Violin Concerto No. 1 (Prokofiev)
Encyclopedia
Sergei Prokofiev
began his Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, opus
19, as a concertino in 1915 but soon abandoned it to work on his opera
The Gambler
. He returned to the concerto in the summer of 1917. It premiered on October 18, 1923 at the Paris Opera with Marcel Darrieux playing the violin part and the Paris Opera Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky
. Igor Stravinsky
made his debut as conductor at the same concert, and conducted the first performance of his Octet for Wind Instruments.
s:
Nicholas II of Russia
and eventually the October Revolution
, 1917 became Prokofiev's most productive year compositionally. Along with this concerto he completed the "Classical" Symphony
, the Third
and Fourth
Piano Sonatas, and the Visions Fugitives
for piano. He also began the cantata Seven, They are Seven, based on Chaldea
n texts, and worked on the Third Piano Concerto
. Nevertheless, Prokofiev continued his habit of incorporating previously composed sections in the violin concerto (something he would also do in the Third Piano Concerto
). He composed the concerto's opening melody in 1915, during his love affair with Nina Mescherskaya. The remaining movements were partly inspired by a 1916 Saint Petersburg
performance of Karol Szymanowski
's Myths by Polish violinist Paul Kochanski
.
The failure of the Paris premiere was due partly to the difficulty in finding a soloist. Had it taken place in Petrograd
in 1917, as initially planned, Kochanski would have been the soloist. By 1923, however, he and the composer had lost touch. Bronisław Huberman would not even look at the score. Nathan Milstein
was still in Russia. Sergei Koussevitzky's concertmaster, Marcel Darrieux, was not famous, but he was a solid musician and a more than able violinist, which was all that was necessary for a performance (Darrieux also premiered Kurt Weill
's Concerto for Violin and Wind Instruments in 1925.) The concerto achieved success in the West the following year, when Joseph Szigeti
played it in Prague
with Fritz Reiner
as conductor, then toured Europe and the United States with the piece. However, the U.S. premiere was not played by Szigeti, but by Richard Burgin
, the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
, on 24 April 1925, again under Koussevitzky.
There were also the musical tastes of the Parisian public to consider. Audience members, especially those who came to Koussevitzky concerts, wanted modern music with a certain amount of shock value. The fact that The Rite of Spring
had failed a decade earlier was relative—the choreography had been a failure; the music was a success, as proved a few months later when it was heard enthusiastically in concert. While Paris welcomed spiked dissonant works such as the ballet Chout
(The Buffoon) and the Scythian Suite
, the First Violin Concerto was simply too Romantic
in tone for their preferences. The composer Georges Auric
even called the work "Mendelssohnian
."
The premiere of the work in the Soviet Union
is also worth noting since it was given just three days after the Paris premiere by two 19-year-olds, Nathan Milstein
and Vladimir Horowitz
. Horowitz played the orchestral part on the piano. Milstein later wrote in his memoirs, From Russia to the West, "I feel that if you have a great pianist like Horowitz playing with you, you don't need an orchestra." Milstein and Horowitz also introduced Karol Szymanowski
's First Violin Concerto at the same concert.
, E minor
, and G minor
respectively, and the work closes in a manner similar to that of the opening movement, seeming to climb peacefully. The concerto is scored for moderate-sized orchestra with a small percussion section.
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...
began his Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, opus
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
19, as a concertino in 1915 but soon abandoned it to work on his opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
The Gambler
The Gambler (Prokofiev)
The Gambler is an opera in four acts by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on the story of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky....
. He returned to the concerto in the summer of 1917. It premiered on October 18, 1923 at the Paris Opera with Marcel Darrieux playing the violin part and the Paris Opera Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
. Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
made his debut as conductor at the same concert, and conducted the first performance of his Octet for Wind Instruments.
Structure
The concerto is written in three movementMovement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
s:
- Andantino
- ScherzoScherzoA scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
: Vivacissimo - Moderato - Andante
History
Despite the events leading to the abdication of TsarTsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
and eventually the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, 1917 became Prokofiev's most productive year compositionally. Along with this concerto he completed the "Classical" Symphony
Symphony No. 1 (Prokofiev)
Sergei Prokofiev began work on his Symphony No. 1 in D major in 1916, but wrote most of it in 1917, finishing work on September 10. It is written in loose imitation of the style of Haydn , and is widely known as the Classical Symphony, a name given to it by the composer...
, the Third
Piano Sonata No. 3 (Prokofiev)
Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28, was composed in 1917, using sketches dating from 1907. The piece was premiered later that year by the composer.-Historical background:...
and Fourth
Piano Sonata No. 4 (Prokofiev)
Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor, Op. 29, was composed in 1917. It was first performed by the composer on April 17, 1918, in Petrograd.The work was dedicated to Prokoviev's good friend Maximilian Schmidthof, whose suicide in 1913 shocked and saddened the composer.-Style:In his notes...
Piano Sonatas, and the Visions Fugitives
Visions Fugitives
Visions fugitives are a series of short piano pieces written by Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev between 1915 and 1917. They were premiered by Prokofiev on April 15, 1918 in Petrograd, Soviet Union...
for piano. He also began the cantata Seven, They are Seven, based on Chaldea
Chaldea
Chaldea or Chaldaea , from Greek , Chaldaia; Akkadian ; Hebrew כשדים, Kaśdim; Aramaic: ܟܐܠܕܘ, Kaldo) was a marshy land located in modern-day southern Iraq which came to briefly rule Babylon...
n texts, and worked on the Third Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto No. 3 (Prokofiev)
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 is the best-known concerto by Sergei Prokofiev. It was completed in 1921 using sketches first started in 1913.-Composition and performances:...
. Nevertheless, Prokofiev continued his habit of incorporating previously composed sections in the violin concerto (something he would also do in the Third Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto No. 3 (Prokofiev)
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 is the best-known concerto by Sergei Prokofiev. It was completed in 1921 using sketches first started in 1913.-Composition and performances:...
). He composed the concerto's opening melody in 1915, during his love affair with Nina Mescherskaya. The remaining movements were partly inspired by a 1916 Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
performance of Karol Szymanowski
Karol Szymanowski
Karol Maciej Szymanowski was a Polish composer and pianist.-Life:Szymanowski was born into a wealthy land-owning Polish gentry family in Tymoszówka, then in the Russian Empire, now in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. He studied music privately with his father before going to Gustav Neuhaus'...
's Myths by Polish violinist Paul Kochanski
Paul Kochanski
Paul Kochanski was a Polish violinist, composer and arranger.- Training and early career :...
.
The failure of the Paris premiere was due partly to the difficulty in finding a soloist. Had it taken place in Petrograd
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in 1917, as initially planned, Kochanski would have been the soloist. By 1923, however, he and the composer had lost touch. Bronisław Huberman would not even look at the score. Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...
was still in Russia. Sergei Koussevitzky's concertmaster, Marcel Darrieux, was not famous, but he was a solid musician and a more than able violinist, which was all that was necessary for a performance (Darrieux also premiered Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's Concerto for Violin and Wind Instruments in 1925.) The concerto achieved success in the West the following year, when Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti
Joseph Szigeti was a Hungarian violinist.Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay...
played it in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
with Fritz Reiner
Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century.-Biography:...
as conductor, then toured Europe and the United States with the piece. However, the U.S. premiere was not played by Szigeti, but by Richard Burgin
Richard Burgin
For the American writer, see Richard Burgin Richard Burgin was a Polish-American violinist, best known as associate conductor and the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra .-Early life:...
, the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
, on 24 April 1925, again under Koussevitzky.
There were also the musical tastes of the Parisian public to consider. Audience members, especially those who came to Koussevitzky concerts, wanted modern music with a certain amount of shock value. The fact that The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
had failed a decade earlier was relative—the choreography had been a failure; the music was a success, as proved a few months later when it was heard enthusiastically in concert. While Paris welcomed spiked dissonant works such as the ballet Chout
Chout
Chout, Op. 21 , is the usual English-language title of a ballet by Sergei Prokofiev, written in two versions between 1915 and 1921. It is sometimes known as "The Tale of the Buffoon", or simply "The Buffoon"...
(The Buffoon) and the Scythian Suite
Scythian Suite (Prokofiev)
The Scythian Suite is an orchestral suite by Sergei Prokofiev written in 1915.-Background:Prokofiev originally wrote the music for the ballet Ala i Lolli, which is about the Scythians. The score was written to the words of Russian poet Sergey Gorodetsky...
, the First Violin Concerto was simply too Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
in tone for their preferences. The composer Georges Auric
Georges Auric
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
even called the work "Mendelssohnian
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
."
The premiere of the work in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
is also worth noting since it was given just three days after the Paris premiere by two 19-year-olds, Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...
and Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
. Horowitz played the orchestral part on the piano. Milstein later wrote in his memoirs, From Russia to the West, "I feel that if you have a great pianist like Horowitz playing with you, you don't need an orchestra." Milstein and Horowitz also introduced Karol Szymanowski
Karol Szymanowski
Karol Maciej Szymanowski was a Polish composer and pianist.-Life:Szymanowski was born into a wealthy land-owning Polish gentry family in Tymoszówka, then in the Russian Empire, now in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. He studied music privately with his father before going to Gustav Neuhaus'...
's First Violin Concerto at the same concert.
Analysis
The work opens ethereally, gains momentum and becalms; this describes both the opening movement, and the piece taken as a whole. The three movements begin in D majorD major
D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....
, E minor
E minor
E minor is a minor scale based on the note E. The E natural minor scale consists of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. The E harmonic minor scale contains the natural 7, D, rather than the flatted 7, D – to align with the major dominant chord, B7 .Its key signature has one sharp, F .Its...
, and G minor
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
respectively, and the work closes in a manner similar to that of the opening movement, seeming to climb peacefully. The concerto is scored for moderate-sized orchestra with a small percussion section.
External links
- More on the History of the Concerto, from a Program Note
- Prokofiev.org page on Concerto
- Free recording by the Columbia University Orchestra.