outhful Young People's Concert - Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev
What you’ll hear at the concert:
Love for Three Oranges Suite, III. March
Born in Sontsovka, Ukraine
(1891-1953)
Sergei Prokofiev started composing by the age of five. Because he didn’t know how to write
properly at that young age, his mother helped him write out his first piano
piece called “Indian Gallop.” She was the one who first taught him how to
play the piano and encouraged his musical talents throughout his
childhood. The rest of his family also supported his love for music as a
child, and he enjoyed playing his piano for them. He even wrote an opera
for his family to perform... at the age of nine! It was called “The Giant.”
An opera is like a play set to music. The actors sing their lines, and songs
are sung throughout.
At 13, Prokofiev became the youngest student to be accepted at
the St. Petersburg Conservatory- the greatest music conservatory
(a school especially for the study of music) in Russia. He had a habit of
being very self confident, frustrating and shocking his teachers with his
music so much that he earned the title “Enfant Terrible.” Prokofiev
actually liked this title, though. At 17, he gave his public debut as a solo pianist - playing his own
compositions - which were a hit. Everyone didn’t always like his compositions immediately, though,
and he received harsh opinions from music critics when he toured. However, this didn’t stop him from
setting his sights on the biggest prize he could win at his school, the Anton Rubinstein Prize- awarded
to the best student pianist. After 10 terms at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, at the age of 22, he finally
won the Rubinstein Prize... playing his own piece!
Other Facts:
- Prokofiev loved the game of chess, teaching himself the rules by the time he was 7 years old.
- The March from the opera The Love for Three Oranges is about a prince who a witch has cursed
to fall in love with... three oranges! He goes on a journey and finds them- one of which is a princess
whom he asks to marry him. Right before the wedding, the witch kidnaps the princess and turns her into
a rat! Meanwhile, the witch substitutes her evil henchwoman as the bride. For a while, it looks like
nothing goes well for the prince, but the good guys eventually win in this story. The witch’s rat spell on
the princess is discovered and reversed, and the prince gets to marry his princess.
Note This!
You will learn about orchestration at the concert. Orchestration means choosing who plays, which
instruments are played together and at what times.
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