- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev
- Height6′ 2¾″ (1.90 m)
- Prokofiev was a multi-talented man and an innovative composer. He learned piano from his mother and chess from his father. He always had a chess set on his piano, and was able to play against the chess champions of his time. He studied music with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, graduated with highest marks from the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1914), and was rewarded with a grand piano. He emigrated from Russia after the revolution, and made successful concert tours in Europe and the U.S. In 1918 in New York he met Spanish singer Carolina Codina (Lina Llubera), they married in Paris, in 1923, and had two sons.
Prokofiev's radiant optimism and his childlike personality shines in his popular orchestral suite "Peter and the Wolf" and in the "Classical Symphony". His humorous irony and wit is popping up in piano pieces named "Sarcasms", also in his five piano concertos, ballets and film scores, all written in his instantly identifiable musical language. He wrote film scores for The Czar Wants to Sleep (1934), Alexander Nevsky (1938), Cinderella (1961), and the two-part Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944), directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
All of his music, that he created while outside of the Soviet Union, was sometimes criticized as cosmopolitan and anti-Soviet. Prokofiev divorced his wife in 1948. His ninth sonata, dedicated to Svyatoslav Richter, was welcomed warmly, but another official critic on his music and life started in 1948. He died in 1953, the same day of Joseph Stalin.- IMDb Mini Biography By: X
- SpousesMira Mendelson-Prokofieva(January 13, 1948 - March 5, 1953) (his death)Carolina Codina(September 29, 1923 - March 1941) (separated, 2 children)
- Prokofiev's music is marked by assertive rhythms, catchy melodies and ironic humor.
- Died on the same day as Joseph Stalin.
- One of the greatest and most famous composers of the twentieth century.
- His best-known works include his Symphony No. 1 (the "Classical"), the "Lt. Kije" music, and his classic musical story for children, "Peter and the Wolf".
- Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite was sampled by Greg Lake on the song "I Believe in Father Christmas", which was released as a single in the UK in 1975 and reached number two on the chart. Music from the same suite was also used by Sting on his 1985 UK number 12 hit "Russians", for which Prokofiev also receives a writing credit.
- Besides his native Russian Prokofiev spoke fluent French, good English, some German and a little Spanish (courtesy of his first wife).
- I care nothing for politics - I'm a composer first and last. Any government that lets me write my music in peace, publishes everything I compose before the ink is dry, and performs every note that comes from my pen is all right with me.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content