SERGEI PROKOFIEV

Russian composer and

pianist Sergei Prokofiev
was born in 1891 in
Sontsovka, a small village in
Ukraine. Early on, it was
clear that he had musical
talent. His mother taught him
to play the piano and Sergei
began composing at the age
of five. His first composition,
Indian Gallop, was written
down by his mother, since
he didn’t know notation yet!
When he was thirteen, he and his mother moved to St. Petersburg, so that he
could study at the prestigious music college there: the St. Petersburg
Conservatory. This was the musical center of Russia, where all the “Greats”
studied!

Prokofiev studied with many musical masters, including the very famous Nikolai
Rimsy-Korsakov. After he graduated from school, he traveled around Europe to
learn more about music. When the Russian Revolution broke out, Prokofiev
made the hard choice to leave his home country in 1918 and go to America.
However, American audiences weren’t quite ready for his brave new style, so he
eventually moved to Paris, where he found great musical success. In 1936, he
moved back to Moscow, Russia, where he lived and worked until his death on
March 5th, 1953. He was 61 years old.

Prokofiev was best known for his strange new harmonies, unusual rhythms, and
bold dynamics. One of his most famous works was the ballet Romeo and Juliet,
based on Shakespeare’s iconic play. Prokofiev was also a master at using music
to tell a story. One of his most famous musical stories is Peter and the Wolf,
which was written for Russia's Central Children's Theatre. You may have seen it
performed in school, or on the concert stage.
Prokofiev was a brilliant pianist, but wrote most
frequently for the orchestra. In addition to
orchestral symphonic music, Prokofiev also
wrote ballets and operas, and was one of the
first composers to ever write music for films!
One of his most famous films was “Lieutenant
Kijé.”

Interestingly, the day he died was the same day

the country’s government announced the news
that their dictator, Stalin, had died. There were
such intense crowds of people gathered to mourn Stalin that for three days they
were unable to carry Prokofiev’s body out of his home for burial.

The Story of Lt. Kije

Lt. Kijé is the story of an imaginary soldier, created

when the Russian Tsar misread a smudged name on a
list of his men.

Everyone around the Tsar was too afraid to tell him

there was no such person, so they just invented an
entire life for the nonexistent Kijé. He gets married and
becomes a hero - all on paper. When the Tsar finally
demands to meet Kijé, the military has no choice…

They make up a fantastical, wild story about his heroic

death and hold his funeral.