Piano Concerto No. 1 (Prokofiev)
Encyclopedia
Sergei Prokofiev
set about composing his Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10 in 1911 and finished it in 1912. A one-movement concerto, it is the shortest of his five complete piano concertos, lasting only around a quarter of an hour.
The first and last sections have a clear thematic relationship, as the concerto begins and ends with the same spacious D-flat major theme. The middle section (G-sharp minor) is darker but hardly less glorious than the other two, its climax abysmal rather than overbearing.
Prokofiev dedicated his first piano concerto to the "dreaded Tcherepnin
".
The concerto was first performed in Moscow
on 25 July/7 August 1912, with the composer as soloist and Konstantin Saradzhev
conducting. Prokofiev later wrote that Saradzhev "realized splendidly all my tempos".
Prokofiev won the Anton Rubinstein
Prize for his pianistic accomplishments in a performance of the work before the Saint Petersburg Conservatory
on 18 May 1914.
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
set about composing his Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10 in 1911 and finished it in 1912. A one-movement concerto, it is the shortest of his five complete piano concertos, lasting only around a quarter of an hour.
Structure
The concerto can be divided into three sections as follows:- Allegro brioso (7-8 min)
- Andante assai (4-5 min)
- Allegro scherzando (4-5 min)
The first and last sections have a clear thematic relationship, as the concerto begins and ends with the same spacious D-flat major theme. The middle section (G-sharp minor) is darker but hardly less glorious than the other two, its climax abysmal rather than overbearing.
Prokofiev dedicated his first piano concerto to the "dreaded Tcherepnin
Nikolai Tcherepnin
Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory...
".
The concerto was first performed in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
on 25 July/7 August 1912, with the composer as soloist and Konstantin Saradzhev
Konstantin Saradzhev
Konstantin Saradzhev was an Armenian conductor and violinist. He was an advocate of new Russian music, and conducted a number of premieres of works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Aram Khachaturian...
conducting. Prokofiev later wrote that Saradzhev "realized splendidly all my tempos".
Prokofiev won the Anton Rubinstein
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
Prize for his pianistic accomplishments in a performance of the work before the Saint Petersburg Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
on 18 May 1914.