Sergei Prokofiev – Pianodao

Peter and the Wolf

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Here’s a delight! Peter and the Wolf is one of a number of books that make up a colourful series from Schott Music, called ‘Get to Know Classical Masterpieces‘.

Featuring the whole of Prokofiev’s masterpiece of musical storytelling in a “simple arrangement for piano”, the book is the work of the ever-industrious Hans-Günter Heumann. The full story is presented in an English translation by Julia Rushworth, and with superb colour illustrations throughout by Brigitte Smith.

The book can comfortably be recommended, but the review that follows will assess the difficulty level of the piano writing and consider, as usual, who this publication is particularly suitable for. Read on for more details, and a list of other titles in the series…

Prokofiev • Musiques d’enfants

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Over the last three decades, few music collections have been used in my teaching as regularly and consistently as Prokofiev’s Musiques d’enfants. The simple joy of these twelve intermediate level pieces (UK Grades 3-5) is that they so brilliantly combine genuine creative invention, immediacy of appeal, and immense pedagogic value.

Until now, the go-to edition has been the “Authentic Edition” from Boosey & Hawkes, who owned the distribution rights. Theirs is an attractively presented, reliable, and perfectly usable version, but not entirely without issues. Aside from a couple of tricky passages for which the composer added fingering, none is provided; nor are English translations for the French titles. The introduction and composer biography by Peter Donohoe are neither child-friendly, nor pedagogically insightful for teachers.

With Prokofiev’s music now out of copyright, others are quickly bringing editions to market. Edition Peters have reissued their own earlier version, which in common with the Boosey & Hawkes edition is accurate but rather basic, albeit English titles are added, and their edition benefits from being printed on cream paper.

Now a brand new edition has appeared in the Schott Student Edition series, edited and featuring superb fingering suggestions throughout by the ever-impressive Monika Twelsiek. With English and German translations for the piece titles, a useful Preface, and detailed Teaching Notes for each of the twelve pieces, I think that this is now the edition to go for…

Prokofiev • Visions fugitives

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is unquestionably among the great composers of the solo piano repertoire, as well as one of the most important innovators. As Maurice Hinson and Wesley Roberts assert (in their Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire, fourth edition, 2014):

“Prokofiev developed an individual, percussive style, which was probably the most signifiant innovation in piano technique since Chopin. His percussive manner is uniquely blended with a lyric element frequently accompanied by strong dissonance, yet his basic arsenal of figuration stems directly from the nineteenth century. Influences of Russian folk song are evident in his melodies and energetic rhythms.”

To this impressive list of qualities, I think we must also add Prokofiev’s contrapuntal genius, clarity of musical texture, profound affinity with the instrument, biting wit, and of course remember that he composed some of the twentieth century’s most remarkably memorable and widely recognised melodies.

With the relaxing of copyright restrictions, we can happily anticipate that the available catalogue of Prokofiev piano music in print will rapidly grow in the coming months, raising the quality and increasing the choice of editions, as well as improving access to the composer’s less well-known pieces.

Dominated by the nine Sonatas, this astonishing body of work also includes more than 100 smaller pieces, as well as the composer’s transcriptions of his famous orchestral works. Edition Peters have been quick to reissue legacy editions, but perhaps more significantly, Henle have begun to bring out brand new scholarly urtext editions of the most significant pieces, so far including the Seventh Sonata and the virtuosic Toccata Op.11.

Among these releases, Henle’s new edition of the seminal masterpiece Visions Fugitives Op.22 is the subject of this review…