IB Music/Prescribed Works-2014/Contextual

Prokofiev

 * written in 1917, during the time of the Russian Revolution, this meant that that everything was in chaos as there was such fight for power. The economy collapsed causing composers either stay or leave. Prokofiev decided to leave. He went to France and then the US, where he wasn't all that successful.

Chen Yung

 * written in 1967, during the Cultural Revolution, this meant that anything that wasn't Chinese was to be eliminated because they didn't want any influence from other cultures, under Mao's orders. In this period people weren't allowed to play western instruments like the piano, violin, to the point where if they were caught their fingers would be crushed. However, there were exceptions, which is where Chen Yung came in, as he played an arrangement of the "Yellow River Cantata," which was a highly favoured piece, as it was written for the revolution. It was known as a propaganda piece written to promote communism and recall the atrocities of the Japanese invasion.