Sergei Prokofjew

Four pieces op. 4

Sergei Prokofiev was born in Sontsovka in the Ukraine on the 23rd of April, 1891. Soon showing a talent for piano and composition, by the time he was fourteen he was attending the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, where he received extensive schooling inpiano, harmony, composition and conducting. Prokofiev was greatly interested in contemporary composers (Reger, dIndy, Debussy and Richard Strauss) and quickly made a name for himself with his revolutionary aesthetic language of great harmonic andrhythmic impact. His compositions were inspired by Symbolism and Futurism, two artistic movements predominate at the time. Prokofiev attracted attention through his early works the Etudes Op. 2 and the Pieces, Op. 3 and 4 owing to his specialtechnique and percussive treatment of the piano (similar in some respects to Bartok), although he was also capable of rich melodic invention. Actually composed in 1907-08, before his Four Etudes for Piano Op. 2, Prokofiev's Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 3 and 4 were only published in 1911. Concert pieces, some show Scriabin's influence on the composer, especially in the titles.