Sergei Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto, completed in the summer of 1917 amid the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, begins somewhere up in the clouds with an expansive, gradually-unfolding melody in the solo violin.
Woodwind voices awaken slowly and join the conversation. In the score, Prokofiev provides the marking, Sognando (“dreamy”). Soon, we move into a biting, quirky second theme which Prokofiev marks, narrate (“in a declamatory style).
“Play it as though you’re trying to convince someone of something” the composer told the young violinist, David Oistrakh. As the first movement unfolds, its drama becomes increasingly snarling and agitated. But then, storm clouds subside and we find ourselves back in the floating serenity of the opening theme, this time played by the flute. The final bars seem to evaporate into thin air.
Here is violinist Gil Shaham to play this music for you:
