Toccata (Prokofiev)

The Toccata in D minor, opus 11 is a work for piano by Sergei Prokofiev from the year 1912. She is a prime example of the modern Toccata, which has changed a lot since Bach, Schumann. The premiere took place on 10 December 1916 in St. Petersburg, the composer himself played the piano.

Style

1941, the composer in the journal " Sovetskaya Muzyka " the stylistic main lines of his work dar. First, he pursued a classic line, then the line a whole new harmony, then the motor line and finally the lyrical line. The third line, the motor, the composer often referred to as the " toccata - line ", and as the most outstanding example of this style, he looked at his Toccata op 11 Although this element was the least important for Prokofiev, as it is for many audience which poetry, classicism and also bold harmony of others are used, the most striking stylistic feature Prokofiev. Inspired style for this line he was from the Toccata Op 7 by Robert Schumann, Prokofiev, which has greatly influenced.

Music

While the shape of Bach actually had no definition, but the definition was that the Toccata was an improvised piece, are mainly the Toccatas of the 20th century, by composers such as Ravel, Kabalevsky and Khachaturian, always characterized by a pulsating rhythm. So is this piece, typical of Prokofiev, by a special rhythmic vitality. However, the piece brings more innovations. It is the first piece of music history, which contains no appreciable melody, but only of broken chords, repetitions or other melody -like fragments is.

The piece begins with a persistent repetition of the note D, where alternately the left hand plays an octave and the right hand repeats the upper note this octave. After this kind of introduction is followed by a development, with the right hand always plays single notes only a disassembled root chord, while the left hand over the right hand moving back and forth.

The piece continues in a similar style with disassembled thirds, chromatic scales and similar elements. At the end of the piece is an impressive glissando.

Discography

Many virtuoso pianists have recorded this piece. Among the myriad of shots sting especially the recording of the composer himself, the. Lazar Berman, which is characterized by an excellent dramaturgical design, and the young Martha Argerich, which offers speed and precision, out Another significant inclusion is that of Vladimir Horowitz, which is particularly stubborn, Horowitz has also omitted a portion of the score.