Sergei Prokofiev
said
In my view, the composer, just as the poet, the sculptor or the painter, is in duty bound to serve Man, the people. He must beautify human life and defend it.
— Page 136; from his "Music and Life" (1951).
Sergei Prokofiev
Russian and Soviet pianist, composer and conductor (1891–1953)
- Fame68.8
- Momentum15.0
- Musicians rank#180
Source-basedStable
- Fame68.8
- Momentum15.0
- Musicians rank#180
- Wikipedia64.1K
Lived 1891–1953, aged 62
MusiciansSinger / Musician
Summary
Updated 2026-06-08
He wrote the mocking march from The Love for Three Oranges, the children's fable Peter and the Wolf, and the brooding "Dance of the Knights" from Romeo and Juliet — pieces that outlasted the Soviet state that both censured and claimed him.
Biography
About
Prokofiev graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and made his early name as an iconoclast, writing ferociously dissonant piano works that scandalized audiences. After the 1917 Revolution he left Russia with official approval and spent nearly two decades in the United States, Germany, and Paris, married Spanish singer Lina Codina, and worked for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The Great Depression dried up Western commissions; in 1936 he returned to the Soviet Union, where he composed Lieutenant Kijé, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Alexander Nevsky, and his late piano sonatas. The Nazi inv…
Voice
In their own words
Sourced, dated quotes from Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
said
The time is past when music was written for a handful of aesthetes. Today vast crowds of people have come face to face with serious music and are waiting with eager impatience.
— Page 106; from a notebook entry (1937).
Sergei Prokofiev
said
This is my best work, but only because The Flaming Angel is my greatest.
— He made a rare admission to a visiting musicologist when he was conducting his Third Symphony in Rome in 1934.
Sergei Prokofiev
said
Formalism is music that people don’t understand at first hearing.
— Quoted in Boris Schwarz Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia, 1917-1970 (1972) p. 115.
Sergei Prokofiev
saidundated
My chief virtue (or if you like, defect) has been a tireless lifelong search for an original, individual musical idiom. I detest imitation, I detest hackneyed devices.
— Page 7.
Gallery
Photos
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Press play
Listen & Watch
Spotify
Deep cuts
Albums
Low confidence
- Romeo & Juliet1987
- Alexander Nevsky / Lieutenant Kije1987
- Bizet: Symphony in C / Prokofiev: "Classical" Symphony / Stravinsky: Pulcinella1987
- Ballet - Le pas D'acier, op. 41 / Ballet - On the Dnieper, op.511987
- Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 and 21986
- Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto no. 1 / Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no. 31986
- Alexander Nevsky / Lieutenant Kijé1986
- Romeo and Juliet Suite no. 2, op. 64 / Dreams, op. 6 / Pushkiniana1986
- Prokofiev: Pierino ed il lupo / Saint-Saëns: Il carnevale degli animali1986
Where to find them
Platforms
By the numbers
Score breakdown
The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Stable68.8
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum15.0
Historical26.3
Now attention9.5
Source confidence75.0
Completeness75.0
Receipts
Sources
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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