Grippo 1

Piano Concerto No.1, Op. 10

Michael Grippo
Music 357: History/Music Style V: Post Romantic-WWII
Dr. Stephen Press
November 24, 2014

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Sergei Sergeivich Prokofiev (1891-1953) composed Piano Concerto No.1, Op.10 from
the summer of 1910 to February 1912. During this time, Prokofiev focused on other works
including the piano pieces Dreams and Autumnal Sketch, the one act opera Maddalena, as well
as a light, attractive Concertino, full of joie de vivre, which was intended to compliment his
more serious and challenging Concerto.1 As Prokofiev developed his ideas further, he concluded
that by merging the two pieces together he could create a well balanced expansive Concerto.
This idea was inspired by Liszts and Rimsky-Korsakovs one movement concertos.2 The
construction of this idea more suitable and also showcased his dual talents as pianist and
composer. These drastic changes in tone and style within the First Concerto helped shape and
distinguish him as a composer and made him stand, well apart from the relatively mellifluous
fabric of the prevailing musical style of the late 19th century.3
Prokofiev premiered and performed this Concerto on August 7, 1912 at the Peoples
House in Moscows Sokolniki Park, Konstantin Saradzhev conducting.4 This premiere was
dedicated to the inspirational conducting professor Nikolai Cherepnin, who highly supported
Prokofievs music. From Prokofievs perspective, [Cherepnin] talked about innovation in such a
way that I felt almost like an old-fashioned musician.5 The premiere was well received by the
public, but brought about a heated debate in the press. Not more than a year and a half later did
Prokofiev decide to play the Concerto for his final examination upon leaving the Conservatory.
Medals have been abolished with us, but there is a prize a Shreder grand piano for the best
pupil. On the 22nd theres going to be a competition between the five best students. Im playing
my concerto, three others are playing the Liszt [First Concerto] and the only girls performing
the Saint-Saens [Second Concerto].6 In place of playing a classical concerto, Prokofiev decided
to choose his own, which was risky in the manner that he could be disqualified for breaking the

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regulations of the competition. But being a strong headed twentieth century virtuoso, no one
could object to his talent as a pianist even though some professors rejected Prokofievs arrogance
as well as his use of bright percussive tones, lack of sentiment, and disregard for romanticism. In
the end, Prokofiev won the Anton Rubinstein Prize: a Shreder grand piano and the chance to
perform his piece at graduation.7
Piano Concerto No. 1 differentiates from forms quintessential to Prokofievs writing. The
piece is a one-movement sonata Allegro with a three-movement concerto plan that is separated
by full stops: exposition at m. 92, development at m.311, and recapitulation at m.410. According
to Prokofiev, The canvas on which the basic formal design is drawn is sonata form, but I so far
departed from it that my Concerto cannot possibly be described as being in sonata form.8
Instead, Prokofiev claims that the form is a sonata Allegro with the introduction repeated
after the exposition and at the end; a short Andante inserted before the development;
development in the form of Scherzo and a Cadenza to introduce the recapitulation.9 The piece
starts at the Allegro brioso Db major section with three regal sounding chords, preparing for the
entrance of the soloists dance-like dotted eighth-sixteenth-note figure and the repetition of the
motive G, Ab, Gb, and F in the introductory theme. The Poco piu mosso section is an episode
that has a short cadenza for the solo piano in C major. Finally, moving past the massive
introduction, the exposition is found at the Tempo primo, which is delineated by a dotted eighthsixteenth-note figure in the piano cadenza back in the original key. In the Meno mosso, the
secondary theme uses an ABABA form with a static key center of E minor that allows for a
contrast between the high treble piano and the solemn tone of the orchestra, shown by use of the
lower register. The retransition, which is just as long as the introduction, starts at the Piu mosso
and continues through the Animato E major section but does not go to the development.

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Essentially a section in itself, the Andante theme in the Andante assai expresses no thematic or
formalistic relationship to the rest of the concerto.10 The expected development finally makes its
appearance, but in three sections: Allegro scherzando, Pocchissimo meno mosso, and Cadenza
(C major). Here all thematic materials from the exposition are found here. The recapitulation at
Poco piu sostenuto is characterized by the oscillating tonic and dominant tones in the orchestra
and simultaneous remnants of the first and second themes in the pianos new triplet figures in the
key of c# minor. Finally, the Animato E major section leads directly into the introductory
theme.11
Much the opposite of Debussys and Scriabins lyrical style, the keyboard techniques of
Piano Concerto No. 1 are demanding, requiring rhythmic precision of staccato articulation from
both the fingers and the wrist, coordination for hand crosses (aiding in the implementation of
arpeggiated passages), and control for minimum depression of the soft pedal.12 Numerous
percussive and dry timbres are emphasized in the piece to add contrast and texture between the
pieces articulate and lyrical styles. This is especially found in cadenzas. In the cadenza at Poco
piu mosso, maintaining the athleticism, rigidity, and precision is crucial. This unrelenting driving
force keeps the pianist busy, playing short scalar passages comprised of broken thirds and octave
leaps while wondering through other keys. In terms of tone, color, and timbre, Prokofiev
effectively coordinates important themes by separating them between the piano and the
orchestra.13 The score calls for solo piano, two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two
bassoons, contrabassoon, four French horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani,
percussion, and strings. Performance time is approximately 16 minutes.
Besides Prokofievs new compositional techniques for piano, many other distinct stylistic
effects were also used to compliment his skills as a composer. One of these included the

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pronounced interval of a perfect fourth, which is presented in the melodic delineation of
numerous themes and rhythmic figures for example: o q or qE j. Also, the eight-measure theme
in the Andante Assai that is first played by orchestra is taken over by the soloist a perfect fourth
higher. The presence of all-purpose common, or pivot, chords serves as a link between two keys,
allowing Prokofiev to stretch the limits of tonality to pure uncertainty. But, in this rare instance,
the pivot chords sometime occur between tertiary relationships of the enharmonically lowered
mediant, the relative minor, and the mediant major, which allowed Prokofiev to play with weird
chromatic passages making the arrival of a cadence all the more satisfying to the listener.14 The
use of this all-purpose common chord is easily seen in the repetition of the figure Gb (F#), Ab
(G#), C, E, and G throughout the whole Concerto.
Prokofiev, a man affected by traditionalist beliefs and a weakening national identity, was
a person who stood out as an innovator. Even at a young age he fought in opposition to the
musical standards, and his pursuit of his own musical traits took him on a continued course of
experimentation. Fed with the over-refined mysticism of Scriabin, the romantic melancholy of
Rachmaninoff, and the filmy [formless] impressionism of Debussy,15 Prokofiev was able to
mold traditional and forward looking styles with his own to create a connection with music of the
past and the present.

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NOTES
1

Segei Prokofiev, Sergei Prokofiev Diaries (Cornell University Press, 2006), pp. 235.

Fred Sahlman, The Piano Concertos of Sergei Prokofiev: A Stylistic Study (PhD diss.,
University of Rochester, 1966), pp. 157.
3

Douglas Lee, Masterworks of 20th-century Music: The Modern Repertory of the

Symphony Orchestra (Routledge, 2002), pp. 277.
4

Nestyev, Israel V. Prokofiev (Stanford University Press, 1960), pp. 60.

Ibid., pp. 40.

Segei Prokofiev, Sergei Prokofiev Diaries (Cornell University Press, 2006), pp. 99.

Nestyev, Israel V. Prokofiev (Stanford University Press, 1960), pp. 84, 85.

Segei Prokofiev, Sergei Prokofiev Diaries (Cornell University Press, 2006), pp. 236.

S. Shlitstein, S. Prokofiev: Autobiography, Article Reminiscences (Moscow, 195?),

pp. 30.
10

Fred Sahlman, The Piano Concertos of Sergei Prokofiev: A Stylistic Study (PhD
diss., University of Rochester, 1966), pp. 58, 59.

11

Ibid., pp. 62, 63.

12

Ibid., pp. 256, 266.

13

Ibid., pp. 281.

14

Ibid., pp. 177, 214, 215.

15

Ibid., pp. 295.

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Bibliography
Lee, Douglas. Masterworks of 20th-century Music: The Modern Repertory of the Symphony
Orchestra: New York: Routledge, 2002.

Nice, David. Prokofiev from Russia to the West 1891-1935. New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 2003.
Nestyev, Israel V. Sergei Prokofiev His Musical Life. Translated by Rose Prokofieva. New York:
Edward A Knopf, 1946.
Nestyev, Israel V. Prokofiev. Translated by Florence Jonas. Stanford, California: Stanford
University Press, 1960.
Prokofiev, Sergei. Piano Concerto No. 1. Melville, NY: Belwin Mills, 1979.
Prokofiev, Sergei. Sergei Prokofiev Diaries. Translated by Anthony Phillips. Ithaca, New York:
Cornell University Press, 2006.
Sahlman, Fred Gustav. "The Piano Concertos of Sergei Prokofiev: A Stylistic Study." PhD diss.,
University of Rochester, 1966.
Shlitstein, S., ed. S. Prokofiev: Autobiography, Article Reminiscences. Translated by Rose
Prokofieva. Moscow, 195?.
Woodstra, Chis, Gerald Brennan, and Allen Schrott, eds. All Music Guide to Classical Music:
The Definitive Guide to Classical Music. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005.