prokofiev

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev
(23 April 1891 – 5 March 1953)


This Russian prodigy began composing at the age of five.  His mother was a pianist whose practicing at home inspired her young son to play as well.  At the age of nine, he began composing his first opera; and at eleven, he began working on his first symphony.  While at the Moscow Conservatory he won a grand piano in a competition between the five most talented pianists at the school.  He began travelling Europe, finding success in London and Paris before returning to Russia.  His experimental music was not welcomed there, and the trials of the first world war led him to emigrate to the United States.  He found little success in America and returned to Paris where his music was more appreciated.  He returned to Russia where the repressive Soviet government kept him isolated from outside influences.  He remained there for the rest of his life.  After the second world war, the Soviet government tightened its grip on musical artists, banning and/or cancelling many of his works.  He withdrew from performance in his later years as his declining health affected his ability to play.   His works include sixteen orchestral suites, fourteen operas, thirteen piano sonatas, eleven concertos, ten symphonies, nine ballets, and many other pieces of music for chorus.


 



Romeo and Juliet
"Dance of the Knights"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sJE0kI6loU




Peter and the Wolf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ57EuLRTO8

 


The Love for Three Oranges
march
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obTZBHAuOqY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPGPP773zFY

 


Troika/Romance (from Lieutenant Kije Suite, Op. 60)





The Fiery Angel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wA-zFd4-Js




Alexander Nevsky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Du9TXBVlM




Chout (the Fool)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEo5VY9ZjxQ




Sonata no. 7 op. 83



 War and Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T2gu5RGgUs