Sergei Prokofiev - Revision history

Diogooutra at 09:01, 16 February 2021

2021-02-16T09:01:23Z

Diogooutra at 17:32, 15 February 2021

2021-02-15T17:32:41Z

Diogooutra: Created page with "Sergei Prokofiev in New York, 1918. Photo sourced from Wikipedia Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (/prəˈkɒfiɛf,..."

2021-02-15T17:30:58Z

Created page with "thumb|Sergei Prokofiev in New York, 1918. Photo sourced from Wikipedia Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (/prəˈkɒfiɛf,..."

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 === Postwar ===
 [[File:Prokofiev shostakovich khachaturian.png|thumb|Prokofiev with colleagues Dmitri Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturian, 1946.]]
-Prokofiev had time to write his postwar Sixth Symphony and his Ninth Piano Sonata (for Sviatoslav Richter) before the so-called "Zhdanov Decree". In early 1948, following a meeting of Soviet composers convened by Andrei Zhdanov, the Politburo issued a resolution denouncing Prokofiev, [[Dmitri Shostakovich]], [[Gavriil Popov]], Myaskovsky, and Khachaturian of the crime of "formalism", described as a "renunciation of the basic principles of classical music" in favour of "muddled, nerve-racking" sounds that "turned music into cacophony".<sup>[117]</sup> Eight of Prokofiev's works were banned from performance: The Year 1941, Ode to the End of the War, Festive Poem, Cantata for the Thirtieth Anniversary of October, Ballad of an Unknown Boy, the 1934 piano cycle Thoughts, and Piano Sonatas Nos. 6 and 8.<sup>[118]</sup> Such was the perceived threat behind the banning of the works that even works that had avoided censure were no longer programmed.<sup>[119]</sup> By August 1948, Prokofiev was in severe financial straits, his personal debt amounting to 180,000 rubles.<sup>[118]</sup>
+Prokofiev had time to write his postwar Sixth Symphony and his Ninth Piano Sonata (for Sviatoslav Richter) before the so-called "Zhdanov Decree". In early 1948, following a meeting of Soviet composers convened by Andrei Zhdanov, the Politburo issued a resolution denouncing Prokofiev, [[Dmitri Shostakovich]], [[Gavriil Popov]], Myaskovsky, and [[Aram Khachaturian|Khachaturian]] of the crime of "formalism", described as a "renunciation of the basic principles of classical music" in favour of "muddled, nerve-racking" sounds that "turned music into cacophony".<sup>[117]</sup> Eight of Prokofiev's works were banned from performance: The Year 1941, Ode to the End of the War, Festive Poem, Cantata for the Thirtieth Anniversary of October, Ballad of an Unknown Boy, the 1934 piano cycle Thoughts, and Piano Sonatas Nos. 6 and 8.<sup>[118]</sup> Such was the perceived threat behind the banning of the works that even works that had avoided censure were no longer programmed.<sup>[119]</sup> By August 1948, Prokofiev was in severe financial straits, his personal debt amounting to 180,000 rubles.<sup>[118]</sup>
 On 22 November 1947, Prokofiev filed a petition in court to begin divorce proceedings against his estranged wife. Five days later the court ruled that the marriage had no legal basis since it had taken place in Germany, and had not been registered with Soviet officials, thus making it null and void. After a second judge upheld the verdict, he and his partner Mira wed on 13 January 1948.<sup>[120][121]</sup> On 20 February 1948, Prokofiev's first wife Lina was arrested and charged with espionage for trying to send money to her mother in Spain. After nine months of interrogation,<sup>[122]</sup> she was sentenced by a three-member Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR to 20 years of hard labor.<sup>[123]</sup> She was released eight years later on 30 June 1956<sup>[124]</sup> and in 1974 left the Soviet Union.<sup>[125]</sup>

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 [[File:Sergei Prokofiev circa 1918 over Chair Bain.jpg|thumb|Sergei Prokofiev in New York, 1918. Photo sourced from Wikipedia]]
-Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (/prəˈkɒfiɛf, proʊ-, -ˈkɔː-, -ˈkoʊ-, -jɛf, -jɛv, -iəf/;<sup>[1][2][3]</sup> Russian: Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев, tr. Sergej Sergejevič Prokofjev About this soundlisten (help·info);<sup>[n 1][4][5]</sup> 27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1891 – 5 March 1953)<sup>[n 2]</sup> was a [[:Category: Russia|Russian]] [[:Category: Soviet Union|Soviet]] composer, pianist and conductor. 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, the ballet 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 symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas.
+Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev <sup>[1][2][3]</sup> Russian: Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев, <sup>[n 1][4][5]</sup> 27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1891 – 5 March 1953)<sup>[n 2]</sup> was a [[:Category: Russia|Russian]] [[:Category: Soviet Union|Soviet]] composer, pianist and conductor. 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, the ballet 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 symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas.
 A graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Prokofiev initially made his name as an iconoclastic composer-pianist, achieving notoriety with a series of ferociously dissonant and virtuosic works for his instrument, including his first two piano concertos. In 1915, Prokofiev made a decisive break from the standard composer-pianist category with his orchestral Scythian Suite, compiled from music originally composed for a ballet commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes. Diaghilev commissioned three further ballets from Prokofiev—Chout, Le pas d'acier and The Prodigal Son—which, at the time of their original production, all caused a sensation among both critics and colleagues. Prokofiev's greatest interest, however, was opera, and he composed several works in that genre, including The Gambler and The Fiery Angel. Prokofiev's one operatic success during his lifetime was The Love for Three Oranges, composed for the Chicago Opera and subsequently performed over the following decade in Europe and Russia.