Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1, “Classical“ — Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra — Jaime Martín

Performed and recorded on November 16, 2019 at the Alex Theatre. At a young age, Sergei Prokofiev was condemned as avant-garde and his music was perceived as difficult to understand. It is intriguing, then, that one of his most famous works Symphony No. 1 looks back to the older style of Haydn and is known by the nickname “Classical.” Prokofiev wrote his Classical Symphony in 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution. It meshes the classical tradition of clarity and formality with the renegade spirit of Prokofiev’s early works. Although the Classical Symphony fits the usual definition of neoclassicism, Prokofiev never admitted it. It was an isolated experiment, he explained, adding that he disliked Stravinsky’s preoccupation with neoclassicism, which he famously called “Bach on the wrong notes.” Classicism was attractive to the unsentimental Prokofiev because it eschewed the overwrought emotion of Romanticism. As a result, throughout the traditional four-movement form of the symphony we hear playful Haydnesque qualities in the Classical Symphony, as well as references to the Classical practice of alternating opposites: loud and soft, high and low, light and dark. A special thank you to the many individual donors and patrons who generously support LACO through tax-deductible contributions each year! Your contribution will support the Orchestra now and the brilliant LACO concerts to come. To make a gift visit