View source for String Quartet No. 1 (Prokofiev)

[[Sergei Prokofiev]]'s '''String Quartet No. 1 in B minor, Op. 50 (1931)''' was commissioned by the [[Library of Congress]].<ref name="loc-20101115">{{cite web |author=Staff |title=Foundations for Music (Library of Congress Music, Theater, Dance: An Illustrated Guide) |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/guide/fndmus.html |date=15 November 2010 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |accessdate=21 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="Prokofiev-50">{{cite web |last=Sorensen|first=Sugi |title=The Prokofiev Page - String Quartet No 1 in B minor, Op 50 |url=http://prokofiev.org/catalog/work.cfm?WorkID=132|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204062343/http://www.prokofiev.org/catalog/work.cfm?WorkID=132|archivedate=4 February 2012|date=2005 |publisher=Allegro Media |accessdate=21 April 2012}}</ref>  The Quartet was first performed in [[Washington, D. C.|Washington, D.C.]], on 25 April 1931 by the Brosa Quartet<ref>Nice, David (2003). ''Prokofiev: From Russia to the West, 1891-1935''. Yale University Press. Page 293.</ref> and in [[Moscow]] on 9 October 1931 by the Roth Quartet.<ref name="loc-20101115" /><ref name="Prokofiev-50" /> The string quartet is in three movements, lasting around 20–25 minutes.

==Movements==
#'''''[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Allegro]]'''''
#'''''[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Andante molto]]'''''
#'''''[[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Andante]]'''''

==Analysis==
The work is distinctive in that its key, B minor, is just a semitone below the limits of the [[viola]] and [[cello]] range. Another distinctive feature is that the finale is a slow movement, which is highly intense in emotion and full of sweeping melodies.

Prokofiev had liked the finale so much that he transcribed a version of it for string orchestra, as Op. 50a, and included a piano transcription in his pieces as Op. 52.

==See also==
*[[String Quartet No. 2 (Prokofiev)|Prokofiev - String Quartet No. 2 in F major]]
*[[List of compositions by Sergei Prokofiev#Chamber music|Prokofiev - Chamber Music]]
*[[List of compositions by Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev - List of Compositions]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMSLP2|work=String_Quartet_No.1,_Op.50_(Prokofiev,_Sergey)|cname=String Quartet No. 1, Op. 50}}
**[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wcNkHeLDiU Video - Prokofiev String Quartet No 1 - Complete (23:14).]
*[[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]] String Quartet No 1 in B minor, Opus 50 (1931).
**[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_8aBoAwwys Video - Prokofiev String Quartet No 1 mvt 1/audio (07:20) Allegro.]
**[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_5Bculm52c Video - Prokofiev String Quartet No 1 mvt 2/audio (07:10) Andante molto.]
**[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSwQaxxzd-4 Video - Prokofiev String Quartet No 1 mvt 3/audio (08:40) Andante.]

{{Sergei Prokofiev}}
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[[Category:Chamber music by Sergei Prokofiev]]
[[Category:Compositions for string quartet|Prokofiev 1]]
[[Category:20th-century classical music]]
[[Category:1931 compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions in B minor]]