Sergei Prokofiev - 4 Etudes Op. 2 (audio + sheet music)

Despite being commented by one of his teachers as "talented but immature", and graduating composition class in St. Petersburg Conservatory with a passing grade, this never stopped the then-18-year-old Sergei Prokofiev to pursue his studies, and eventually establish his reputation as a pianist and composer who has figured out his own individual style, even outside the Conservatory. While his Piano Sonata Op. 1 in F minor of 1909 displays his lyrical post-romanticism with the help of influence from his own favorite composers, this next opus, his Four Etudes, composed the same year as the previous, show perhaps the other side of his coin -- brutal, futuristic, mechanical, and definitely never for the faint of heart. The Op. 2 set was dedicated to his teacher, composer Alexander Winkler, who by the way was not the teacher who made the mixed comment earlier on (spoiler alert: it was actually Rimsky-Korsakov). Alongside the Op. 1, Prokofiev performed the etudes in concert a year later. No. 1 in D minor is indeed very unforgiving, judging by the score, as it demands the chords to be played as if effortlessly up and down the keyboard. The C major middle section offers a temporary calm before going back to the storm, concluding the entirety in D minor chords hammering at the low register. No. 2 in E minor, much mellower than the rest of the set, is a juggling act, if you will. One hand plays an 18/16 wave of demisemiquavers, the other plays the 4/4 bassline, the melody being passed...