The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive study guide, addressing pedagogical elements to accompany Serge Prokofiev’s Musiques d’Enfants: Twelve Easy Pieces, Op. 65 for solo piano. This study focused on how Prokofiev’s Music for Children, Op.65 prepares students for the composer’s more advanced repertoire using his self-described five compositional “lines” in his autobiography. The study also explored the pedagogical importance of each piece and the best way to prepare students for learning them. Various melodic, rhythmic, and technical exercises were suggested to offer teachers ways to teach fundamental performing principles and to offer students creative exercises and activities to achieve technical fluency. Dynamics, tempo, character, and other stylistic aspects were covered. Chapter one explores the need for the study, definitions of terms, the three time periods of Prokofiev’s compositional output, and the characteristics of his compositional style. Chapter two contains a review of related literature and Prokofiev’s editions. Chapter three includes the method of investigation and discusses Prokofiev’s Music for Children, Op. 65, with teaching and learning suggestions for technical and musical concerns. Chapter four offers a conclusion, implementation of the study, and recommendations for further study. By providing detailed insights into the musical, technical, and interpretive challenges found in Music for Children, Op. 65, the author hopes to provide students and teachers with the background knowledge and practice suggestions needed to understand Prokofiev’s unique musical language and to prepare them for further piano study. / School of Music

The influence of existing musical trends is evident in almost every composer. Prokofiev entered the musical scene in Russia when Scriabin was the recognized leader in innovation. To understand fully the rapid popularity of Prokofiev one must be aware of the musical forces of his time, the circumstances leading up to them and their influence on Prokofiev. In the latter half of the nineteenth century there began a movement toward nationalism in music. Among the most important of these nationalistic countries were Bohemia and Russia. Composers deliberately drew their inspiration from the musical resources of their native country. From all that is known a native Russian music did not exist before the nineteenth century. The music enjoyed by the upper class and royalty had to be imported. In the eighteenth century this included Italian opera and in the beginning of the nineteenth century, French opera. Pianists such as Field, Mayer and von Henselt were popular as both teachers and performers.

Yau, Oi Suet. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-178). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Literature Review --- p.2 / Chapter III. --- Methodology --- p.7 / Chapter IV. --- Thesis Structure --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Background, Children and Music Education" / Chapter I. --- General Historical Background --- p.12 / Chapter II. --- "Children, Music Education and the Soviet Union" --- p.22 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Prokofiev and his Children's works in the 1930s / Chapter I. --- Prokofiev's Return to the Soviet Union --- p.36 / Chapter II. --- Prokofiev's Children's Works in the 1930s / Music for Children (Op. 65) --- p.43 / Summer Day (Op. 65b) --- p.53 / Peter and the Wolf [Op. 67) --- p.58 / Three Children's Songs for Voice and Piano (Op. 68) --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- "War Years, Stalin Prize and Radio Committee" / Chapter I. --- Historical Background --- p.89 / Chapter II. --- The Awards for Cultural Intelligentsia- Honorary Titles and Stalin Prize --- p.101 / Chapter III. --- All-Union Radio Committee --- p.103 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Prokofiev and His Later Children's Works / Chapter I. --- Prokofiev's Late Years --- p.107 / Chapter II. --- Prokofiev's Later Children's Works / Winter Bonfire (Op. 122) --- p.109 / On Guard for Peace (Op. 124) --- p.121 / Seventh Symphony (Op. 131) --- p.139 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.153 / Appendix --- p.159 / Bibliography --- p.170

Shortly after returning to Moscow in 1936, Prokofiev composed his first Soviet opera, Semyon Kotko (Opus 81). The libretto was taken from Valentin Kataev's novel I am a Son of the Working People, a tale of revolution and war in a small Ukrainian village and one that adheres to the tenets of Socialist Realism. Kataev encouraged Prokofiev to set this text in a highly conservative song style. Prokofiev was also influenced in the project by Vsevolod Meyerhold, an innovative artist who advocated using continuous declamation as a means of achieving "dramatic truth" in music. / This essay examines the extent to which Semyon Kotko can be considered a conformist opera. Part One is a survey of Socialist Realism and its manifestation in Soviet literature and music during the 1930's; Parts Two and Three examine the text and music of Semyon Kotko as representative of the doctrine. Consideration is given throughout the study to the opposing influences of Kataev and Meyerhold on Prokofiev, and to the political events surrounding the opera's composition.

No description available.

Sergei Prokofiev experimented with styles which shocked the public because his ideas were far ahead of his time. In the 1930's, the Soviet composer turned to a neoclassical style. His Sonata, Opus 119, for violoncello and piano, is a product of this final period of composition. The purpose of this study is to determine the stylistic characteristics of this sonata. This study includes a detailed description of the compositional techniques Prokofiev used in this work. These techniques are categorized according to the basic stylistic elements. The sources of data are comprised of the score of Prokofiev's Sonata, Opus 119, as well as books on twentieth-century music and on Prokofiev as a man and as a composer. The score was used for purposes of analysis.

The purpose of this thesis is to give a descriptive look at modern Russian music, specifically the early piano sonatas of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, with focus on style and style influences.

The Commedia dell'arte was a form of Italian comedy prevalent from about 1560 to 1760. It was rooted in the comedy of ancient Greece and Rome, and it first appeared during the Middle Ages. An example of this is the comic opera The Love for Three Oranges, scored by Sergei Prokofiev.

The Sixth, Seventh, and E Piano Sonatas of Prokofiev illustrate the composer's more mature style. In these works there is a definite return to the classic forms and contrapuntal devices which have been called Neo-classicism. Prokofiev, himself, has said that form is one of the basic elements of his style. It is the purpose of this thesis to discover the' formal organization and make a comparison of these sonatas with the works of Beethoven and his contemporaries.

The purpose of the following study is to make an analysis of the structural elements and stylistic characteristics in the Second Concerto for Violin by the modern Russian composer, Serge Prokofieff. These include the composer's treatment of form, melody, rhythm, harmony, and medium of expression.