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Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 26
Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev, one of the twentieth century’s leading composers was born in Sontsovka (Ukraine) on April 27, 1891, a date that fell near the end of the era of Tsarist rule. It is one of history’s greatest ironies that Prokofiev died on March 5, 1953, the same day as the Communist dictator, Joseph Stalin. His Third Piano Concerto was composed and received its first performance in Chicago on December 16, 1921 with the composer as soloist and Frederick Stock conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, percussion (bass drum, castanets, tambourine, and cymbals), and strings.


First performed in Chicago on December 16, 1921 with the composer as soloist and Frederick Stock conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto has emerged as one of the most popular works of its kind written in this century. The reasons for this popularity are evident enough to anyone who has heard the work and has admired its immense energy, brilliant virtuosity, wit, and sweeping lyricism. Of the five concertos for piano penned by the Russian master, this is the most frequently performed. Although it received its premiere in 1921, the Third Piano Concerto contains musical ideas that Prokofiev conceived as early as 1911. One of the motoric themes from the first movement’s Allegro comes from that year. The theme from the second movement was written in 1913, and two of its variations were composed in 1916-17. Two themes from Allegro ma non troppo finale come from a discarded Quartet dating from 1918. Despite its fragmented genesis, the Third Piano Concerto emerges as a wholly integrated work that manages successfully to retain certain thematic links among its three movements. The composer spent the better part of the summer of 1921 in Brittany forging the final version of the composition.


The first movement (Andante-Allegro) contains a wealth of melodic ideas—now lyrical, now driven as a perpetual motion. The general tonal cast is that of its home key of C major, in keeping with Prokofiev’s preference for writing in a clearly tonal idiom and eschewing the atonal tendencies of his contemporaries. The second movement is labeled Tema con variazioni. Its gently martial theme is followed by five variations with a coda that brings the theme back in a new orchestration with the soloist in an accompanying role. A striking formula punctuates the final cadence of the theme as well as each of its variations, giving the audience a clear signpost of the movement’s form. The finale is a whirling, waltz-like affair that balances the wealth of themes found in the opening movement with an impressive amalgamation of its own thematic ideas. Clarity of formal design, a hallmark of Prokofiev’s style, is everywhere apparent throughout this masterly work.


Notes by David B. Levy © 2008/2016

Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 26
Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev, one of the twentieth century’s leading composers was born in Sontsovka (Ukraine) on April 27, 1891, a date that fell near the end of the era of Tsarist rule. It is one of history’s greatest ironies that Prokofiev died on March 5, 1953, the same day as the Communist dictator, Joseph Stalin. His Third Piano Concerto was composed and received its first performance in Chicago on December 16, 1921 with the composer as soloist and Frederick Stock conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, percussion (bass drum, castanets, tambourine, and cymbals), and strings.


First performed in Chicago on December 16, 1921 with the composer as soloist and Frederick Stock conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto has emerged as one of the most popular works of its kind written in this century. The reasons for this popularity are evident enough to anyone who has heard the work and has admired its immense energy, brilliant virtuosity, wit, and sweeping lyricism. Of the five concertos for piano penned by the Russian master, this is the most frequently performed. Although it received its premiere in 1921, the Third Piano Concerto contains musical ideas that Prokofiev conceived as early as 1911. One of the motoric themes from the first movement’s Allegro comes from that year. The theme from the second movement was written in 1913, and two of its variations were composed in 1916-17. Two themes from Allegro ma non troppo finale come from a discarded Quartet dating from 1918. Despite its fragmented genesis, the Third Piano Concerto emerges as a wholly integrated work that manages successfully to retain certain thematic links among its three movements. The composer spent the better part of the summer of 1921 in Brittany forging the final version of the composition.


The first movement (Andante-Allegro) contains a wealth of melodic ideas—now lyrical, now driven as a perpetual motion. The general tonal cast is that of its home key of C major, in keeping with Prokofiev’s preference for writing in a clearly tonal idiom and eschewing the atonal tendencies of his contemporaries. The second movement is labeled Tema con variazioni. Its gently martial theme is followed by five variations with a coda that brings the theme back in a new orchestration with the soloist in an accompanying role. A striking formula punctuates the final cadence of the theme as well as each of its variations, giving the audience a clear signpost of the movement’s form. The finale is a whirling, waltz-like affair that balances the wealth of themes found in the opening movement with an impressive amalgamation of its own thematic ideas. Clarity of formal design, a hallmark of Prokofiev’s style, is everywhere apparent throughout this masterly work.


Notes by David B. Levy © 2008/2016