Music for Children, Op. 65 (LHS)

                “Unfortunately for harpists who enjoy performing the music of Prokofiev, there is very little music from which to choose.  Only two or possibly three original works exist; The wonderful Prelude in C  written for his friend and fellow conservatoire student, Eleonora Damskaya and published as op. 12 no. 7; the Piece for Harp, also written for Eleonora; and possibly the Visions fugitive No. 7 of op. 22, subtitled “Arpa”.  However, it would appear that Prokofiev wrote the Visions fugitive No. 7 originally for the piano and intended it to “imitate” the harp.

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (1891-1953) composed the Music for Children op. 65 during the summer of 1935 in the town of Polenovo in central Russia.  Concurrently, he composed the ballet Romeo and Juliet.  As a consequence, the two works bare similar musical features.  Prokofiev evidently thought highly enough of these works to orchestrate seven of them into the suite Summer Day op. 65-bis.  The title Music for Children should not discourage adults from performing this work.  These pieces contain many technical challenges and are excellent examples of Prokofiev’s compositional style.

It is my sincere hope that other harpists will enjoy performing these beautiful little masterpieces by one of the greatest composers of the Twentieth Century.”  Bob D. Litterell

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