Sergei Prokofiev is considered by some to be one of the greatest musical minds of the twentieth century, possessing a genius akin to that of Mozart. His skill in nearly every genre of composition certainly goes far to support this assertion. Born in Russia in 1891, he left his native land in 1918 in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, living in both the United States and Europe until 1936, when he resettled permanently in his homeland. While abroad, his music was not immediately so well received as he had hoped, and derogatory terms and names such as barbaric, and enfant terrible were assigned to him and his works. It was not until his return to the Soviet Union that his style began to mellow, both as a result of the strictures of the government and his intentional choice of simplification, and his music began to become more accessible.

In an interview with Olin Downes in the New York Times in 1941, Prokofiev said the following:

�I strive for a greater simplicity and more melody. Of course I have used dissonance in my time, but there has been too much dissonance. Bach used dissonance as good salt for his music. Others applied pepper, seasoned the dishes more and more highly, till all healthy appetites were sick and until the music was nothing but pepper. I think society has had enough of that. We want a simpler and more melodic style, and dissonance once again relegated to its proper place as one element in music, contingent principally upon the meeting of the melodic lines...What people usually accept as a melody is that musical phrase which above all is not new as to intervals, rhythm, or style. Thus Puccini is a composer considered especially melodic - that is, his themes fall into the category of intervals and chords to which the human ear has long been accustomed, and which it is in the habit of accepting but it is obvious that with the passage of years the recipe for melody changes...�

The Sonata in f minor was composed between 1938-1946. It was first performed at Carnegie Hall on February 17, 1948 with Joseph Szigeti, violin and Joseph Levine, piano.

The style of the sonata follows a continual simplification of his compositional style that came in response to the Russian mandate that music must serve the state by educating and elevating the proletariat, while being accessible to the masses. As a result, his style became more direct and simple, more lyrical and predictable.

The sonata marks his return to the composition of chamber music after many years of large symphonic works and operas. The sonata took him nearly 8 years to complete. Writing to Nikolai Miaskovski in 1943, Prokofiev said, �I began my sonata a long time ago already, but cannot seem to figure how to continue � it�s hard!�

The work is dark and often tragic at times, filled with haunting melodies and rich and strident harmonies. David Oistrakh, who heard the composer play through the work on the piano, stated, �Nothing written for the violin in many decades � anywhere in the world � could equal this piece in beauty and depth.�