Birth, Learning Period, and Debut (1891–1917)

Sergei Prokofiev (Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev) was born on April 11 (April 23, New Style), 1891, in Sontsovka, southwestern Russian Empire (present-day eastern Ukraine). He was born to a wealthy father who was an agronomist and a mother of serf origin who had received musical education, and he grew up amidst vast plains and rich nature. He received his first musical instruction from his mother, and at the age of five, he attempted his first composition (his work from that time, Indian Gallop, still exists). Furthermore, inspired by operas he saw in Moscow with his parents (Gounod's Faust reportedly left a particularly strong impression), he composed the opera The Giant in 1900. Subsequently, through the introduction of Taneyev, who highly valued the young Sergei's talent, Reinhold Glière—then a young composer who would later serve as director of the Kyiv Conservatory and professor at the Moscow Conservatory, becoming one of the leading Soviet composers—visited Sontsovka in 1902–03. Glière stayed with the Prokofiev family during the summer, tutoring Sergei in basic harmony, form, instrumentation, and piano. During this educational period, Prokofiev composed a violin sonata, a piano sonata, songs, and a collection of etudes titled Little Songs. In particular, Little Songs grew from its first volume in 1902 to its fifth and final volume in 1906, encompassing 60 pieces, making it an important resource for tracing the overall picture and trajectory of Prokofiev's early creative work (regrettably, only parts of it have been published to date). Some of the pieces from this period had themes later repurposed for compositions written several years later. For example, the opening of the Violin Sonata was borrowed for Ballade for Cello and Piano, Op. 15, and the "March" (1906) from Little Songs, Vol. 6, was revised and included in Ten Pieces, Op. 12.

From 1904 to 1916, he studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in four departments: composition, piano, conducting, and organ (though he did not complete the organ course). Anatoly Lyadov taught him harmony and counterpoint, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov taught instrumentation, Jāzeps Vītols taught form, Nikolai Tcherepnin taught conducting, and Anna Esipova taught piano—all well-known professors even today, who became teachers to the young Sergei. As is common for aspiring young composers, his relationships with his teachers were not always smooth.

During this learning period, he also had encounters that would significantly influence his future life. For instance, among his fellow students who became lifelong friends were Nikolai Myaskovsky, a composer who would brilliantly make his name in Soviet music history with 27 symphonies and his compositional teaching activities, and Boris Asafyev (pen name Igor Glebov), a composer, critic, and musicologist who left a wide impact on musicology in both East and West today. In 1911, he made his debut as a performer and composer at the "Evenings of Contemporary Music," organized by music critic Karatygin and others, where he presented his own short pieces. As an emerging contemporary composer, Prokofiev left behind works in a wide variety of styles (e.g., the neoclassical Sinfonietta and Symphony No. 1 ("Classical"), Violin Concerto No. 1 with its focus on melody, and piano pieces and Piano Concerto No. 2 that pursued bold writing).

In 1913 and 1914, Prokofiev gave concerts of his own works at performances organized by Ziloti and Koussevitzky, where he met Sergei Diaghilev, the impresario known for the Ballets Russes. Subsequently, Prokofiev composed for him the ballet Ala and Lolli (rejected by Diaghilev), The Tale of the Buffoon Who Outwitted Seven Other Buffoons based on a folk tale, and attempted to compose the opera The Gambler based on Dostoevsky's novel (which remained unfinished).

Period Abroad (1918–1935)

After the revolution, Prokofiev rejected Lunacharsky's plea, "You are a revolutionary in music, and we are revolutionaries in life; we must work together," and left Russia with permission. In May 1918, he boarded the Trans-Siberian Railway, traveled through Japan to America, and continued to work actively as a pianist and composer. His diary reveals the image of a young man despairing over his changing homeland and dreaming of the so-called American Dream. "To America! Of course! Here [Translator's note: Russia] is apathy, there life is boiling. Here is slaughter and nonsense, there is cultural life. Here are disappointing concerts in Kislovodsk [Translator's note: a resort town in southwestern Russia], there are New York, Chicago. No hesitation" (from an entry in December 1917). Subsequently, he moved to Berlin in 1922 and began living in Paris the following year. During this period abroad, Prokofiev undertook many large-scale and stage works, completing Symphonies No. 2–4, Piano Concertos No. 3–5, the operas The Love for Three Oranges and The Fiery Angel, and the ballets Le Pas d'Acier, The Prodigal Son, and On the Dnieper.

In his private life, while there were fulfilling aspects such as his marriage to Carolina (Lina) Codina in 1923 and the birth of their eldest son in February of the following year, his mother, who had introduced him to music, suffered from a long illness and passed away in December 1924. These events reportedly had "no small impact" on Prokofiev.

In 1927, 1929, and 1932, he made temporary return visits to the Soviet Union for concert tours, where he was enthusiastically received by his compatriots. In 1932, he acquired Soviet citizenship, and the following year, a Soviet passport was issued. In 1935, his entire family returned permanently. From 1932, he also began receiving commissions from within the Soviet Union, leading to the composition of the film score Lieutenant Kijé and the incidental music Egyptian Nights.

After Returning to the Soviet Union (1935–1948)

Soon after returning to the Soviet Union, Prokofiev continued to compose diligently, leaving behind masterpieces in various genres that are frequently performed even today. Such works include Piano Sonatas No. 6–8, known in Japan as the "War Sonatas," Symphony No. 5, the ballet Romeo and Juliet, and Peter and the Wolf with narration. What is interesting among his post-return works are those that align with the Soviet authorities. Works such as Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (1937), commissioned by radio and based on texts by Marx, Lenin, and Stalin, and the cantata Toast! (1939), celebrating Stalin's 60th birthday, can be said to be unique to this period, as they could not have been composed previously. Furthermore, film scores, including the aforementioned Lieutenant Kijé, and incidental music were written for the first time during this period, and film scores, in particular, were written prolifically thereafter. Among these, Eisenstein's films Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1942–45) are well-known. Operas were also continuously produced, including Semyon Kotko based on Kataev's novel "I Am the Son of the Working People," The Duenna based on the work of Irish playwright Sheridan, and the monumental War and Peace based on Tolstoy's novel.

He also collaborated with renowned Soviet performers, deepening his friendships with violinist David Oistrakh, pianists Lev Oborin, Sviatoslav Richter, Genrikh Neuhaus, and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Prokofiev's works in the Soviet Union were often premiered by them. Such friendships served to enhance and maintain the reputations of both the composer and the performers. The fact that five of his six Stalin Prizes—the highest number awarded to a single musician—were concentrated in this period (1943, two in early 1946, one in late 1946, and 1947) indicates that Prokofiev established his position as a "classic" of Soviet music during this time.

However, it was also during this period that troubles in his private life arose. Regarding his marriage, Prokofiev left his wife Lina in 1941 after a disagreement. He then began living with the librettist Mira Mendelson, whom he had met and befriended in 1940, entering into a common-law marriage. Mira acted as his librettist and supported Sergei's activities both domestically and professionally. Regarding his health, he suffered from a circulatory system illness from around 1945, which would affect his creative work.

The "Zhdanov Decree," Late Years (1948–1953)

In 1948, a fierce official campaign of criticism against formalism in music erupted, triggered by the opera The Great Friendship by Vano Muradeli, a student of Prokofiev's close friend Myaskovsky. This event, known as the "Zhdanov Decree," dealt a severe blow to Prokofiev's creative activities. Prokofiev's name was among the composers labeled with "incorrect tendencies" and "anti-national formalism." In addition to his latest works, such as Symphony No. 6 and the "War Sonatas" trilogy, past works like Symphony No. 3, Symphony No. 4, Piano Sonata No. 5, and Piano Concerto No. 5 were singled out as examples of "bourgeois modernism" and deemed immoral. As a result of performers' "self-censorship," these works were effectively removed from the repertoire. Furthermore, seven works, including Piano Sonata No. 6 and Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, were officially banned from performance.

It can be said that Prokofiev's creative activity during the subsequent five years, in his late period, was devoted to exploring new expressive styles. Clear melodicism, distinctly audible tonality, and thinner instrumentation are common characteristics found in the works of this period. In particular, Symphony No. 7 and Piano Sonata No. 9 can be considered monumental works that elevated these characteristics, which might otherwise become trite, to an artistic standard.

After completing his last new works, the ballet The Stone Flower and the Symphony-Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Prokofiev died of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 5, 1953, coincidentally on the same day as Stalin. Posthumously, the achievement of The Stone Flower and Symphony No. 7 was discussed for a seventh Stalin Prize by the prize committee, but due to the abolition of the Stalin Prize, he was eventually awarded the Lenin Prize in 1957.

On His Style

Prokofiev's style, from his early to late periods, is diverse and varied, even within the same period, making it difficult to identify a single overarching characteristic. However, as a clue, we would like to refer to the five "lines" that Prokofiev himself stated existed in his style in his 1941 autobiography. These five are reportedly the "classical," "innovative," "toccata-like/motoric," "lyrical," and "scherzo-like" lines. Although it will be a bit long, let us quote his words directly here:

The first line is the classical line. This has its origins in my very early childhood, when my mother played Beethoven sonatas for me. This sometimes takes a neoclassical form (sonatas, concertos) or takes 18th-century classics (gavottes, Classical Symphony, parts of Sinfonietta) as models. The second line is the innovative line. [omission] At first, this line was a search for my own harmonic language, but later it transformed into a search for a language to express strong emotions (Sarcasms, Despair, Diabolical Suggestions, Sarcasms, Scythian Suite, some elements in the song cycle Op. 23 and The Gambler, They Are Seven, Quintet, Symphony No. 2). This line is primarily related to harmonic language, but it also involves new initiatives in melodic intonation, orchestration, and dramaturgy. The third line is the toccata-like line, or, if one must, the motoric line. This probably comes from Schumann's Toccata, which made a great impression on me at the time (seen in Etudes Op. 2, Toccata Op. 11, the scherzo of Concerto No. 2, the toccata of Concerto No. 5, the compressed repetitive figures in the recapitulation of Scythian Suite, Le Pas d'Acier, and passages in Concerto No. 3). This line is probably the least significant among them. The fourth line is the lyrical line. This line appears as a lyrical and introspective line. [omission] This line was either completely unnoticed or only noticed much later. For many years, I was considered unrelated to lyricism and was not encouraged in it, and this line developed slowly. Nevertheless, I have recently paid even more attention to lyricism.

I do not wish to limit myself to these four lines. And I would rather consider the fifth, "grotesque" line, which others strive to label me with, as a variation of the aforementioned lines. In any case, I object to the word "grotesque" itself, which has become sickeningly overused. The meaning of the French word "grotesque" is greatly distorted here. When applied to my music, I propose replacing this word with the term "scherzo-like," or, if one must, replacing it with three Russian words that give it nuance: namely, joke, laughter, and mockery. (Prokofiev: Materials and Reminiscences (2nd ed.) [Russian], 1961, pp. 148–149)

This description carries problems inherent in autobiography. That is, it is impossible to ascertain how much the "written self" differs from the "writing self," or how much the author has embellished his past self. However, in studying, interpreting, and performing Prokofiev and his works, the above words will serve as an important key and starting point.

Current State of Research

Despite being one of the great composers of the 20th century, academic research on Prokofiev cannot be said to be particularly advanced. This is due to the scattering of important materials both domestically and internationally, resulting from his relocation from Imperial Russia to Europe and America, and then to the socialist state of the Soviet Union. Consequently, biographical studies by Soviet and Russian scholars often lack information about his period abroad, and there are few comprehensive collections of his letters published. Among primary sources, his diaries written from 1907 to 1933 (published in 2002) are arguably the most important today. In this context, the commemorative collection of essays published in Russia for his 125th birth anniversary (2016) is a collection of papers that shed new light on various aspects of his life through primary sources, containing numerous new studies that offer hope for further progress in future research.