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Despite being commented by one of his teachers as “talented but immature“, and graduating composition class in St. Petersburg Conservatory with a passing grade, this never stopped the then-18-year-old Sergei Prokofiev to pursue his studies, and eventually establish his reputation as a pianist and composer who has figured out his own individual style, even outside the Conservatory. While his Piano Sonata Op. 1 in F minor of 1909 displays his lyrical post-romanticism with the help of influence from his own favorite composers, this next opus, his Four Etudes, composed the same year as the previous, show perhaps the other side of his coin -- brutal, futuristic, mechanical, and definitely never for the faint of heart. The Op. 2 set was dedicated to his teacher, composer Alexander Winkler, who by the way was not the teacher who made the mixed comment earlier on (spoiler alert: it was actually Rimsky-Korsakov). Alongside the Op. 1, Prokofiev performed the etudes in concert a year later. No. 1 in D minor is indeed very unforgiving, judging by the score, as it demands the chords to be played as if effortlessly up and down the keyboard. The C major middle section offers a temporary calm before going back to the storm, concluding the entirety in D minor chords hammering at the low register. No. 2 in E minor, much mellower than the rest of the set, is a juggling act, if you will. One hand plays an 18/16 wave of demisemiquavers, the other plays the 4/4 bassline, the melody being passed on by both hands. No. 3 in C minor starts out in a macabre mood in Andante. However, this is just a smokescreen, as the piece slowly but surely spirals out of control, the performer having to play out the thirds and sixths that snake throughout the score. Holding out the inner melody that needs to be shared by both hands is an additional challenge here. Surprisingly, Prokofiev skipped this etude back in his 1910 concert. No. 4 in C minor is definitely a tour de force, one hand supplying the very sarcastic melody, and the other hand playing ostinatos -- at one point, one section of that resembles a boogie rhythm -- in Presto. For a fitting finale of the entire set, the end of the piece is marked in broken octaves up across the piano. Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Change the quality to a minimum of 480p if the video is blurry. Original audio: I forgot where exactly, sorry... (Performance by: Frederic Chiu) Original sheet music: 4_Etudes,(Prokofiev,_Sergey)
