# Your Favourite Prokofiev War Sonata?



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

His Piano Sonatas 6 through 8, I love all 3. The 6th is the one that has me most on my knees. The 7th is supremely catchy stuff, but not pop or Classical lollipops type of catchy. The 8th is probably the moodiest. Great music doesn't have to contain easily discernable emotion. Sometimes you just have to admire the flat-out brilliance of a piece of music. In fact, that may be where we put aside our emotional biases to admire a piece of music objectively?


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

They are all good but I like 8 the best. 6 and 7 are initially more attention grabbing, but 8 has this moody more mysterious introverted style that I like. It is more beautiful to my ears and doesn't reveal all of its secrets so easily.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

tdc said:


> They are all good but I like 8 the best. 6 and 7 are initially more attention grabbing, but 8 has this moody more mysterious introverted style that I like. It is more beautiful to my ears and doesn't reveal all of its secrets so easily.


I agree completely. One can lost in 8, especially the first movement. I love that incantation of a thrice repeated note and drop of a minor 9th - like an evil spell in a fairy tale - which comes back in the middle of the finale.


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## les24preludes (May 1, 2018)

Like them all in different ways. But don't let the focus on the three war sonatas lead us to overlook #9, which has always been a favourite.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

8, although 6 is close. I've been getting to know them better as I'm seeing Steven Osborne play these two in recital in a few days (along with some Debussy). Fantastic music.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

All three are classics and very different in mood. How can I choose between them? 7 is not getting chosen here but it is a fine work if perhaps not as "deep" or serious as 6 and 8 are in their (different ways). I do have a soft spot for 8 but it is not a preference.


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

No. Eight forever!


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## Iota (Jun 20, 2018)

EdwardBast said:


> One can lost in 8, especially the first movement. I love that incantation of a thrice repeated note and drop of a minor 9th - like an evil spell in a fairy tale - which comes back in the middle of the finale.


Ha, great description! It's exactly that moment which first drew me into that sonata, indeed spellbound, impossible to forget once heard. Plus maybe the irresistible bubbling passages in the last movt (if that description makes any sense).

It's a shame that the Seventh seems to have become a bit of a poster boy for the sonatas, as over exposure sometimes seems to taint a work, but although I hardly ever listen to it now (also over exposure to the Horowitz recording when I was younger!) I love its neurotic intensity and think the unstoppable and thrilling last movement is a fantastic achievement, worthy of the all the attention it gets.

According to mood my favourite would be either 7 or 8.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I like the 7th in particular, though the specific recording also means a lot for the appreciation of these works.


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## Madiel (Apr 25, 2018)

last night, when I have seen for the first time this new thread about Prokofiev, I have started listening - in a loop featuring the many recordings I own - to these three works that I love so much, circa 24 hours later I cannot say which one is my favorite, 7&6 are obviously flashier than the 8, but the eight is magnificent in a different way, I don't want to say ¨deeper¨ since that would imply some degree of shallowness in the other two, maybe multifaceted is the right word, 7&6 are powerful in a clear, distinct and unequivocal way, the 8 is more like like a prism.


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