Speaking in Two Voices: Irony and Lyricism in early Prokofiev

Abstract

While the importance of irony as a primary analytical tool for investigating those early works by Prokofiev that tend towards the sphere of the public (for example, his operas 'Love for Three Oranges' and 'The Gambler') or even For some of his solo piano works (such as the Sarcasms, Op. 17) remains beyond dispute, another category 'lyricism' is more appropriate For discussing his solo vocal music. As a concept that in many respects opposes and excludes irony, lyricism in the solo songs of Prokofiev nevertheless finds a way to coexist with ironic gestures. The interplay and interdependence of irony and lyricism provides an especially rich ground for interpretation in Prokofiev's settings of texts by Konstantin Bal'mont. In works such as 'There Are Other Planets', Op. 9 no. 1, and the Five Songs, Op. 36, lyricism occupies a central place, pushing irony almost to the very periphery of conceptual relevance for this music. These and other lyric works are not anomalies for early Prokofiev. Rather, they are successful realisations of a strand that was already a part of his aesthetic outlook at the time of their composition and that would become more prevalent as he chose to pursue it more emphatically in his later works.