Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 03/25/2010, uploaded on 02/04/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

As a pianist of high caliber, Prokofiev did as many composers before him had done and used his own compositions as vehicles to simultaneously display his talents as a performer and a composer. Prokofiev saw himself as a composer first and a pianist second, and thus the piano was the means to an end. Many of these works, such as the first two piano concerti and the Toccata, op. 11, were immediately branded as “futuristic” music, and caused no small stir among Russia’s musical community. Yet, this is perhaps to be expected from a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, who was known among his fellow students as being arrogant and eccentric, and had no qualms expressing his dissatisfaction over the curriculum. Prokofiev became Russia’s enfant terrible. Some decried his “futuristic” music; sympathetic modernists, however, were enraptured.

Among these early works is the 4 Pieces, op. 4. Composed in 1908, the opus 4 set actually followed swiftly on the heels of Prokofiev’s First Piano Sonata, making it one of the earliest of his compositions to be deemed worthy of publication. Like the other works from this period in the composer’s output, it embraces a highly chromatic and dissonant harmonic language. The opening piece, “Reminiscence,” is tranquil with hints of Scriabin. “Élan,” on the other hand, is energetic and driving, though brief, and is pure Prokofiev. The third piece, “Despair,” is the longest of the set. It is built around an incessant chromatic motif that is never absent from the harmonic fabric. Lastly, “Suggestion diabolique,” closes the set and is the most famous of the four pieces. A dazzling and impetuous showpiece, it provides a thrilling close to the set.     Joseph DuBose