Piano Sonata No. 9 (Prokofiev)

Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 9 in C major, his Opus 103, was composed in 1947 and dedicated to Sviatoslav Richter, a member of the Union of Soviet Composers,[1] who gave its first performance on 21 April 1951 in Moscow.[2]

Structure

Prokofiev famously warned Richter not to expect a showy work, and indeed the Ninth Sonata — effectively his last — has been described as introspective and contemplative. In fact it is a mostly quiet, somewhat ambling masterpiece in four movements lasting 21–26 minutes, with Barbara Nissman and Vladimir Ovchinnikov defining in their recordings the limits of that range. (Richter in 1956 and 1958, Nikolai Petrov, Matti Raekallio, Yefim Bronfman, Freddy Kempf and Alexander Melnikov, besides Nissman and Ovchinnikov, have all left notable recordings; Richter's two are ironically less persuasive than his breathtaking work on other parts of the Prokofiev canon.) The first and second movements both end with pinpoint resolution on their last notes. The second movement provides explosive contrast after the relaxed first. The gently lyrical third is punctuated by two outbursts; the (again tranquil) fourth movement opens, proceeds, and concludes having pliancy as its apparent mantra. But the sonata's structure has cyclical support: the first three movements each end with the opening idea of the next, and the fourth loops back to the first by quoting its theme. Movement markings are:

  1. Allegretto
  2. Allegro strepitoso
  3. Andante tranquillo
  4. Allegro con brio, ma non troppo presto

References
  1. Sorensen, Sugi (2005). "The Prokofiev Page - Piano Sonata No 9 in C major, Op 103". Allegro Media. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  2. "Sviatoslav Richter Chronology". Retrieved 14 July 2017.
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