Classical Music | Violin Music

Sergei Prokofiev

Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94 bis  Play

Nana Jashvili Violin
Vladimir Skanavi Piano

Recorded on 01/01/1979, uploaded on 07/23/2012

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

When the war engulfing the rest of the European continent came to the Soviet Union with Nazi Germany’s brutal hammer stroke in 1941, Sergei Prokofiev, along with many other artists, were evacuated away from the major cities and the Nazi’s ruthless advance. In August of that year, Prokofiev was taken to Nalchik, the capital city of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic in the North Caucasus, some nine hundred miles south of Moscow. Late, he was in Perm in the Ural Mountains. While Stalin and the Soviets were forced to focus their attention on the threat from the Nazis, they temporary relaxed the restrictions that they had placed on their artists, leaving composers such as Prokofiev to indulge their true creative impulses. Many of the works that flowed from the composer’s pen during this time may have perhaps been the expression of anti-Stalin sentiments. Yet, flying in the face of the tragedy of Stalin’s regime and a world engulfed in war, is the blithe and lyrical Second Violin Sonata.

The Second Violin Sonata, however, was not originally composed as such. In 1942, Prokofiev composed his Flute Sonata in D major. At the urging of his friend, the violinist David Oistrakh, Prokofiev arranged the sonata for violin the following year. Both share the same opus number, and while the origins as a flute sonata are still present in the work’s inherent lyricism, it is the violin transcription that has become the most popular. Oistrakh premiered the work on June 17, 1944 in Moscow. Comprising four movements, the sonata embodies a typical Romantic form. A lyrical and elegant opening sonata form is followed by a typical Prokofievian scherzo full of wit and energy. The Andante third movement opens with an arching tune for the violin, but later indulges in jazz-inspired inflections during its middle section. Lastly, the Finale provides a joyous conclusion.       Joseph DuBose