Tonical ambiguity in three pieces by Sergei Prokofiev

• Main Author: Stratkauskas, David Vincent Edwin
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6071

There is much that is traditional in the compositional style of Sergei Prokofiev, invoking the stylistic spirit of the preceding two hundred years. One familiar element is the harmonic vocabulary, as evidenced by the frequent use of simple triadic sonorities, but these seemingly simple sonorities are frequently instilled with a sense of multiple meaning, and help to facilitate a tonal style which differs from the classical norm. In this style, the conditions of monotonality do not necessarily apply; there is often a sense of the coexistence of several "tonical" possibilities. An examination of three pieces shows varying applications of Prokofiev's ambiguous tonal style. In the Pensee, op. 62 no. 2, tonical ambiguity pervades the entire piece. In the "Promenade," op. 59 no. 1, an initial suggestion of monotonality leads to a state of multiple tonics. In the last movement of the Sonata for Violin and Piano, op. 80, areas of ambiguous tonal focus are, in a more traditional fashion, subservient to a strong overall tonic. Because Prokofiev does not employ a classical tonal style, traditional methods of analysis only provide a limited basis of understanding. In this thesis, Schoenberg's concepts of "fluctuating tonality," Peter Deane Roberts's ideas about "polymodality," and Richard Bass's "chromatic shadows" provide starting points for an examination of this music.