Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major in 1921. Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej Sergejevič Prokof’ev; 15/April 271, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ...

Background

Prokofiev began work on the concerto as early as 1913 when he wrote a theme for variations which he then set aside. Although he revisited the sketches in 1916-17, he did not fully devote himself to the project until 1921 when he was spending the summer in Brittany. Prokofiev himself played the solo part at the premiere in Chicago that year. The work did not gain immediate popularity and had to wait until 1922 to be confirmed in the 20th century canon, after Serge Koussevitzky conducted a lavishly praised performance in Paris. In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Traditional coat of arms Modern flag (Gwenn-ha-du) Historical province of Brittany région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook Incorporated March 4, 1837 Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area    - City 606. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land...

Movements

The concerto consists of three movements of roughly equal length which last just under 30 minutes in total. In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ...

1. Andante - Allegro
2. Tema con variazioni
3. Allegro, ma non troppo

Instrumentation

• Piano solo
• Orchestra:

Analysis

Of the five piano concertos written by Prokofiev, the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26, has garnered the greatest popularity and critical acclaim. The concerto radiates a crisp vitality that testifies to Prokofiev's inventive prowess in punctuating lyrical passages with witty dissonances, while maintaining a balanced partnership between the soloist and orchestra. Unlike the examples of piano concertos set by many of Prokofiev's Romantic forebears, the orchestra rises above subsidiary accompaniment to play a very active part in this work. A piano concerto is a concerto for solo piano and orchestra. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев) (April 271, 1891 – March 5, 1953) was one of the Soviet Unions greatest composers. ... The term concerto (plural is concerti or concertos) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is contrasted with an orchestra. ... In music, a consonance (Latin consonare, sounding together) is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance, which is considered unstable. ... A grand piano, with the lid up. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ...

1. Andante - Allegro

The first movement (C-major) opens with an Andante clarinet solo, a long, lyrical melody that the whole orchestra eventually picks up and expands; the allegro entry of the solo piano unexpectedly breaks the lyrical mood in an exuberant, harmonically-fluid burst of brilliance and rhythm. Piano and orchestra continue in dialogue, through an expansive andante return to the first theme, then finishing again in a thrilling, virtuosic allegro.

2. Tema con variazioni

The middle movement (E-minor) is a theme and five variations and is a dazzling example of Prokofiev expressing his slightly sarcastic wit in musical terms. The central idea is stated by the orchestra in a hesitant, piquant gavotte. The first variation is a broad, slow restatement by the piano, in a florid anticipation of the solo clarinet in the beginning of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue written later in 1924. The second variation is presented by the orchestra at a galloping pace, with the piano providing excitement with long runs up and down the keyboard. The third variation is a heavily-syncopated deconstruction of the main theme with a lumbering jazzy backbeat. The fourth variation, possibly the most famous, is a haunting, wandering meditation of the main theme, with free dialogue between the piano and orchestra; a recurring motif of cold, ethereal falling thirds from the piano adds to the faintly other-worldly mood set by this section. The fifth variation is another allegro romp for soloist and orchestra, starting in a sunny major key but modulating into transitional waters as the main theme is fragmented and thrown into double-time pieces, then building and subsiding into the Coda. The orchestra plays the main theme in its original form, at original speed (one-half that of the preceding variation), with the piano providing double-time obbligato accompaniment. A short andante ending hinting at an E-major ending gives the piano the last word with a low-octave E-minor chord. A gavotte dance in Brittany, France, 1878 The gavotte (also gavot or gavote) originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. ... George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... Cover of the original sheet music of the two piano version of Rhapsody in Blue. ...

3. Allegro, ma non troppo

The third movement (C-major), which Prokofiev himself called an "argument" between soloist and orchestra, begins with an A-minor statement of the main theme in bassoons and pizzicato strings, interrupted by the piano's assertive entrance with a conflicting theme. Interplay between the piano and orchestra builds up steam, with a brief quickening of tempo (foreshadowing the lengthy, brilliant Coda) before arriving at a slow, lyrical secondary theme in woodwinds. The piano offers a rather sarcastic reply, and the slow theme develops, through another Rachmaninoff-esque restatement and another ethereal exploration (the soloist running up and down the keyboard softly over gently-dissonant muted woodwinds), into a united climax with piano and strings in beautiful unison, then fading into the Coda. This is the most unabashedly virtuosic section of the Concerto, with an allegro restatement of the main theme, again in bassoons, but in E-minor. The piano reframes it initially in D-major, then slides into a bitonal obbligato against a G-major underpinning in strings; then the coda explodes into a musical battle between soloist and orchestra, with dazzling piano ornamentation over the orchestra (including famously-difficult clustered-note glissandos), finally establishing the ending key of C-major and finishing in a flourish with a fortissimo unison C.

Premiere

Recordings

See also

• Sergey Prokofiev
• Piano Concerto

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев) (April 271, 1891 – March 5, 1953) was one of the Soviet Unions greatest composers. ... A piano concerto is a concerto for solo piano and orchestra. ...

External links

• The Prokofiev Page [1]

Concertos by Sergei Prokofiev

Piano Concerto No. 1 | Piano Concerto No. 2 The term concerto (plural is concerti or concertos) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is contrasted with an orchestra. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej Sergejevič Prokof’ev; 15/April 271, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... Image File history File links Sergei_Prokofiev. ... Sergey Prokofiev set about composing his Piano concerto No. ... Sergei Prokofiev set to work on his Piano Concerto No. ... Piano Concerto No. 3 | Piano Concerto No. 4 // Overview Sergey Prokofievs fourth piano concerto was commissioned by the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein and completed in 1931. ... Piano Concerto No. 5 | Piano Concerto No. 6 // Overview The fifth and last complete piano concerto by Sergey Prokofiev dates from 1932 and is in an unusual five movements. ... Overview Sergey Prokofiev did not manage to compose more than a few bars of his Piano Concerto No. ... Violin Concerto No. 1 | Violin Concerto No. 2 The Violin Concerto No. ... The Violin Concerto No. ... Cello Concerto | Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra Sergei Prokofievs Symphony-Concerto (sometimes wrongly called Sinfonia Concertante), is a large-scale work for Cello and Orchestra. ... Cello Concertino