Sergey Prokofiev
Sergey Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)
Prokofiev was a precocious pianist and composer. As a young student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he was willful and arrogant and had little respect for his composition teacher Rimsky-Korsakov.
He left the turmoil of post-revolutionary Russia in 1918 to live in the U.S. but although he achieved considerable recognition in America, his heart remained in the country of his birth. He was lured back to the U.S.S.R. in 1936, but was not prepared for the degree of governmental control of musical affairs. Seeing several fellow composers coming under attack from the government, the former enfant terrible concentrated for the time being on short, safe pieces which included several works for children. Thus we may indirectly have Stalin to thank for what is now Prokofiev's most familiar piece of music. Prokofiev himself came under attack in 1948. His music was said to be "marked with formalist perversions alien to the Soviet people" and several of his earlier works were banned. He died, ironically enough, on the same day as Stalin.
Since its premiere in Moscow in 1936, Peter and the Wolf has delighted young audiences every where. Prokofiev wrote the tale himself to acquaint children with the instruments of the orchestra, the use of leitmotif - a special little melody to denote individual characters - and the numerous ways in which the sound of an orchestra can depict actions and feelings.
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Revised 21 November, 2001 FBC |