Sergei Prokofiev - 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 12

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) - 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 12 (1906 - 1913)
I. March [0:00]
II. Gavotte [1:41]
III. Rigaudon [4:40]
IV. Mazurka [6:06]
V. Capriccio [7:32]
VI. Legenda [10:50]
VII. Prelude [13:37]
VIII. Allemande [15:38]
IX. Humoresque scherzo [19:22]
X. Scherzo [21:52]
Frederic Chiu, piano (1996)
Prokofiev's Op. 12 is a set of 10 short pieces for piano, written while Prokofiev was still a student at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. A typical performance lasts around 20 minutes.
"Dating from the composer's student years, these miniatures find Prokofiev in a playful mood. The opening March, with its sharp rhythm and mocking melody, looks ahead to the famous March from The Love for Three Oranges (especially harmonically, with its odd oscillation between F minor and F-sharp minor), but this is a much lighter piece. Gavotte offers early evidence of Prokofiev's Neoclassical tendencies. This is not the same Gavotte he would use in his Classical Symphony; it is more traditional (yet rather comic), a vestige of an assignment for Liadov's composition class. Rigaudon, another nod to the eighteenth century, ranges more widely than the previous movement, but lacks the fluidity and affection of the more famous Rigaudon in Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin. Similarly, the Mazurka is even more halting than its rhythmic pattern requires. It's not at all Chopinesque; Prokofiev adopts a Medieval organum procedure with two harmonic parts, each moving in parallel fourths. The Capriccio has a sharp Neoclassical melodic line, rocking Alberti bass figures, and a two-part form with a recapitulation and a long coda derived from the bass line; the piece might almost be mistaken for Poulenc.
Legend carries no specific program. It begins with a quiet, tentative passage, a brief adagio interruption, then an answer to the opening material, all of which is repeated; next comes an Andante religioso section with its own rudimentary variations, then essentially a reverse of the first section. The Prelude, sometimes encountered in a transcription for harp ("Harp" is, in fact, its subtitle), is a rapid, sparkling, heavily figurated etude. The ABA- patterned Allemande returns to the Neoclassical approach of the Gavotte, now with a comically stomping rhythm (those oafish Germans ...) and a mildly grotesque atmosphere. Humorous Scherzo, with the notation "for four bassoons," is centered toward the low end of the keyboard, with a quick yet grumbling left-hand accompaniment. The brief trio section is comparatively placid and straightforward. The set concludes with another Scherzo, this one without an adjective. It's a vivacissimo perpetuum mobile in a breathtaking flurry of sixteenth notes, beginning pianissimo and building steadily to the sff finish."
(source: AllMusic)

[@improvy]

How lovely the prelude is..!

[@ssprokofiev]

Frederic Chiu is a very fine interpreter of Prokofiev's music and these performances are excellent!

[@FredericChiu]

Thank you so much. Your comments, coming from someone with your perspective and experience, means everything!

[@occultobscurekhov4908]

@@FredericChiu I absolutely adore your interpretations; loved hearing this set. My God, that last Scherzo... so agile and delicate! Every note is also played so clearly.

[@arsmelancholiae]

This mazurka is such a fenomenal little piece, quartal harmony presented in a simple, soothing way…

[@Nemicompo]

March is my favorite!

[@written12]

So good to hear Frederick Chiu again. I had the pleasure of seeing him early in his career when he performed for several years running at the Newport Festival. I still remember his performance of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes.

[@Spark-pv9js]

Chiu is the best when it comes to early Prokofiev, the way he phrases and articulates Humoresque scherzo literally made me laugh out loud because it sounded so funny. Spot on performance!

[@quinn7894]

21:21 was funny for me

[@Spark-pv9js]

​@@quinn7894yeah the drop to main theme is just too funny

[@aidanm.1683]

Chiu is easily the best prokofiev interpreter, the bar gets set stupidly high because of him I noticed that chiu plays way more expressively and innovatively, in a very clear way compared to other pianists. Listen in the scherzo, in the 3rd appearance of the main theme, with the lower register accents, most people make the dominant rhythm those accents, but not chiu, I love it man

[@epointerwinboie]

I love chiu so much

[@mojeo522]

No one's talking about that Capriccio. It was amazing.

[@AsrielKujo]

even the allemande...

[@slateflash]

Yes i loved that! Classic Prokofiev being cheeky-anxious

[@tchaffman]

Came here for it. It was!

[@valerieheinderyckx4506]

Chiu est un excellent pianiste de même qu'un fin connaisseur de Prokofiev... Merci encore ❤.

[@steffen5121]

Prokofiev mixes romanticism and modernity just right.

[@AJAdkins99]

He was truly able to tread the line so well. In his most dissonant works he gives tastes of romantic emotion, and in his most romantic works he sprinkles in witty modernist quips

[@segmentsAndCurves]

the prelude is heartmelting

[@erliLila]

The allemande is exactly why I love Prokofiev

[@SophiaZoe]

Yes right? 😍👌🏼😆😂

[@lucpraslan]

Go Sergei! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 I hear him in every note.

[@tristangutierrezmolina]

15:38 La Alemanda es prima hermana de su 2do Concierto para piano... Bravooooo

[@radovanlorkovic3562]

Wunderbare Stücke phänomenal gespielt!

[@sedefcankocak9523]

What a lovely, captivating prelude.

[@sholemgimpel6050]

Wonderful!

[@waldemarhaupt9636]

has anybody caught the resemblance of the first theme of Capriccio with one in the Passepied from Debussy's Bergamasque Suite ? Some years ago I discovered these 10 gems, though fell in love only with 4 of them. Now I say they all are gems

[@user-fi3kk9vu4g]

21:52 21:52 21:52 21:52 21:52 21:52 작곡과 화이팅

[@rampgamercracka4258]

This recording of the Gavotte brings me beyond tears every single time. In my opinion, it's one of the best solo instrumental works of all time.

[@kofiLjunggren]

Its really really beutiful

[@user-sw5pw3cs4w]

I really love the March, but the Gavotte is great too!

[@danielsignorini5845]

Es tu elección y tu sensibilidad. A mí no me gusta Prokofiev. Nada. Ni un poquito. Pero respeto tu gusto.

[@danielsignorini5845]

@@santiagomorales9129 tengo tendencias auditivas masoquistas. Tenés razón. Ahora hablando un poco más en serio, estoy intentando que me guste, de corazón, me gusta su Toccata para piano, y quiero de algún modo descubrir qué hay en Prokofiev que me disgusta para intentar anularlo y abrirle el corazón. Es algo que me funcionó con otros compositores. Pero se nota que debo estar medio verde, o del todo, no sé. Tal vez disfrace de severidad lo que es incapacidad.

[@ulysse__]

@@danielsignorini5845 ¿Entonces donde esta?

[@JohannesBruhms]

Capriccio and Allemande are my favorite!

[@JB-iq3je]

Thank you, I love this piece!!!!

[@lylecohen1638]

Thank you so much, I've been waiting for someone to upload a score video of this for months!

[@lylecohen1638]

And Chiu is my absolute favorite performer for this!

[@Belabartok2503]

Same bro

[@therainforest4314]

Marching sodden in the rain..... Beautiful! :)

[@nnaazzaa9746]

Прекрасная работа, господин Чиу! 👏👏👏👍

[@sapphirepiano88]

Humorous Scherzo - makes me think of toads during rush hour - funny, mildly argumentative. The articulation and rubato are fantastic.

[@KaisarAnvar]

Will be performing this in November!!!❤️❤️

[@notmissunity8240]

The allemade, is by far the best. With its anxious, courteously almost madness

[@Lampey22]

I love this. I can’t believe this is his first composition

[@robertwalker2052]

Well, it's not. It's his Opus 12. But yes, he does seem born already grown up.

[@nicolevichan]

prokofiev composed this op 12 much earlier than his opus 1, because the opus indicates publication and composers sometimes publish older works long after their creation, it is known that prokofiev composed several things before this set of pieces, anyway@@robertwalker2052

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci beaucoup.

[@user-td7bi7rh3d]

Гениально

[@lucasdelliosiv7493]

The 3rd piece reminds me alot of Prokofiev's 3rd concerto's 3rd movement

[@peterzawalski4836]

Number 1 (The March) might have been the inspiration for Thelonious Monk's - Let's Cool One. The ascending quarter note progression after the key change is strikingly similar. Regardless, they are two of my favourites✌️

[@oneninetyfourXOgamez]

The Prelude Was Plesant,but the a minor part was wild

[@geoycs]

This is great!

[@PrimeCarrot]

1, 6, and 7 are for me

[@user-dg9zq7fj3q]

love no.9

[@choiyatlam2552]

The first piece oddly reminds me of Poulenc’s novelette No.2. I know they are friends so it may be one influencing the other.

[@dareen93mt98]

This gavotte, this gavotte

[@guidovernaglione5127]

I agree, wonderful!!!

[@AsrielKujo]

The allemande....

[@GUILLOM]

@@AsrielKujo YES

[@ValzainLumivix]

No

[@Xyriak]

I like the scherzo

[@RamiroBrandan]

21:52 scherzo

[@pepitillop2673]

14:20 😍

[@rravvia]

Wait, was that a sequence in the Prelude?

[@eduardorabelo5642]

As últimas peças da obra me parecem as melhores

[@raphaelneves7666]

Eduardo Rabelo Estranho... prefiro as primeiras Aliás, que raro um brasileiro aqui

[@eduardorabelo5642]

Percebi que tenho uma admiração muito grande de toda a obra artística produzida (especialmente musical) no século XX em relação à de outras épocas. A quebra dos conceitos de arte, marca do movimento moderno, me interessa muito.

[@raphaelneves7666]

@@eduardorabelo5642 Que maravilha. Partilho de seus gostos

[@conchetaful]

Fantástico

[@conchetaful]

Qué maravilla!!!

[@conchetaful]

Lástima que el estalinismo le enguñera y calificara como 'enemigo del pueblo' con sus desvaríos ataques de formalismo, uso de la cacofonia y falta de armonía, al igual que a otros compositores.

[@user-fm6dv6ou7e]

13:37

[@Cromf]

Who else is in a random quest of all piano works?

[@epicsam12345]

6 and 10

[@brians132]

What sort of piano grade level would you consider these pieces to be ?

[@artemis1747]

The last piece, the scherzo, is really hard... graduating level

[@Luca-yg5qx]

All of them are possible for an intermediate, except the Scherzo which is very, very, hard

[@sapphirepiano88]

What on earth happened at 1:26? I can’t imagine the excellent performer actually broke the beat like that. Maybe it’s the recording engineer that can’t count to two?

[@maestrotheoretically519]

huh?

[@ShutUpZewenThisIsNotBased]

What are you talking about

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

Looks like you need the technical prowess of Franz Liszt to play these pieces well.

[@rampgamercracka4258]

All of the pieces except for the scherzo are actually really easy. The prelude is way way way easier than it looks, so don't be intimidated by the piece! I wish you luck if you choose to learn them. (The scherzo is really difficult to play though)

[@bobschaaf2549]

@@rampgamercracka4258 The scherzo is the only piece that quickens my soul, but oh, the difficuties!

[@dablb]

@@rampgamercracka4258 saying "they are really easy" is complete bullshit

[@rampgamercracka4258]

@@dablb If we keep romanticizing how challenging short moderately challenging pieces are, it will only become harder for future pianists to build the motivation to attempt them. To bring the Gavotte to it's full potential takes years of experience, and memorizing and performing all of these pieces at full tempo requires several years of devotion to music, but would anyone consider learning them without the capacity for outstanding pianism? For an aspiring pianist with the world in their eyes, I'd say most of these pieces are quite easy to learn and perform

[@pipebta]

@@rampgamercracka4258❤

[@user-vv4oh5xk1w]

I feel Rachmaninoff here🥰

[@matthewbrown3420]

A bit French too?

[@matthewbrown3420]

I am thinking of Legend here I am listening to right now.

[@Uxcis]

I feel satie but more technically difficult

[@ethanhopper2467]

@@Uxcismore like Poulenc imo

[@adlfm]

IIRC, Prokofiev hated Rachmaninoff's music viscerally. On the other side, he loved Medtner.

[@cork438]

族長のTwitterからとんできた人 ↓

[@Wednesday94557]

한양대 가만안둬

[@ab_lk]

🔥🔥

[@danielsignorini5845]

Prokofiev es un compositor encantadoramente insipido, pero a veces tiene algo de sabor, entonces sabe a Rachmaninov.

[@ciararespect4296]

Just sight read these. No mean feat

[@composerjalen]

Playing them well is the mean feat

[@lukasmiller486]

You could probably make a couple mistakes with these pieces and not do them any harm because of all the dissonances.

[@ivebarraco]

on the contrary. it's very important that the dissonances are perfectly accurate. otherwise you could fall in a consonant chord and completely ruin the moment.

[@slateflash]

Why are such misconceptions still being perpetuated

[@AinSoph73]

@@slateflash people really don’t understand music very well

[@whatno5090]

The interesting thing about Prokofiev is that in many of his works he uses a lot of super crunchy melodic dissonances, but not very many crunchy harmonic dissonances beyond the standard stuff

[@AinSoph73]

@@whatno5090 Perhaps the same can be accurately said of Bach