Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Sonatas Op. 80 and 94bis: a historical and comparative study of manuscripts, early editions and interpretations by David Oistrakh and Joseph Szigeti

The thesis investigates Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Sonatas (Op. 80 and Op. 94bis) within the historical contexts of their years of composition (1938-46), dissemination (1944-48) and publication (1946-51) in the Soviet Union, the USA and, partially, the UK. It therefore considers Sergei Prokofiev’s Soviet years (1936-53) from a new perspective and unfolds the Western dissemination history of the Violin Sonatas and Prokofiev’s relationship with Western musicians during the Second World War and the Stalinist era. Moreover, the thesis sheds light upon the Soviet and Western cultural and diplomatic organisations that facilitated the dissemination and publication of the Violin Sonatas in the USA and the UK during the 1940s. The thesis examines and deduces via extensive study of primary sources the chronology of the composition of the Violin Sonatas. The First Violin Sonata (Op. 80, 1938-46), which has hitherto been examined most briefly in the literature, is traced from sketches to the Autograph Manuscript. The sketches are organised chronologically around the interrupted compositional period (1939-44), while the Autograph Manuscript dates from 1946. The Second Violin Sonata (Op. 94bis, 1944), a transcription of the Flute Sonata, is examined via copyist manuscripts, which trace the collaboration process between Prokofiev and the violinist David Oistrakh, who initiated the transcription of the Flute Sonata into the Second Violin Sonata, and subsequently became the dedicatee of the First Violin Sonata. Furthermore, the thesis evaluates the perception of the Violin Sonatas through the press reviews of premieres and interpretations of the works during the 1940s, both in the Soviet Union by David Oistrakh, and in the USA by Joseph Szigeti. The analysis of the first performance editions edited by Oistrakh and Szigeti in late 1940s and early 1950s (Muzgiz, Leeds Music Corporation, Anglo-Soviet Music Press) sheds light upon different historical approaches to the interpretation of the Violin Sonatas and is reflected in the recital that supplements the thesis