Program Notes Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 Although Sergey Prokofiev's third piano concerto is dated 1917 - 1921, it really had its genesis in 1911, when the composer sketched out one of the themes used in the concerto's first movement. That movement also contains themes written in 1916, while the second movement is based on a theme and variations written in 1913, and the final movement on a string quartet Prokofiev began in 1918. By then, of course, the Bolsheviks had taken power in Russia, and Prokofiev had received permission to travel to the US, where he guessed the market for music might be a little more robust than in his turbulent homeland. In the summer of 1921 he spent a holiday in Brittany, and completed the concerto there. In December 1921, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered the concerto with Prokofiev himself playing the solo part. The work was not met with much enthusiasm, and was criticized at subsequent performances in New York. It was only after Serge Koussevitzky conducted a well-received performance in Paris in 1922 that the work was truly accepted, after which it became the most popular of Prokofiev's five piano concertos. The work's angularity and brilliance, as well as the active role the orchestra takes in not only declaring but developing the thematic material, clearly separate it from the Romantic concertos of the past. Prokofiev was of course also capable of writing works of great lyricism, and one of the notable features of this concerto is its ability to segue effortlessly from dynamic arpeggios and vigorous, percussive themes to moments of sweeping grandeur. The Andante - Allegro opens with a deceptively quiet duet for two clarinets, taken up by the orchestra. Suddenly the strings begin rising in a rush and the piano explodes onto scene. The piano and orchestra continue in dialogue until the oboe introduces a simple but slightly dissonant descending theme, like a fractured nursery melody, that the piano and orchestra expand upon. During this theme's development, the soloist must prove his or her mettle by playing octaves interspersed with additional tones either above or below, in triplets, moving rapidly up and down the keyboard. The restatement of the first theme leads to one of the work's lyrical moments when, out of nowhere, the strings segue into a sweepingly lush melody. The clarinets and piano explore a minor variation of the first theme, until the piano rushes in with a brilliant, scalar passage and returns to the opening material. The finale includes a sarcastic statement of the second theme, then a furious coda. The second movement is, as its title Tema con variazioni states, a theme with variations (five). It opens with a stately gavotte, to which the piano responds with sentimental commentary. This is abruptly halted with a crash as piano and orchestra break into a vigorous variation. The next variations include a syncopated version that slides between major and minor, and a haunting meditation by the piano answered by individual instruments (horn, oboe) over ethereal sustained chords in the orchestra. The final variation also alternates between major and minor, as the orchestra returns to the stately gavotte of the opening while the piano plays a double-time accompaniment. The slow coda seems to be moving toward an E-major resolution but ends with a soft E-minor chord. Prokofiev called the finale, Allegro, ma non troppo, an "argument" between the orchestra and soloist, beginning with a disputation between the piano and bassoons with pizzicato strings. The orchestra soon breaks through with the long, lyrical second theme that descends and then rises to great heights, answered by introspective musings in the piano. The recapitulation of the main theme begins in E-minor in bassoons, segues to D-major in the piano, and turns to G-major in the strings as we move toward the coda. This is an all-out musical battle between soloist and orchestra, the piano playing dazzling ornamentation, including clustered-note arpeggios, over the orchestra's bluster. Orchestra and soloist come together at last in the final insistent chords, a fortissimo unison C. --Barbara Heninger
Program Notes
Although Sergey Prokofiev's third piano concerto is dated 1917 - 1921, it really had its genesis in 1911, when the composer sketched out one of the themes used in the concerto's first movement. That movement also contains themes written in 1916, while the second movement is based on a theme and variations written in 1913, and the final movement on a string quartet Prokofiev began in 1918. By then, of course, the Bolsheviks had taken power in Russia, and Prokofiev had received permission to travel to the US, where he guessed the market for music might be a little more robust than in his turbulent homeland. In the summer of 1921 he spent a holiday in Brittany, and completed the concerto there.
In December 1921, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered the concerto with Prokofiev himself playing the solo part. The work was not met with much enthusiasm, and was criticized at subsequent performances in New York. It was only after Serge Koussevitzky conducted a well-received performance in Paris in 1922 that the work was truly accepted, after which it became the most popular of Prokofiev's five piano concertos.
The work's angularity and brilliance, as well as the active role the orchestra takes in not only declaring but developing the thematic material, clearly separate it from the Romantic concertos of the past. Prokofiev was of course also capable of writing works of great lyricism, and one of the notable features of this concerto is its ability to segue effortlessly from dynamic arpeggios and vigorous, percussive themes to moments of sweeping grandeur.
The Andante - Allegro opens with a deceptively quiet duet for two clarinets, taken up by the orchestra. Suddenly the strings begin rising in a rush and the piano explodes onto scene. The piano and orchestra continue in dialogue until the oboe introduces a simple but slightly dissonant descending theme, like a fractured nursery melody, that the piano and orchestra expand upon. During this theme's development, the soloist must prove his or her mettle by playing octaves interspersed with additional tones either above or below, in triplets, moving rapidly up and down the keyboard. The restatement of the first theme leads to one of the work's lyrical moments when, out of nowhere, the strings segue into a sweepingly lush melody. The clarinets and piano explore a minor variation of the first theme, until the piano rushes in with a brilliant, scalar passage and returns to the opening material. The finale includes a sarcastic statement of the second theme, then a furious coda.
The second movement is, as its title Tema con variazioni states, a theme with variations (five). It opens with a stately gavotte, to which the piano responds with sentimental commentary. This is abruptly halted with a crash as piano and orchestra break into a vigorous variation. The next variations include a syncopated version that slides between major and minor, and a haunting meditation by the piano answered by individual instruments (horn, oboe) over ethereal sustained chords in the orchestra. The final variation also alternates between major and minor, as the orchestra returns to the stately gavotte of the opening while the piano plays a double-time accompaniment. The slow coda seems to be moving toward an E-major resolution but ends with a soft E-minor chord.
Prokofiev called the finale, Allegro, ma non troppo, an "argument" between the orchestra and soloist, beginning with a disputation between the piano and bassoons with pizzicato strings. The orchestra soon breaks through with the long, lyrical second theme that descends and then rises to great heights, answered by introspective musings in the piano. The recapitulation of the main theme begins in E-minor in bassoons, segues to D-major in the piano, and turns to G-major in the strings as we move toward the coda. This is an all-out musical battle between soloist and orchestra, the piano playing dazzling ornamentation, including clustered-note arpeggios, over the orchestra's bluster. Orchestra and soloist come together at last in the final insistent chords, a fortissimo unison C.
--Barbara Heninger
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