Biography of Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev is a Russian composer, conductor, pianist, People’s Artist of the RSFSR, winner of six Stalin Prizes and Lenin Prize. One of the most important musicians of the twentieth century.
Childhood and primary education
Prokofiev Sergey Sergeevich was born April 11, 1891 in the village of Sontsovka Ekaterinoslav province. The love of music was imparted to the boy by a mother who was a good pianist, often playing the son of Chopin and Beethoven. Prokofiev received his primary education at home.
From an early age Sergey Sergeevich got carried away with music and at the age of five he composed his first work – a small play “Indian gallop” for piano. In 1902 the works of Prokofiev were heard by the composer S. Taneyev. He was so impressed with the boy’s abilities that he himself asked R. Gliere to give Sergey lessons on the theory of composition.
Education in the conservatory. World Tours
In 1903 Prokofiev entered
For the first time with his works Prokofiev, whose biography was already known in the musical environment of Petersburg, appeared in 1908. After graduating from the Conservatory, since 1918 Sergey Sergeevich has toured a lot, visited Japan, the United States, London Paris. In 1927 Prokofiev created the opera “Fiery Angel” In 1932 he recorded his third concert in London.
Mature creativity
In 1936 Sergey moved to Moscow, began teaching at the conservatory. In 1938 he completed work on the ballet “Romeo and Juliet.” During the Great Patriotic War he created the ballet Cinderella, the opera War and Peace, music for the films Ivan the Terrible and Alexander Nevsky.
In 1944, the
In 1948, Prokofiev completes the work on the opera The Story of a Real Man.
Last years
In 1948, a decree issued by the Central Committee of the CPSU, in which Prokofiev was sharply criticized for “formalism.” In 1949, at the First Congress of the Union of Composers of the USSR Asafiev, Khrennikov and Yarustovsky spoke with condemnation of the opera “A Tale of a Real Man”.
Since 1949 Prokofiev almost never left his dacha, continuing to actively create. The composer created the ballet “The Tale of a Stone Flower”, a symphony-concert “On Guard of Peace”.
The life of the composer Prokofiev ended on March 5, 1953. The great musician died of a hypertensive crisis in a communal apartment in Moscow. Prokofiev was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Personal life
In 1919, Prokofiev met his first wife – the Spanish singer Lina Codina. In 1923 they were married, soon they had two sons.
In 1948, Prokofiev married Mire Mendelssohn – a student of the Literary Institute, whom he met in 1938. Sergey Sergeevich did not draw up a divorce from Lina Kodina, since in the USSR marriages concluded abroad were considered void.
Interesting Facts
- The first composer created the first operas at the age of nine. One of Prokofiev’s hobbies was playing chess. The great composer said that playing chess helps him create music. The last work that Prokofiev managed to hear in the concert hall was his Seventh Symphony. Prokofiev died on the day of the death of Joseph Stalin, so the death of the composer remained almost unnoticed. A short biography of Prokofiev for children was reflected in the book “Childhood”, written by the composer himself.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)