Biography of Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Sergei Prokofiev, despite having lived abroad for many years, was a truly Russian composer. He considered the desire for originality to be the decisive advantage of his work, he hated beatenness and imitation.

Biography of Prokofiev S. S.: childhood

The future composer was born in the remote village of Sontsovka, located in the Yekaterinoslav province. From an early age, he not only played, like all children, but also studied a lot. During this period, his exceptional musical gift manifested itself. At the age of five and a half, Sergei composed his first short play. And since then he has not parted with music. Four years later, the boy easily played Mozart's pieces and Beethoven's simple sonatas. At the age of 12 Serezha had already written two operas and many songs. In the same year, a teacher appeared in his life, who in a short time managed to instill in him the skills of a composer. It was Reinhold Gliere, then still a young man.

Biography of Prokofiev S. S.: studying at the conservatory

At the age of 13, Sergei went to St. Petersburg. There he appeared before the selection committee of the conservatory with two folders of his own compositions. The examiner, Rimsky-Korsakov, immediately liked it. Of course,Prokofiev passed the test brilliantly and became a student at the conservatory. His teachers were Lyadov and Rimsky-Korsakov. In parallel, he took piano lessons from Esipova. During this period, new operas, sonatas, plays, symphonies, songs and romances appear. But truly mature things Sergey composed just before the end of the conservatory.

Biography of Prokofiev S. S.: the beginning of a creative life

After completing his studies, the young composer immediately won a place of honor in the musical circles of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Not only passionate admirers of the composer's work, but also opponents were not indifferent to his concerts. For the successful completion of the conservatory, his mother gave him a trip to London. There was just a season of Russian opera and ballet under the direction of Diaghilev. Creative contact between them was not established immediately. The master considered Sergei's first ballet banal. But Prokofiev took Diaghilev's advice to "write in Russian" into account. Since then, in each of his works, a national basis has been felt. In addition, acquaintance with Diaghilev helped the composer get into many music salons. From London, Prokofiev went to Rome and Naples and gave his first concerts there.

Biography of Prokofiev S. S.: tours abroad

Lunacharsky was very fond of the young composer's music. After two concerts given in 1918 in Soviet Russia, Prokofiev, through Benois and Gorky, decided to turn to the people's commissar with a request to be allowed to travel abroad. Soon he received both a passport and an accompanying document. From this moment begins Prokofiev's long period abroad.

After a trip to America, tours in Paris, London follow. There Prokofiev meets again with Diaghilev, who is already ready to stage The Jester. The composer reworks the music. The production of this ballet becomes a real sensation. In 1923, Prokofiev finally settled in Paris. From there he travels with concerts to European countries and to America. In the same years, his mother died after an illness. The composer himself marries singer Lina Luber, they have a son.

Sergey Prokofiev. Biography: return to the country of the Soviets

In 1927, and then in 1929, Prokofiev makes short trips to Russia. In 1934 he finally decides to stay in the Soviet Union. The head of the Central Children's Theater named after Sats N. suggested that the composer compose a piece of music for the children. Prokofiev agreed and wrote the fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf", which is still popular today. True, the path of his ballets to the stage was long, since in Russia they were not used to such music. But gradually contact was established.

Composer Prokofiev. Biography: last years of life

During the Second World War, Prokofiev was evacuated and continued to compose. He was sent to Tbilisi, then to Alma-Ata. The creative life of the composer was happy even during this difficult period. But in the post-war years, he did not manage to avoid criticism. In 1948 the composer was declared a formalist. His opera The Tale of a Real Man received an unfavorable assessment. The implementation of a new idea, the ballet The Stone Flower, helped Prokofiev overcome his despair. Gradually, his he alth deteriorated, but he could not help but write. The composer's swan song was the Seventh Symphony, in which childhood impressions intertwined with thoughts about the past and a look into the future. Sergei Prokofiev died in 1953, on the same day as Stalin.