| The Russian Silver Age (1890-1917) was a period of artistic creativity during which the Modernist movement flourished, influencing literature, art and music. It was also a time of great political and cultural unrest that eventually led to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Three important composers in Russia who emerged upon the musical scene at the turn of the century were Nicholay Karlovich Medtner (1880-1951), Alexander Nikolayevich Skryabin (1872-1915) and Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953). These composers produced the most significant, as well as largest, output of piano sonatas in the Russian piano literature. It is of particular interest that they wrote in completely different styles and harmonic languages: Medtner was the traditionalist Skryabin, the mysticist and Prokofiev, the neoclassicist.A comparative study will be made of these sonatas with regard to form, use of melody, harmony, formal structure, thematic development, and rhythm and stylistic features. An assessment will be made of each composer's significant contribution to the piano sonata literature, and will serve as a basis for this comparative analysis of their contribution when put into context with the musical and historical development of their era. Ultimately, this information will be used to create a more informed approach to the performance of these sonatas.Three one-movement sonatas, composed within a thirteen-year period, have been chosen for comparison. They are representative of the compositional style and harmonic language of each composer. (1) Medtner: Sonata Reminiscenza in A Minor, Op. 38, No. 1, composed in 1920 (2) Skryabin: Sonata No. 5, Op. 53, composed in 1908 (3) Prokofiev: Sonata in A Minor Op 28a, composed in 1917, based on earlier sketches from 1907. |
