# Prokofiev's "War Sonatas"



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I'm listening to these pieces and I notice that the famous Beethoven's 5th rhythm features in all of them. Does anybody know if this is just coincidence or a deliberate quotation device used to thematically bind these three sonatas together?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

violadude said:


> I'm listening to these pieces and I notice that the famous Beethoven's 5th rhythm features in all of them. Does anybody know if this is just coincidence or a deliberate quotation device used to thematically bind these three sonatas together?


Hah. Do you trust coincidences? Prokofieff was a very clever dude; the commissars had a hard time figuring out his motives, you shouldn't be alarmed if you can't.

I have discovered that I enjoy these sonatas more if I forget the _war_ designation and accept them as 'pure' music. Since forgetfulness is one of my skills, that procedure works well.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Interesting - I've never been aware of the Beethoven connection! The convenient timeline-derived title gives the impression of bunching them together which is ironic as the USSR wasn't at war when the first of them was written - in fact, they had just recently had their noses bloodied by Finland before browbeating the Finns into an armistice that saved them from further embarrassment. And I still haven't a clue as to how no. 7 was lumbered with the name 'Stalingrad', unless it either stemmed from the Kremlin's Culture Police for propaganda purposes or from Prokofiev himself in order to keep out of trouble. Rather than putting nos 6, 7 and 8 together (despite apparent similarities in structure) I've always preferred to consider nos. 1-4 and 5-9 as two distinct groups based on the maturity of the composer.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I recently bought a Prokofiev piano set, so I'll listen for the "connection".










According to the liner notes in this set, Prokofiev's wife Mira stated that the composer was inspired by a biography of Beethoven when composing some of these works.


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

You MUST hear Sokolov play No. 7. There is no performance like it. (On the downside, he makes mine sound terrible.)

Enjoy y'all.


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