skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Author
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953: Russian)
- wrote first piano compositions at age 5
- composed his first opera at age 9
- graduated top of his class from the St. Petersburg Conservatory
- wife was arrested in 1948 for "espionage"
- died on March 5, 1953, the same day as Stalin
- Wikipedia Article
About the Piece
- Genre is piano toccata
- as title indicates, piece possesses minor key tonality throughout
- theme throughout involves alternating of two low D's
- piece is very tense throughout
- lots of fast movement throughout piece
- no clear melody is ever established
- strong use of dissonance
- huge range: parts of the piece are played with one hand in the highest register of the piano and the other in the lowest
- theme returns at the end, slows down, fades, then transitions to dramatic Coda including a glissando
- YouTube Video
Purpose
Reflections
I love this piece. The amount of hand movement and the shear number of notes is incredible. I especially like seeing the pianist playing notes inside one hand with the other (the two hands superimposed). As for the musical quality of the piece, I love the tension built throughout the piece that finally bursts into a dramatic glissando in the Coda.