Sergey Prokofiev

by Daniel Jaffé

Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) was considered strikingly modern in his day, yet his compositions retain a compelling lyricism and an acerbic wit that have ensured their enduring popularity. Having left his native Russia for the USA and subsequently Paris, he spent the last 17 years of his life in the USSR, where his work was heavily influenced by Stalin's cultural policies. Daniel Jaffé's comprehensive biography offers a detailed examination of this remarkable composer's life and works, in the context of other cultural luminaries of his day and the political turmoil of early twentieth-century Russia.

Sergey Prokofiev is part of Phaidon's successful 20th Century Composers series, which presents authoritative and engaging biographies of the great creative musicians of our time, augmented by striking visual material and essential reference information. This edition of the book features a whimsical new cover by Jean-Jacques Sempé, the world-renowned illustrator and cartoonist.

Genres: Music, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1998

Reviews

[Eric Byrd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jaffe is just the kind of biographer James Merrill had in mind when he wrote 'Matinees':

Lives of the Great Composers make it sound
Too much like cooking: 'Sore beset,
He put his heart's blood into that quintet...'

Jaffe is always summarizing Prokofiev's works as either distillations of what he thinks were Prokofiev's emotions at the time of composition, or as expressions of the ethnopsychic tumult of 20th century Russia. Yawn. It's not all bad though, the book contains some amazing pictures (Prokofiev and Oistrakh in white ties and tailcoats, playing chess backstage before a performance), some interesting revelations (Nabokov was Prokofiev's favorite author), as well as an extended account of and reverent words for the op. 80 Violin Sonata, that overlooked autumnal masterpiece. Jaffe in general handles those late years well. His account of Prokofiev's funeral is hair-raising: he and Stalin died the same day; all the flowers in Moscow had been requisitioned for the dictator's funeral, so Sviatoslav Richter broke off an ice-encrusted pine branch and placed it on the coffin, as Oistrakh, another of the tiny clump of people who had braved the roadblocks and freezing rain of Moscow in March, played sections from the op. 80 sonata, whose first bars Prokofiev had described to others as mimicing the sound of "wind through a graveyard." The personal conditions of Prokofiev's final decade or so were very depressing--but artistically, all is triumph.

[Bakunin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shallow overview of Prokofievs life. I don't entirely get a grip on the inner life of the man.
Some things were interesting though; Schopenhauer as a concrete inspiration for how one should compose as we as Prokofievs view on how to be a Soviet composer.

[Mynameisandycostello · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best Prokofiev biography I've read. Jaffe always seems to reference accurately, and doesn't blow things out of proportion. His insight is always valid, and his opinions are thoroughly informed.

[Hjörtur Ingvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and readable overview of the life and works of this great 20th century composer. Not excessively detailed, but rather a good way to get into Prokofiev and a vantage point from which to pursue further explorations.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of the straightforward biographies in the Phaidon series. I found it particularly useful, since there aren't a lot of good books on Prokofiev available in English. Prokofiev led a life that would make him an easy target for over-politicization: he emigrated to the West during Russia's revolutionary period, but then returned from his exile in the 1930s. After his return, his relationship to the USSR's leaders and political factions had many ups and downs. When he was in the government's good graces, Prokofiev was celebrated and his music was performed widely. However, when he was out of favor, he faced dangerous condemnation and was unable to get any of his work performed at all, no matter its quality. He did end up writing several propaganda works, but several of his pieces contain sly digs at Stalin and his regime, and even more of his music expresses his deep frustration and unhappiness with his plight. Given these vicissitudes, I very much appreciated Jaffe's even-handed and fair approach to his subject.