Background
Prokofiev arrived in New York in September, 1918. Overall, his years in America were not as successful as he had hoped:
"The public here is not used to listening to the works of a single composer for a whole evening. People want a varied programme as a showcase for popular pieces. Rachmaninoff has accepted this compromise. I could not even dream of the overwhelming success he has with his concerts."
Nevertheless, he did manage regular appearances in American concert halls. Though Rachmaninoff was the leading Russian pianist in America at the time (having introduced himself in 1909–1910), Prokofiev gave many concerts that season of his own works and emphasized his image as a pianist.
Early in 1919, he was commissioned by a Jewish ensemble, Zimro, which had emigrated from the Soviet Union. (The members played the instruments in this work's instrumentation.) They gave Prokofiev a notebook of Jewish folksongs, and Prokofiev completed the composition very quickly. It received its premiere in New York in 1920, with Prokofiev at the piano. This piece was later orchestrated in 1934 as Op. 34a, although the orchestrated version is performed far less often.
Read more about this topic: Overture On Hebrew Themes
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)