Piano Sonata No.8 in B flat major, Op.84

Prokofiev’s life-long preoccupation with the piano sonata – after the last two generations of pianist-composers had more or less abandoned it as a major form and when he was continually coming under attack from the Soviet authorities – was nothing short of heroic. Work on the Eighth began in 1939 and finished only in 1944, which no doubt explains the extreme contradictions in style that Soviet critics found so disconcerting. The Andante dolce first subject, part of the 1939 original inspiration, is a remarkable example of sustained lyricism, with at least two other melodies flowing out of the main theme. Although the second subject scarcely disturbs the atmosphere, the development section certainly does. The gentle return of the first subject , however, brings the authentic recapitulatory relief

The Andante sognando is a very simple movement, a deliberate essay in restraint. Here for once Prokofiev makes his effect by relatively conventional harmonic means, offering a main theme in D flat major and then giving it an unexpected lift into D major. The rest of the movement is classically preoccupied with bringing this main theme back to the tonic D flat, though the process is complicated by the intervention of a second theme which has its own, wayward harmonic agenda.

The last movement, though basically a rondo structure, has a dramatic shape similar to that of the first. Again it is in the middle section where the violence occurs: once the dynamic level reaches fortissimo, it is dramatically held there in crashing chords and ostinato rhythms. When the crisis finally subsides it is not to reintroduce the rondo theme but to recall the second subject of the first movement in a passage which, though not the most sensational, is the emotional climax of the work. But, as the tempo accelerates, the former exhilaration returns and is not only sustained over the whole of the recapitulation but actually intensified in the powerfully brilliant coda.       

Prokofiev’s life-long preoccupation with the piano sonata - after the last two generations of pianist-composers had more or less abandoned it as a major form - was nothing short of heroic. He had to take into consideration not only the demands of the form and the sometimes conflicting demands of his own style. There were also the unpredictable demands of a third party, the Soviet Communist Party, which disowned his allegedly “Parisian” Fifth Sonata (1923) and disapproved even of his Sixth, which was written in 1939 after the composer’s return to Russia. The Seventh and Eighth both received Stalin Prizes and, though it received no prize, the Ninth escaped censure when, in 1948, many of Prokofiev’s best works - including, ironically, the prize-winning Seventh and Eighth Sonatas - were officially condemned.

Work on the Eighth began in 1939 and finished only in 1944, which no doubt explains the extreme contradictions in style that Soviet critics found so disconcerting. The Andante dolce first subject, part of the 1939 original inspiration, is a remarkable example of sustained lyricism, with at least two other melodies flowing out of the main theme. Although the second subject scarcely disturbs the atmosphere, the development section certainly does. After the several tempo changes, the nervous transformation of the main theme, the aggressively percussive writing and the violent contrasts in dynamics in the development, the gentle return of the first subject brings the authentic recapitulatory relief.

The Andante sognando is a very simple movement, a deliberate essay in restraint. Here for once Prokofiev makes his effect by relatively conventional harmonic means, offering a main theme in D flat major and then giving it an unexpected lift into D major. The rest of the movement is classically preoccupied with bringing this main theme back to the tonic D flat, though the process is complicated by the intervention of a second theme which has its own, wayward harmonic agenda.

The last movement, though basically a rondo structure, has a dramatic shape similar to that of the first. Again it is in the middle section where the violence occurs: tempo and metre change and, once the dynamic level reaches fortissimo, it is dramatically held there in crashing chords and ostinato rhythms. When the crisis finally subsides it is not to reintroduce the rondo theme but to recall the second subject of the first movement in a passage which, though not the most sensational, is the emotional climax of the work. The transition back to the rondo is cautious. But, as the tempo accelerates, the former exhilaration returns and is not only sustained over the whole of the recapitulation but actually intensified in the powerfully brilliant coda.       

Gerald Larner©

Prokofiev’s life-long preoccupation with the piano sonata, after the last two generations of pianist-composers had more or less abandoned it as a major form, was nothing short of heroic. He had to take into consideration not only the demands of the form and the sometimes conflicting demands of his own style. There were also the unpredictable demands of a third party - the Soviet Communist Party, which disowned his so-called “Parisian” Fifth Sonata (1923) and disapproved even of his Sixth, which was written in 1939 after the composer’s return to Russia. The Seventh and Eighth both received Stalin Prizes and, though it received no prize, the Ninth escaped censure when, in 1948, many of Prokofiev’s best works – including, ironically, the prize-winning Seventh and Eighth Sonatas – were officially condemned.

Work on the Eighth began in 1939 and finished only in 1944, which no doubt explains the extreme contradictions in style which Soviet critics found so disconcerting. The first subject, part of the 1939 original inspiration, is a remarkable example of sustained lyricism, with at least two other melodies flowing out of the main theme. Although the second subject scarcely disturbs the atmosphere, the development section certainly does. After the several tempo changes, the nervous transformation of the main theme, the aggressive percussive writing, and the violent contrasts in dynamics, the gentle return of the first subject brings the authentic recapitulatory relief.

The Andante sognando is a very simple movement, a deliberate essay in restraint. Here for once Prokofiev makes his effect by relatively conventional harmonic means, offering a main theme in D flat major and then giving it an unexpected life into D major. The rest of the movement is classically preoccupied with bringing this main theme back to the tonic D flat, although the process is complicated by a second theme which appears first in F major and then slips the other way into the unlikely key of F flat major.

The last movement has a shape similar to that of the first. Again it is in the middle section where the violence occurs. Whatever its expressive function might be, its structural function is to interrupt the precipitous rondo at just the point where, conventionally, the second episode would be due to begin. Tempo and metre change and, once the dynamic level reaches fortissimo, it is dramatically held there in crashing chords and ostinato rhythms. When the crisis finally subsides it is not to reintroduce the rondo theme but to recall the second subject of the first movement in a passage which, though not the most sensational, is the emotional climax of the work. The transition back to the rondo is cautious. But, as the tempo accelerates, the former exhilaration returns and is not only sustained over the whole of the recapitulation but actually intensified in the powerfully brilliant coda.