Prokofiev: Sonata No.6 in A Major, (Chiu, Lugansky)

The most epic and varied of all the War Sonatas. Prokofiev’s typical inventiveness is present here, along with his favourite textures (bells! toccatas!), but here they are allied with a Beethovenian ambition and mastery of structure. The first movement is stuffed full of ingenious ideas, from the grinding march that opens it, to a displaced chromatic line and a faux-naïve white-key melody. But it’s not the wealth of ideas that astonishes as much as the way in which these ideas are manipulated. Themes will shed one character for another, a tiny idea will grow into a motif of staggering force (see (D) in the structural analysis below, for instance), and in a very Prokofiev-ian way the structure *itself* has expressive function – the return of material invariably serves a narrative or dramatic purpose (4:17 and 6:31 are perfect examples of this). The second movement is a jaunty scherzo, richly spiced with playful harmonies. The third movement is a lush waltz whose theme keeps appearing in different