Schumann & Prokofiev: Piano Works

Featuring

Nenad Lečić
Robert Schumann
Sergei Prokofiev

Did you know?

1/7

Notable Performances

Sviatoslav Richter premiered Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7 in Moscow on January 18, 1943, learning the challenging three movements in just a few days under difficult conditions.

Composition History

Robert Schumann composed his Fantasie Op. 17 during a period of despair and heartache, specifically due to Friedrich Wieck forbidding contact between Schumann and his daughter Clara Wieck.

Compositional Technique

Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7 features a central movement, 'Andante caloroso', that borrows a melody from Robert Schumann's 'Liederkreis' Op. 39, specifically from the poem 'Wehmut' by Joseph von Eichendorff.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Robert Schumann, inspired by writers like Jean Paul and E. T. A. Hoffmann, integrated literary aesthetics into his music, viewing music as an expression of the soul's states.

Composition History

Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7, subtitled 'Stalingrad', was composed during World War II while he was in Russia, forming a triptych with his Sixth and Eighth Sonatas known as the 'War Sonatas'.

Composer Biography

Sergei Prokofiev, also interested in literature, wrote quirky, fairytale-like stories as a young man, which were published in magazines to provide a second income alongside his music.

Composer Biography

Robert Schumann, originally a law student, abandoned his studies in Heidelberg in 1830 to pursue music, returning to Leipzig to study with his piano teacher Friedrich Wieck.