Description
Prokofiev's Visions fugitives – a set of 20 "fleeting visions" for piano – were not composed in a single sitting, but rather in clusters between 1915 and 1917, just before the Russian Revolution that compelled him to leave his homeland in 1918. Prokofiev's diaries reveal that at least some of these pieces were inspired by extra-musical impulses, with several reflecting his personal relationships and others expressing his emotional reaction to the political turmoil and brutality of the time. For instance, he stated that the 19th piece "was inspired by the events of February 1917 in Petrograd" during the Revolution's initial phase. While not overly technically demanding, the Visions fugitives are now widely used for teaching and have been compiled in a new Urtext edition that draws on all musical sources created during the composer's lifetime. In the preface, Prokofiev expert Simon Morrison provides biographical context on the genesis of this captivating piano cycle.
