Start Spring with Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1

Nicholas Roerich, Krishna (Spring in Kulu), 1930. Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York City. WikiArt.

It’s finally spring! The birds are chirping, flowers are coming to life, and the days are longer. The best way to celebrate this magical moment is of course with music! I have chosen the following piece for this season: the second movement (scherzo vivacissimo) of Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19.

You may think: why that? And why not Vivaldi’s “Spring”?

I’ll tell you. If you listen closely, you can imagine the world slowly coming to life. The flowers are growing, the frozen lakes are melting, and the birds are chirping. I think it’s something different and less obvious than Vivaldi’s “Spring.”The best thing about music is that everyone can hear something else. So go ahead and listen and write in the comments what you heard!

Here are a few facts about the piece and the composer:

Sergei Prokofiev was born in Ukraine in 1891, and died in Moscow on 5 March 1953, the same day as the Soviet dictator Stalin. He started composing the piece in 1915, put it aside and returned to composing it in the summer of 1917. 1917 was the year of two Russian revolutions, but interestingly enough, it was Prokofiev’s most productive year as he composed many pieces.

Here is a clip of my favourite interpretation of the piece. I chose Lisa Batiashvili’s interpretation because I love her energy and how she makes this music piece sound like a story, like spring. I love how exciting her playing is at the beginning of the piece.

Lisa Batiashvili performing the second movement of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.1 in D major, Op. 19, 19 September 2009. Vienna Musikverein, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, conductor Franz Welser-Möst

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