Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 is the best-known concerto by Sergei Prokofiev. It was completed in 1921 using sketches first started in 1913.
Prokofiev began work on the concerto as early as 1913 when he wrote a theme with variations which he then set aside. Although he revisited the sketches in 1916–17, he did not fully devote himself to the project until 1921 when he was spending the summer in Brittany.
Prokofiev himself played the solo part at the premiere on 16 December 1921 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frederick Stock. The work did not gain immediate popularity and had to wait until 1922 to be confirmed in the 20th century canon, after Serge Koussevitzky conducted a lavishly praised performance in Paris. The first Soviet performance was on 22 March 1925, by Samuil Feinberg, with the Orchestra of the Theatre of the Revolution under Konstantin Saradzhev.
1. Andante - Allegro
The first movement (C-major) opens with an andante clarinet solo, a long, lyrical melody that the whole orchestra eventually picks up and expands. The strings begin the allegro section with a scalar passage which seems to accelerate towards an upwards glissando climax, at which point the allegro entry of the solo piano unexpectedly breaks the lyrical mood in an exuberant, harmonically fluid burst of brilliance and rhythm, utilizing fragments of the first theme. Piano and orchestra continue in dialogue until the piano introduces the harmonic structure for the second theme with a loud, unexpected march-like climax.
The second theme, considerably more dissonant and ambiguous in tonality, is first taken by the orchestra, then expanded upon by the soloist. This leads into what is perhaps the most recognizable pianistic feat of the first movement: several lines of octaves interspersed with close tones either above or below (in a triplet rhythm), moving up and down the keyboard with the hands usually on top of one another. This is followed by a restatement of the opening clarinet theme, played loudly in the full orchestra, which transitions to a haunting variation of the theme by the solo piano. A quick, scalar passage from the movement's beginning is now taken up by the piano, in what is arguably the most difficult passage in the first movement for its challenges of fingering and phrasing.
2. Tema con variazioni
The middle movement (E-minor) is a theme and five variations and is a dazzling example of Prokofiev expressing his slightly sarcastic wit in musical terms. The central idea is stated by the orchestra in a hesitant, piquant gavotte. The first variation is a broad, slow restatement by the piano, beginning with a long trill followed by a glissando-like run up the keyboard, in florid anticipation of the solo clarinet run at the beginning of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue written later in 1924. The second variation is presented by the orchestra at a galloping pace, with the piano providing excitement with long runs up and down the keyboard. The third variation is a heavily-syncopated deconstruction of the main theme with a lumbering jazzy backbeat. 3. Allegro, ma non troppo
The third movement (C-major), which Prokofiev himself called an "argument"[citation needed] between soloist and orchestra, begins with an A-minor statement of the main theme in bassoons and pizzicato strings, interrupted by the piano's assertive entrance with a conflicting theme. Interplay between the piano and orchestra builds up steam, with a brief quickening of tempo (foreshadowing the lengthy, brilliant Coda) before arriving at a slow, lyrical secondary theme in woodwinds. The piano offers a rather sarcastic reply, and the slow theme develops, through another Rachmaninoff-esque restatement and another ethereal exploration (the soloist running up and down the keyboard softly over gently-dissonant muted woodwinds), into a united climax with piano and strings in beautiful unison, then fading into the Coda.
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2009/2/26
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2010/2/26
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2011/2/26
http://i.yimg.jp/images/auct/blogparts/Category300250White.swf?s=2&cl=4&cid=2084041489&lf=1&di=0&od=1&ti=HK8SOUNDS%2FCC&pt=1&dotyid=aucy%2Fp%2FDR53R3HaV9rsak.SeSlRxw--&sid=2219441&pid=878398084
Prokofiev began work on the concerto as early as 1913 when he wrote a theme with variations which he then set aside. Although he revisited the sketches in 1916–17, he did not fully devote himself to the project until 1921 when he was spending the summer in Brittany.
Prokofiev himself played the solo part at the premiere on 16 December 1921 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frederick Stock. The work did not gain immediate popularity and had to wait until 1922 to be confirmed in the 20th century canon, after Serge Koussevitzky conducted a lavishly praised performance in Paris. The first Soviet performance was on 22 March 1925, by Samuil Feinberg, with the Orchestra of the Theatre of the Revolution under Konstantin Saradzhev.
1. Andante - Allegro
The first movement (C-major) opens with an andante clarinet solo, a long, lyrical melody that the whole orchestra eventually picks up and expands. The strings begin the allegro section with a scalar passage which seems to accelerate towards an upwards glissando climax, at which point the allegro entry of the solo piano unexpectedly breaks the lyrical mood in an exuberant, harmonically fluid burst of brilliance and rhythm, utilizing fragments of the first theme. Piano and orchestra continue in dialogue until the piano introduces the harmonic structure for the second theme with a loud, unexpected march-like climax.
The second theme, considerably more dissonant and ambiguous in tonality, is first taken by the orchestra, then expanded upon by the soloist. This leads into what is perhaps the most recognizable pianistic feat of the first movement: several lines of octaves interspersed with close tones either above or below (in a triplet rhythm), moving up and down the keyboard with the hands usually on top of one another. This is followed by a restatement of the opening clarinet theme, played loudly in the full orchestra, which transitions to a haunting variation of the theme by the solo piano. A quick, scalar passage from the movement's beginning is now taken up by the piano, in what is arguably the most difficult passage in the first movement for its challenges of fingering and phrasing.
2. Tema con variazioni
The middle movement (E-minor) is a theme and five variations and is a dazzling example of Prokofiev expressing his slightly sarcastic wit in musical terms. The central idea is stated by the orchestra in a hesitant, piquant gavotte. The first variation is a broad, slow restatement by the piano, beginning with a long trill followed by a glissando-like run up the keyboard, in florid anticipation of the solo clarinet run at the beginning of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue written later in 1924. The second variation is presented by the orchestra at a galloping pace, with the piano providing excitement with long runs up and down the keyboard. The third variation is a heavily-syncopated deconstruction of the main theme with a lumbering jazzy backbeat. 3. Allegro, ma non troppo
The third movement (C-major), which Prokofiev himself called an "argument"[citation needed] between soloist and orchestra, begins with an A-minor statement of the main theme in bassoons and pizzicato strings, interrupted by the piano's assertive entrance with a conflicting theme. Interplay between the piano and orchestra builds up steam, with a brief quickening of tempo (foreshadowing the lengthy, brilliant Coda) before arriving at a slow, lyrical secondary theme in woodwinds. The piano offers a rather sarcastic reply, and the slow theme develops, through another Rachmaninoff-esque restatement and another ethereal exploration (the soloist running up and down the keyboard softly over gently-dissonant muted woodwinds), into a united climax with piano and strings in beautiful unison, then fading into the Coda.
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2009/2/26
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2010/2/26
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hk5studio/archive/2011/2/26
http://i.yimg.jp/images/auct/blogparts/Category300250White.swf?s=2&cl=4&cid=2084041489&lf=1&di=0&od=1&ti=HK8SOUNDS%2FCC&pt=1&dotyid=aucy%2Fp%2FDR53R3HaV9rsak.SeSlRxw--&sid=2219441&pid=878398084