Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas 6–8 are often referred to as “war sonatas”, since they were composed in Russia during World War II during times of great hardship. As the shortest of the three, no. 7 is entirely focused on the essentials, and is certainly Prokofiev’s most famous piano sonata. Anyone who has heard it will not forget the hasty first movement, marked “Allegro inquieto”, the cantabile theme of the second movement and the relentless pull of the machine-like, thudding finale. The Sonata appeared in print in 1943 and that same year received the Stalin Prize (second category), including prize-money of 50,000 rubles, which was welcomed with great joy in the Prokofiev household. You can also derive joy from Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata, here critically edited on the basis of all the sources, and produced using Henle’s legendary music engraving. A preface by the world’s most prominent Prokofiev researcher, Simon Morrison, rounds off the edition.
