String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92 (1941)

Sergei Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 92 was composed in 1941 and first performed by the Beethoven Quartet in Moscow on 7 April 1942. A later performance in Moscow on 5 September 1942 was delayed by a Nazi air raid and began late. Prokofiev described the performance as “an extremely turbulent success.” The quartet lasts approximately 20 to 25 minutes and is written in three movements.

In 1941, following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Prokofiev, like many Soviet artists, was evacuated from the major cities. On 8 August 1941, he travelled to Nalchik with other artists, including his friend the composer Nikolai Myaskovsky, actors such as the widow of Anton Chekhov, and others. Nalchik, the provincial capital of the Kabardino-Balkar Autonomous SSR in the North Caucasus, is located about 900 miles south of Moscow, near the borders of European Russia, Turkey, and the Black and Caspian Seas. During his stay there, Prokofiev was instructed by a government official to write a quartet based on Kabardino-Balkar folk themes, and he composed the work using folk tunes, rhythms, and textures.

Like his First String Quartet, this work has entered the standard string quartet repertoire. The quartet consists of three movements: Allegro sostenuto, Adagio, and Allegro.

In this work, Prokofiev incorporates Kabardino-Balkar folk material while preserving his distinctive harmonic style. The influence of folk music is reflected in imitations of oriental plucked and percussion instruments, as well as in the use of varied sonic effects. In the second movement, the accompanying texture evokes the sound of the kamancheh, a bowed string instrument from the Caucasus region.

Nikolai Myaskovsky, Prokofiev’s close friend, also composed works based on Kabardino-Balkar themes, including his Symphony No. 23 and String Quartet No. 7. The symphony shares a thematic link with the finale of Prokofiev’s quartet.