Today's post features the new label "Russian Resonance" which focuses on the strengths of Russian music, and it starts with today's symphony by Sergei Prokofiev.

Even in the absence almost 108 years after his death, Josephy Haydn still had tremendous impact on Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev. Considered by many to be the first neo-classical inspired composition, Prokofiev's Symphony No.1 in D Major, Op.25," shows great tribute to the Symphony of Haydn, with of course a blend of niches provided by Prokofiev himself.

1. Allegro


The work was completed in September of 1917 with the premiere coming on April 21, 1918 in the Russian coastal city of Petrograd. Prokofiev himself led the Orchestra that evening to a great reception and the piece since has grown to be one of the composer's most beloved works, and the most adored of the five symphonies he wrote. The work is often considered the first work that brought back renewed interest in classical music to the wide public, making ground for the neo-classical movement that moved into music following World War I.

2. Larghetto


Music had spiraled into an overwrought emotional vehicle, the spawning legacy of 19th Century Romanticism. The response by composers of the early 20th century was to return music to that of the balanced form it was back in the high classical era, including capping the limits as to what it could aspire to emotionally. The first symphony is modeled after Haydn and whilst being "classical" in its origins, the work is still uniquely twentieth-century.

3. Gavotta. Non Troppo Allegro


The music is short. The symphony is approximately 15-20 minutes long in length and could be even seen as a reference back to the early pre-classical form of the symphony. The symphony is scored as it was back in the days of Haydn, two of each woodwind, two trumpets and horns, timpani and strings.

The symphony follows strict classical form, save the third movement, with the opening allegro and finishing with a fast movement, surrounding an endearing second movement demonstrating Prokofiev's great excitement and ability in lyricism.

4. Finale. Molto vivace


The opening stroke of the first movement pays homage to the days of the Mannheim school in Germany, but then clearly becomes Prokofiev on his own with deeper harmonies and a mix in the classical sonorities. Prokofiev at his most creative and endearing in the second movement, with a fine opening melody supplemented by an even more serene middle section before the two combine to close out the movement. A short humorous gavotte is the subject of the third movement, which in contrast is merely a blink at just under two minutes long. The pacing for the finale is immediate and the strength falls in the opening strings before taken over by the flute, one can hardly keep a straight face in the most popular movement of the symphony. The symphony ends as it begun, triumphantly and in classical tradition of the final movement being the most important musically.

Performance was of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan in one of the last great concerts he would ever conduct in 1988. His death came a year later.