Friday, April 1, 2011

Sergei Prokofief

This Sunday, April 3, the Prokofiev Sonata for Cello and Piano will be on the "P" program.

I have been reading about Prokofiev's life to help understand his music, and what interesting times he loved in! He was born to an affluent parents in Russia in 1891. His mother was a pianist and his interest in music and composition was nurtured through his early years. By age 11 he had written 2 operas and several piano pieces (funny, I don't think those operas are in the repertoire anymore...) At age 19 his father died and he realized he would have to be finding his own way financially. He stayed at the Conservatory but was already finding commissions for his work and performing widely as a pianist. In 1917 things were heating up politically in Russia but he just kept moving to avoid trouble. In 1918 he decided to try his luck in the US, as new music was not the hot topic during the Russian Revolution. He had some successes here but in 1922 went to Paris, where he had better support for his music, where he joined his mother, and where he married a Spanish singer. He worked with Diagelev, knew Stravinsky, toured, and was doing well. But something called him back to Russia. In 1936 he returned, with wife and kids to Moscow, possibly not fully aware of the impact of Stalin's regime even on music. It was in 1936 that Shostakovich was being heavily criticized by the government. Didn't he notice?
It may be impossible to know how people really felt during that time. Prokofiev did write quite a bit of patriotic music. In 1939 it was a cantata "Zdravitsa" Hail to Stalin. Was this a survival technique? He split from his wife in 1941 and and a few years later she was charged with espionage and sent to a labor camp. He had taken up with a young woman who had strong party ties and who stayed with him for the rest of his life. And yet, in 1948, he was denounced for writing music that was "alien to the Soviet people". His response was to write an opera about a WWII Soviet hero. It flopped but he was left alone. And then, in poor health and a few years before his death.....he wrote the Sonata for Cello and Piano.