Sergey Prokofiev
Three Pieces
Op. 96

About Sergey Prokofiev's Three Pieces

The Three Pieces Op. 96 were composed in 1941-1942 and are all arrangements of existing works: the Waltz is from the opera War and Peace, Op. 91, and the Contredanse and Mephisto Waltz are from Prokofiev’s score for the film Lermontov (1941).

The Waltz blends the playful and elegant with the mysterious and brooding with effortless grace, while the Contredanse is trademark Prokofiev with its manic wittiness and biting rhythm. The Mephisto Waltz scurries along the keyboard in its outer sections, giving way for a seductively atmospheric middle section, before seemingly almost spinning out of control in the final incarnation of the opening material.