and his seduction by the beautiful but treacherous siren, whose followers rob him. Wretched and remorseful, he drags himself back to his forgiving father." History Serge Lifar created the role.Villella, E., "Prodigal Son," University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998, p. 80. , The premiere took place on Tuesday, 21 May 1929 at the Théât ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. After its initial Paris season, the company had no formal ties there. Originally conceived by impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballets Russes is widely regarded as the most influential ballet company of the 20th century, in part because it promoted ground-breaking artistic collaborations among young choreographers, composers, designers, and dancers, all at the forefront of their several fields. Diaghilev commissioned works from composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Sergei Prokofiev, Erik Satie, and Maurice Ravel, artists such as Vasily Kandinsky, Alexandre Benois, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, and costume designers Léon Bakst and Coco Chanel. The company's productions created a huge sensation, completely reinvigorat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano Sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement ( Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movements (Haydn, Beethoven), some contain five (Brahms' Third Piano Sonata) or even more movements. The first movement is generally composed in sonata form. The Baroque keyboard sonata In the Baroque era, the use of the term "sonata" generally referred to either the sonata da chiesa (church sonata) or sonata da camera (chamber sonata), both of which were sonatas for various instruments (usually one or more violins plus basso continuo). The keyboard sonata was relatively neglected by most composers. The sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti (of which there are over 500) were the hallmark of the Baroque keyboard sonata, though they were, for the most part, unpublished during Scarlatti's lifetime. The majority of these sonatas are in one-m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movement (music), movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are almost always scored for an orchestra consisting of a string section (violin, viola, cello, and double bass), Brass instrument, brass, Woodwind instrument, woodwind, and Percussion instrument, percussion Musical instrument, instruments which altogether number about 30 to 100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a Full score, musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. Some symphonies also contain vocal parts (e.g., Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (Bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
