PROKOFIEV AND THE RUSSIAN AVANT-GARDE OF THE 1910S. CHALDEAN SPELL “SEVEN, THEY ARE SEVEN”
This article focuses on Prokofiev’s interaction with the Russian avant-garde of the 1910s as a form of a style-forming context of creative formation. The first section of the article is based on the reviews of the Russian press about the early works of Prokofiev, collected by the composer himself, stored in his foundation in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art and partially published in previous collections of materials. Together they create a documented picture of contemporary perceptions of Prokofiev’s early work in the context of the Russian avant-garde of the 1910s, in constant comparison with the most “left-wing” painting and poetry, mainly with the innovative searches of the futurists. The second section analyzes one of Prokofiev’s most “avant-garde” and almost unexplored works - the Chaldean spell “Seven, They Are Seven” - in the given semantic context, in the aspect of transubstantiation specific language innovations of futuristic art. The author’s method of analyzing the style features of futurism in music-specific forms is proposed: in the logic of form formation, pitch, texture, rhythm; in the interpretation of the genre (spells-enchantments), figurativeness (space-time-movement), etc. Innovative sound techniques that anticipate the gains of the future European musical avant-garde of the 1950-1970s are revealed.