PROKOFIEV, SERGEY

born April 23 [April 11, Old Style], 1891, Sontsovka, Ukraine, Russian Empire died March 5, 1953, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R. in full Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev 20th-century Russian (and Soviet) composer who wrote in a wide range of musical genres, including symphonies, concerti, film music, operas, ballets, and program pieces. Additional reading Israel V. Nestyev, Prokofiev (1960, reprinted 1971; originally published in Russian, 1957), was the first serious, systematic study of the man and his music. Harlow Robinson, Sergei Prokofiev: A Biography (1987), is a more recent work that focuses on the man, rather than his music. Richard Taruskin