Sergei Prokofiev - Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 19 (1917) {Kyung-Wha Chung}

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (27 April [O.S. 15 April] 1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who later worked in the Soviet Union. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous music genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century.

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Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19 (1917)

1. Andantino (0:00)
2. Scherzo. Vivacissimo (9:52)
3. Finale. Moderato - Allegro moderato (13:43)

Kyung-Wha Chung, violin and the London SO conducted by Andre Previn

Description by Alexander Carpenter [-]
Prokofiev began composing his First Violin Concerto in 1915. He was very fond of the opening theme, but was busy working on his opera, The Gambler. He regretted not having more time to work on the Concerto's "pensive opening." When he got back to it, he intended to compose a "concertino" for violin and orchestra, but the piece grew into a three-movement concerto. As musicologist and Prokofiev scholar Israel Nestyev has noted, Prokofiev consulted Polish violinist Paul Kochanski while writing the violin part. Kochanski advised him on bow markings and other technical details, and was supposed to have been the soloist at the premiere, planned for November of 1917. The piano score of the work was completed in the summer of 1917, but because of the revolution in Russia, the Concerto did not receive its first performance until 1922, in Paris.

Instead of the usual fast-slow-fast concerto structure, Prokofiev's outer movements are slow, while the middle movement is a fast scherzo. The order of the Concerto's movements is not the only unusual aspect of this violin concerto: the role of the solo violin is also atypical. While the violin dominates the piece, it is not set dramatically against the orchestra; instead, as Russian music critic I. Yampolsky wrote, the violin is "the first among equals," dominant but integrated into the orchestral texture.

While Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto is an important piece in the contemporary concerto repertoire, it was not well received earlier. Critics condemned the work for its non-traditional formal arrangement and treatment of the soloist and tutti. By this time in his career, Prokofiev was certainly growing accustomed to this kind of criticism of his innovations, particularly from Russian critics. The Concerto is a pivotal work, one which displays a maturation of the composer. If one compares the First Violin Concerto to Prokofiev's earlier piano concertos, it is easy to see that the former is decidedly more natural in its thematic unfolding, and formally less academic.