Yikes, I've been busy! I came of retirement to help a school as a long-term sub in a middle school English class (one teacher left on medical leave, and I am filling in until the new teacher starts), plus my wife and I travelled over the weekend. Sooo....needless to say, I'm behind with things! LOL. I did listen to the Prokofiev work once last week, but I plan to listen to it a couple more times, and then I'll post my comments and rating later this week! Sorry for the delay. Stay tuned! As you know from the note above, I’ve been a bit busy! I started this site a little over two years ago when I retired (I’d been a middle school principal) but last winter I started helping local schools by becoming a substitute teacher.
This past January, I agreed to help out a friend who is the principal at a local middle school, and I took on a temporary position as a long-term substitute in a middle school English/Language Arts classroom. As a result, I fell behind with various sideline interests – including this site – but I’m finally getting caught up! I’ve now listened to the Prokofiev concerto several times, and I did very much enjoy it – though I’ll admit, when it comes to piano concertos for the left hand, I do prefer the one by Ravel (more on that below). I’d always heard of the Ravel concerto, but never listened to it until just a couple of weeks ago. I posted my comments and rating HERE. Shortly after that, I heard a snippet of a Prokofiev piano concerto on my car radio, and I liked what I heard – so I decided to listen to a Prokofiev work that week, but I wasn’t sure which concerto it was I’d heard. I searched “Prokofiev piano concerto” on YouTube and discovered that there were five of them, and decided on the 4th at this point because it too – like the Ravel – was for the left hand. LOL – I had no idea there were other concertos for the left hand beyond the Ravel work. Ravel’s was the only one I’d heard of. Concerning Prokofiev’s series of piano concertos, I found this: “Prokofiev’s five piano concertos were composed between 1911 and 1932. As a Russian expatriate and “novelty act” for most of that period, he was automatically placed in competition with two countrymen, Stravinsky the scandalous provocateur and Rachmaninoff the late-great-Romantic piano wizard. Sergei P. struggled to balance virtuoso display with authentic personal expression, while facing a constant demand—from critics, from audiences, from his own notion of genius—for something genuinely new.” The complete article is HERE. Also, from an article on the fourth concerto on Wikipedia, I found this: “Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-flat major for the left hand, Op. 53, was commissioned by the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein and completed in 1931. It was the only one of Prokofiev's complete piano concertos that never saw a performance during his lifetime.” The concerto is comprised of four movements:
The piano takes off right at the start of this concerto, and the tone is somewhat happy-go-lucky if not mischievous, like the pianist might have something up his sleeve. Later the movement becomes a bit frolicsome, though two minutes into the work, some rather serious tension builds up and down the keyboard – both figuratively and literally. Some of the latter part of the movement is reminiscent of the second half of Raymond Scott’s work “Power House” (former Saturday morning cartoon watchers of a certain age know this as the “assembly line music” from Bugs Bunny cartoons). In complete contrast to the opening movement, the second movement is quite somber – almost elegiac. It is tender at times, but more passionate – almost angry – at others. The serious tone continues in the third movement, set with some moderately dissonant chords in the brass and strings. The piano then enters with a haunting theme in its very low bass range. Soon the energy picks up – almost march like with a pizzicato pulse in the strings – and the tone becomes somewhat menacing, to the point that the work would make a good soundtrack for a classic film noir movie. The tempo changes here and there, and though the intimidatory tone continues throughout much of the movement, there are hints of the frolicsome first movement. The piece concludes with a short vivace movement which definitely evokes the antics of the sprightly first movement. I did enjoy this concerto, but of the two works for the left hand – the Prokofiev and the Ravel – I definitely prefer the one by Ravel. The main difference between the two is that this one, by Prokofiev, sounds like a work for one hand, while the Ravel piece is astounding in its sound like a work for two hands. The Prokofiev, though, is worth a listen!
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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