Violin Sonata No. 1 (Prokofiev)

Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op 80, written between 1938 and 1946 (completed two years after Violin Sonata No. 2), is one of the darkest and most brooding of the composer's works.

Structure

The work is about 30 minutes long and is in four movements:

Andante assai
Allegro brusco
Andante
Allegrissimo - Andante assai, come prima

Prokofiev had described the slithering violin scales at the end of the 1st and 4th movements as 'wind passing through a graveyard'.

The work was premiered by David Oistrakh and Lev Oborin on October 23, 1946, under the personal coaching of the composer. During rehearsals, Oborin played a certain passage, marked forte, too gently for Prokofiev's liking, who insisted it should be more aggressive. Oborin replied that he was afraid of drowning out the violin, but Prokofiev said "It should sound in such a way that people should jump in their seat, and people will say 'Is he out of his mind?'".^[1]

The first and third movements of the sonata were played at Prokofiev's funeral by Oistrakh and Samuil Feinberg.^[2]

Notes

↑ Barney Zwartz, A masterclass in Prokofiev, The Age, 5 July 2008. This anecdote was supplied to the writer by Boris Berman, who studied with Oborin.
↑ Simon Morrison, The People's Artist, Oxford, 2009

External links

Recording of Violin Sonata No. 1 Sergei Ostrovsky (violin) (Wayback Machine archive).
Video - Prokofiev Violin Sonata No 1 - Complete (28:10).

Sergei Prokofiev

Operas

Ballets

Ala i Lolli
Chout
Trapeze
Le pas d'acier
The Prodigal Son
On the Dnieper
Romeo and Juliet (Montagues and Capulets)
Cinderella
The Tale of the Stone Flower

Symphonies

Concertos

Piano	Piano Concerto No. 1 in D♭ major Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major Piano Concerto No. 4 in B♭ major Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major Piano Concerto No. 6 (unfinished)

Other	Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor Cello Concerto in E minor Symphony-Concerto for Cello in E minor Cello Concertino in G minor (unfinished)

Sonatas	Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor Piano Sonata No. 5 in C major (orig & rev) Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major Piano Sonata No. 7 in B♭ major ("Stalingrad") Piano Sonata No. 8 in B♭ major Piano Sonata No. 9 in C major Piano Sonata No. 10 (unfinished) Piano Sonata No. 11 (unrealized)

Other	Toccata in D minor Visions fugitives March and Scherzo from The Love for Three Oranges Three Pieces from War and Peace Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet Three Pieces & Six Pieces & Ten Pieces from Cinderella

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