Sergei Prokofiev began work on his Symphony No. 1 in D major (Op. 25) in 1916, but wrote most of it in 1917, finishing work on September 10. It is written in loose imitation of the style of Haydn (and to a lesser extent, Mozart), and is widely known as the Classical Symphony, a name given to it by the composer. It premiered on April 21, 1918 in Petrograd, conducted by Prokofiev himself, and has become one of his most popular and beloved works.

Background

The symphony can be considered to be one of the first neoclassical compositions. However, although it was composed in an attempt to emulate the style of Joseph Haydn, it does not do so strictly, and strongly reflects modern compositional practices and Prokofiev's own voice. The work was partly inspired by his conducting studies at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where the instructor, Nikolai Tcherepnin, taught his students about conducting Haydn, among other composers.

Prokofiev wrote the symphony on holiday in the country, using it as an exercise in composing away from the piano. No actual quotations of Haydn are found in the work.

Movements

The symphony is in four movements, and lasts only about ten to fifteen minutes:

1. Allegro
2. Larghetto
3. Gavotta: Non troppo allegro
4. Finale: Molto vivace

Instrumentation

It is scored for a classical period orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.

Recordings

Recordings of this symphony include:

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Boston Symphony Orchestra	Serge Koussevitzky	RCA Victor	1929	CD
NBC Symphony Orchestra	Arturo Toscanini	RCA Victor	1951	CD
The Paris Conservatory Orchestra	Ernest Ansermet	London Records	1964	LP
New York Philharmonic	Leonard Bernstein	Columbia	1968	CD
London Symphony Orchestra	Walter Weller	Decca	1974	CD
London Symphony Orchestra	Vladimir Ashkenazy	Decca	1974	CD
London Symphony Orchestra	André Previn	EMI Classics	1978	CD
Berliner Philharmoniker	Herbert von Karajan	Deutsche Grammophon	1981	CD
Chicago Symphony Orchestra	Sir Georg Solti	Decca	1982	CD
Scottish National Orchestra	Neeme Järvi	Chandos	1985	CD
Orchestre National de France	Lorin Maazel	CBS Masterworks	1985	CD
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra	(none)	Deutsche Grammophon	1987	CD
Orchestre National de France	Mstislav Rostropovich	Erato	1988	CD
Berliner Philharmoniker	Seiji Ozawa	Deutsche Grammophon	1989	CD
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra	Stephen Gunzenhauser	Naxos	1989	CD
Soviet State Orchestra	Nikolay Tiomkin	Discover The Classics	1990	CD
Philadelphia Orchestra	Riccardo Muti	Philips Classics Records	1990	CD
Chicago Symphony Orchestra	James Levine	Deutsche Grammophon	1994	CD
St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra	Ravil Martynov	Sony	1994	CD
London Symphony Orchestra	Valery Gergiev	Philips	2004	CD
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine	Theodore Kuchar	Naxos		CD
National Orchestra of the O.R.T.F.	Jean Martinon	Vox		CD
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra	Zdeněk Košler	Supraphon		CD
USSR Ministry of Culture State Symphony Orchestra	Gennadi Rozhdestvensky			CD/LP
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra	Gennadi Rozhdestvensky	Melodiya/Quintessence		LP
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra	Kirill Karabits	Onyx Classics	2014	CD

Notes

1. ^ Steinberg, Michael. "The Symphony: a listeners guide". p. 429-433. Oxford University Press, 1995.
2. ^ Listen to Discovering Music from 1:00 to 3:40
3. ^ Prokofiev - Classical Symphony - Bernstein (back cover). New York Philharmonic.