Prokofiev did not compose his Visions fugitives – 20 “fleeting visions” – in one go, but in clusters between 1915 and 1917, immediately before the Russian Revolution that compelled him to leave his native country in 1918. We know from his diaries that at least some of them owe their existence to extra-musical impulses. Thus several pieces were inspired by people close to him. Others impart his emotional reaction to the political situation with its menacing brutality. According to his own statement, for example, no. 19 “was inspired by the events of February 1917 in Petrograd”, during the Revolution’s first phase.

Technically the pieces are not too demanding, and are also often used in teaching. They now appear for the first time in an Urtext edition that considers all the musical sources created during the composer’s lifetime. In his preface, Prokofiev specialist Simon Morrison provides biographical context for the genesis of this fantastic piano cycle.