Prokofiev composed his 'Classical' Symphony during the summer of 1917, a time when World War I was at its height and the Bolshevik Revolution was spreading across Russia.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No.1, the 'Classical', was a tribute to Haydn, suggesting how Haydn might have composed if he had lived into the 20th century.
Composition History
Brahms's F minor Quintet was preceded by a two-piano version, which itself originated from an earlier string quintet version that Brahms's friend Joachim criticized.
Composition History
Rachmaninov's Op.11 duets were written in 1894 when he was only 21, and are considered youthful works that hint at his later compositional mastery.
Composer Biography
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a highly gifted orchestrator, had a lifelong passion for Mozart, which he indulged in an orchestral suite based on Mozart's piano pieces.
Composition History
The two-piano version of Brahms's 'St Anthony' Variations (Op.56b) was composed immediately before its more famous orchestral version (Op.56a).
Historical Context
Witold Lutosławski's Variations on a Theme by Paganini was a product of hard times, written during the Nazi occupation of Poland (1939-45) when public concerts were banned.
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