Serge Prokofiev Archive
The Serge Prokofiev Archive at Goldsmiths contains the Fonds of Serge, Lina and Oleg Prokofiev, and a specialist library. The Fonds include music manuscripts, correspondence, press cuttings and photos.The Serge Prokofiev Archive is the only archive in the world wholly dedicated to this composer. Established at Goldsmiths in 1994, the Archive owes its existence to the initiative of Mme Lina Prokofiev, the composer's first wife, who set up the Serge Prokofiev Foundation (Charitable trust No. 326370), with the objective of furthering the knowledge and study of Prokofiev's life and work. After Mme Prokofiev's death in 1989, the Foundation decided to set up and support an archive where all available materials relating to Prokofiev, including family papers, would be regrouped under one roof.
The Archive was started with the family's private collection of the composer’s music manuscripts, private and business papers, huge correspondence, photos (including unpublished originals), articles, press cuttings, concert programmes and memorabilia. The Archive's holdings were subsequently increased at various stages with generous donations from individuals such as Christopher Palmer, publishers Boosey & Hawkes and Peters (London), Chant du Monde (Paris), Hans Sikorski (Hamburg) and Kompozitor (Moscow). EMI, Harmonia Mundi, Philips/Decca, Chandos, Naxos and Warner Classics have substantially contributed to the audio-visual collection.
Awareness of the Archive's existence and role was greatly enhanced in 2001 by the creation of the Serge Prokofiev Association, whose main purpose was to organise and oversee most of the UK 2003 celebrations that marked the fiftieth anniversary of Prokofiev’s death. Under the name of the Association, the Archive started a bi-annual scholarly journal, ‘Three Oranges’, which includes on a regular basis articles and materials from its holdings. From 1 January 2004 the Association was folded and the journal is now published under the name of the Serge Prokofiev Foundation.
The Archive's prime mission is to make its unique collection available to a wide public, to provide up-to-date information to scholars and musicians as to the nature and location of extant autographs, and to initiate collaborative projects with its Russian counterparts, thus leading the way to a global recognition of Prokofiev's significance.
Contact: The SPA Archivist, Fiona McKnight
Tel: +44 (0)20 7919 7558
Fax: +44 (0)20 7919 7255
Online: The Serge Prokofiev Archive