Prokofiev's "Five Melodies" were originally textless vocal pieces for a singer and piano, composed in 1920 during a concert tour in California.
Composition History
Prokofiev's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano was developed over eight turbulent years, with initial themes noted in 1938 and its premiere in 1946.
Performer Biography
Kolja Blacher, the violinist on this album, plays the "Tritton" Stradivari violin from 1730, on loan from Ms. Kimiko Powers.
Compositional Technique
Prokofiev described a passage in the first movement of his Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, marked "freddo" (cold), as "like a wind that blows through a churchyard."
Composition History
Alfred Schnittke's String Trio was commissioned by the Alban Berg Foundation in Vienna in 1985 to commemorate the 100th birthday of Alban Berg.
Composer Biography
Prokofiev returned to the USSR in 1936, explaining his decision as "due to home-sickness," despite the ongoing Stalinist purges.
Composition History
The violin version of Prokofiev's "Five Melodies" was a joint effort with violinist Paul Kochansky, who suggested the adaptation in 1925 in Paris.
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