As many know, Prokofiev was the only major composer after Beethoven and Schubert, apart from Scriabin, to write a significant body of piano sonatas. His two sonatinas may be viewed as little sonatas, and they bridge the very wide chronological gap and musically different worlds of the piano sonatas No. 5 (1923) and No. 6 (1939 - 1940). Yet, despite their high quality (especially in the first sonatina), they barely hint at the epic conflicts and powerful drama in the great Sixth Sonata. As is common in the sonatina genre, these are works of modest technical demands.

Understatement and subtlety are the traits most in evidence in this modest pair of works. Cast in three short movements apiece, the sonatinas last around ten minutes each in performance. They divulge certain Gallic influences then exhibited in Prokofiev's music. The first, in E minor, opens with a lively, nervous theme (Allegro moderato), but very soon follows with a reflective melody, upon which fragments of the opening theme periodically intrude. The ensuing Adagietto second movement is serene and somber, featuring a profound and gentle but rather dry theme. Like the previous movements, the finale, marked Allegretto, shows no hint of a smile in its music. It is playful in mood, but emotionally cool.

The largely reserved and dry manner of the E minor Sonatina is taken a step further in the emotionally neutral G major, whose first movement has a philosophical air about its neo-Classical workings. The music is lively but not fast (Allegro sostenuto), and features a theme which seems to stutter before settling into a nonchalant manner. The second movement (Andante amabile—Poco meno mosso) is mysterious and texturally barren at the outset, but turns restless in its alternate subject. The finale presents a lively, somewhat playful theme whose subtleties grow upon the listener after repeated hearings. In sum, while these short works will likely never gain wide popularity, they are nonetheless worthwhile in their reserved and subtle expressive manner. For amateur performers they are especially useful as entry points into Prokofiev's often technically forbidding corpus of piano music.

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