Chapter 74 Music in Soviet Russia: Prokofiev and Shostakovich
Sep 03, 2014
Chapter 74
Music in Soviet Russia:
Prokofiev and Shostakovich
Music in Soviet Russia
• In the early post-revolutionary period (1917-1920), many of Russia’s leading musicians emigrated to the West.
• These include Sergei Prokofiev, who lived in the United States, France, and Germany (1918-1932) [during which time he worked both as a concert pianist and composer.]– as well as Jascha Heifetz, Serge Koussevitsky, Vladimir
Horowitz, & Sergei Rachmaninoff
• Between 1932-36, Prokofiev gradually strengthened his ties with Soviet Russia and embraced Soviet ideology concerning the role of music in both:
– “socialist realism” - realistic art which has as its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism.
– “formalism” - any music that was deemed by the Soviet cultural
bureaucracy to lack appeal for the masses.
Sergei Prokofiev’s Musical Outlook
• The objective of realism in music conforms to the musical style of Neoclassicism – most closely associated with Stravinsky between
1920’s-30’s and influential on Russia’s leading composers
• Prokofiev did not accept the “back to Bach” element of Stravinsky’s music of the time:– though he agreed with Stravinsky’s need to return
to clarity and simplicity in music
– an eclectic harmonic style (that mixed functional harmony with alternative pitch resources)
– emphasis on lyrical melody
The Life of Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
• 1891 - born in Sontsovka (Ukraine)
• 1904 - enters the St. Petersburg Conservatory
• 1918 - leaves Russia for the United States
• 1936 - permanent return to the USSR (Moscow)
• 1942 - Piano Sonata No. 7 completed
• 1953 - dies in Moscow (on the same day as Stalin)
Principal Compositions by Sergei Prokofiev
• Operas and Ballets: 13 operas, 9 ballets including – Romeo and Juliet– Cinderella
• Orchestra: 7 symphonies (Symphonies 1 [“Classical”] & 5 ), suites; concertos (including 5 for piano); narration Peter and the Wolf
• Chorus: include Alexander Nevsky, based on music for the Eisenstein film; also songs
• Chamber music: include 2 string quartets and sonatas for violin and for cello
• Piano: sonatas (9), character pieces
Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7
• Prokofiev’s attempt to juggle realism, formalism, and the pitfalls of Neoclassicism are evident in this work:– classicism is found in the genre and form– lyricism in the slow movement– motoric rhythms and modern harmonies
throughout [Stravinsky influences]
• Prokofiev mixes octatonic, diatonic, and free chromaticism throughout the work.
• Also incorporates Neoclassicism in the use of jazz parodies.
Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 7, 1939–42, movement 3
Free ternary form
The Russian Revolution
• 1905 - workers’ march in St. Petersburg fired on by troops; insurrection follows
• February 1917 - strikes and rioting in large cities; Tsar Nicholas II abdicates; provisional government
• April 1917 - Vladimir Lenin returns to Russia and reorganizes the Bolshevik party along Communist lines
• June 1917 - conference of soviets representing all Russian proletariat factions
• October 1917 - Bolsheviks seize power; Lenin and Trotsky are the new leaders
• March 1918 - Russia ends involvement in World War I
• 1918–20 - civil warfare; “reds” (Bolsheviks) defeat the “whites” (anti-Communists)
Characteristics of Dimitri Shostakovich’s Music
• Dimitri Shostakovich was the leading younger composer in Soviet Russia in the 1920’s-30’s– though his music was harshly criticized by
Soviet authorities for its “formalism”
• Shostakovich (like Prokofiev) attempted to conform to bureaucratic wishes by finding simple and expressive style rooted in Neoclassicism.
• He emphasized parody and satire in his music.
The Life of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
• 1906 born in St. Petersburg
• 1919–25 attends St. Petersburg Conservatory
• 1934 opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District scores a triumph in Leningrad
• 1936 Soviet authorities attack this opera for its “formalism”
• 1943 moves to Moscow
• 1949 first of several visits to the United States
• 1975 dies in Moscow
Principal Compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich
• Operas and ballets: 9, including Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (also 36 film scores)
• Orchestra: symphonies (15), concertos, suites
• Chorus: include the cantata The Execution of Stepan Razin
• Chamber music: string quartets (15), sonatas
• Piano: Piano Sonata (1926), collections of preludes, 24 Preludes and Fugues (1951)
Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1
• Shostakovich writes this concerto “to fill the gap in Soviet instrumental music.”
• This work clearly shows the influence of Ravel’s and Prokofiev’s piano concertos.
• He was very enthusiastic about Stravinsky’s music and the new aesthetics of the 1920’s.
• Has a classical three-movement form
• In this work (and the music of Shostakovich in general) we see the neoclassical element of parody carried out in outright satire and humor.– “I want to fight for the right of laughter to be
accepted in so-called serious music.”
Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Concerto
No. 1, 1933, movement 1
Sonata form