Question by Abernathy the Porc: Who’s better, Prokofiev or Shostakovich?
Answers and Views:
Answer by sashunya
I personally prefer Shostakovich. I can’t really say which one’s better purely in skill though.
Read all the answers in the comments.
Add your own answer!
petr b says
Let's provide each with dueling pistols and set a date, then we can find out.
Main Street; Noon:
"Draw"
Ka-bam! The winner is….
Hunter says
Sorry,don't have the talent to make a judgement,also I don't like either.
del_icious_manager says
"Who is better?" questions made my blood boil. Why do people feel compelled to ask such a meaningless question? How does one judge 'better' or 'best' when relating to great composers? What are the criteria? Who is qualified to judge? Does it matter one tiny bit? All you will get is other people's opinion (can't you make your own opinions?).
Prokofiev and Shostakovich are often clumped together just because they were reasonably close contemporaries. However, if you look at their backgrounds, training and music you will see that they were two very different musical personalities.
Prokofiev had an uncanny lyrical gift; he wrote some of the most gorgeous melodies of any composer (let alone the 20th century). Shostakovich struggled to write a 'good tune' but was technically very gifted. Both wrote works of greatness and stature and both wrote some very poor music. I suppose Prokofiev was slightly more consistent, but he didn't suffer quite as badly some of the attacks from the Soviet government as Shostakovich did (who then felt compelled to appease the authorities with 'populist' music).
Who was better? Who is really qualified to say? I could say that Beethoven was better than Dittersdorf because they are a mile apart. But Prokofiev and Shostakovich? I think it's a matter of personal taste. I can enjoy the music of both great composers without worrying about which one might be 'better'.
יהוה εί says
After listening to these two selections:
Prokofiev Etude Op. 2 No. 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAsvRHXR_DE
Dimitri Shostakovich Second Waltz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hfYvBAcxos
I have to say I prefer Shostakovich.
I had no idea who either of them were before seeing this question, but when I looked them up I realized I had heard Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf composition before. His songs look pretty complicated to play, but they tended to bore me after just a minute or so.
Shostakovich's arrangement kept me hooked, and that was even without seeing the highly imaginative video it inspired, posted above.
Hunny says
Have no idea who they are, but here's a star. ..hey, that rhymes! 🙂
tesla g says
Prokofiev is one of the most important and influential keyboard composers of the 20th century, and his works comprise a valuable part of the pianist's literature.
Orchestrally his reputation is secure with Aleksander Nevsky, Lt. Kije, Peter and the Wolf, the piano concertos and the "Classical Symphony." He had a gift for melody, charm and power in equal measure, and imagination in Harmony and orchestration.
Shostakovich struggled with Soviet repression in the arts, and his output is uneven, probably at least in part because of this fact. He could be scholarly and brilliant at the same time, as in the Preludes and Fugues for piano, by far and away the finest since Bach's. His orchestral and concerto works are massive, occasionally highly original, dramatic, and widely varied.
Shostakovich was a brooding, sometimes genius in the vein of Mussorgsky, to Prokofiev's craftsmanship and stylishness ala Mendelssohn. I'd give the edge to Shostakovich on the basis of originality, but it's very close.
Malcolm D says
There is no standard by which to judge, but I think Prokofiev was perhaps the greatest composer of the twentieth century. Shostakovich was a rather inconsistent performer ranging between genius and banal.
Zanzibar pina says
Well I am going to star this one, And do my research and be ready for the next SHOW DOWN! Thrown Down in classical music! 🙂
arioch says
Prokofiev ,I like the Violin
sugarbee says
Sorry, but I have no idea whom you're speaking of. ~sigh~
EDIT: ….I guess I'd better do my homework too! ~smiles~