Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)

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Symphony No. 5
by Sergei Prokofiev
Choumoff - Sergei Prokofiev.jpg
Prokofiev, photographed in 1936 by Pierre Choumoff
Key B-flat major
Opus 100
Composed1944 (1944)
Duration40 min
MovementsFour
Premiere
DateJanuary 13, 1945 (1945-01-13)
Location Moscow Conservatory
ConductorProkofiev
Performers USSR State Symphony Orchestra

Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100, in the Soviet Union in one month[ citation needed ] in the summer of 1944. [1]

Contents

Background

From 1925 onward, Prokofiev’s status as a composer grew, with his 1942 Piano Sonata No. 7 receiving the Stalin Prize (Second Class). Prior to composing his Fifth Symphony, Prokofiev relocated to Moscow as a result of his increasing reliance on financial support from the Soviet Union and their threat of revoking their contributions. [2]

The creation of the Fifth Symphony can be traced to musical ideas explored during the composition of Prokofiev's earlier work, particularly the Symphony No. 4 in C major composed fourteen years prior. [3] Prokofiev incorporated these musical motifs into a piano score over less than a month during his stay at The Composers' House in Ivanovo, under the background of the Soviet Union’s involvement in World War II.

He gave out in a statement at the time of the work's premiere that he intended it as "a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit." [4] He added, "I cannot say that I deliberately chose this theme. It was born in me and clamoured for expression. The music matured within me. It filled my soul." [5]

Movements

External audio
Performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa
Nuvola apps arts.svg I. Andante
Nuvola apps arts.svg II. Allegro marcato
Nuvola apps arts.svg III. Adagio
Nuvola apps arts.svg IV. Allegro giocoso

The piece is in four movements, lasting 40–45 minutes:

  1. Andante (in B-flat major)
  2. Allegro marcato (in D minor)
  3. Adagio (in F major)
  4. Allegro giocoso (in B-flat major)[ citation needed ]

Movement I

The first movement is in a tightly argued sonata form: its exposition presents two themes, one calm and sustained, the other soaring with tremolo accompaniment from strings, which are then involved in an elaborate and climactic development section. The movement is wrapped up with an electrifying coda punctuated by a roaring tam-tam and low piano tremolos.[ citation needed ]

1st theme, mm. 1–7
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 8–10
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 29–30
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
2nd theme, mm. 54–64
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 74–77
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
Closing theme, mm. 83–86
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)

Movement II

The second movement is an insistent scherzo in Prokofiev's typical toccata mode, framing a central theme in triple time.

mm. 3–10
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 56–58
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 112–115
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 120–127
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 154–157
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)

Movement III

The third movement is a dreamy slow movement, full of nostalgia, which nevertheless builds up to a tortured climax before receding to a quiet end.

mm. 4–8
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 55–62
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 82–84
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
"tortured climax" mm. 125–131
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)

Movement IV

The finale starts with a cello choir playing a slow introduction recalling the first theme of the first movement, which then launches into the movement proper, a rondo. The playful ("giocoso") main theme is contrasted with two calmer episodes, one introduced by the flute, the other a chorale in the strings. Just as the movement is striving to end with a victorious tone, the music degenerates into a frenzy (rehearsal mark 111), which is stripped down to a string quartet playing staccato "wrong notes" (rehearsal mark 113) with rude interjections from low trumpets, making the ultimate orchestral unison on B-flat sound all the more ironic.

mm. 3–6
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
Theme from first movement, mm. 15–22
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 29–36
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 37–38
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 54–55
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 83–90
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)
mm. 164–172
Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)

Instrumentation

The work is scored for the following:

WoodwindBrassPercussionKeyboard

Strings

Premiere

The symphony was premiered on January 13, 1945, in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Prokofiev himself. [6]

As he took the stage, artillery fired. He paused until it finished. This left a great impression upon the audience, who upon leaving the Great Hall learned the gunfire marked the Red Army's crossing of the Vistula into Germany. [6] The premiere was very well-received, and the symphony has remained one of the composer's most popular works.[ citation needed ]

Then, in November of that year, Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra introduced the score to America and recorded it in Boston's Symphony Hall on February 6 and 7, 1946, for RCA Victor, using an optical sound film process introduced by RCA in 1941; it was initially issued on 78-rpm discs and later on LP and CD. The symphony's rapid insertion into the repertoire was referenced by Dennis Dobson in his review of the 1951 Edinburgh Festival for Music Survey, where he panned the work as "noisy, uncouth" and a "falling off in maturity" from works such as Chout and the Piano Concerto No. 3 and went on to say, "that this work is well thought of and much played in both America and the Soviet Union speaks sociological and cultural volumes". [7]

Notable recordings

OrchestraConductorRecord companyYear of recordingFormat
Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York Artur Rodziński Columbia Records 1946LP/CD
Boston Symphony Orchestra Sergei Koussevitzky RCA, Dutton 1946LP/CD
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra Erik Tuxen Decca 1952LP/CD
Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy Columbia 1958LP
Philharmonia Orchestra Thomas Schippers Angel, Medici Masters1957LP/CD
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire Jean Martinon RCA 1959LP
Cleveland Orchestra George Szell Sony 1959LP/CD
Boston Symphony Orchestra Erich Leinsdorf RCA 1963LP/CD
New York Philharmonic Leonard Bernstein Sony 1966LP/CD
Berlin Philharmonic Herbert von Karajan Deutsche Grammophon 1968LP/CD
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Evgeny Mravinsky Russian Disc, Leningrad Masters1968CD
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Gennadi Rozhdestvensky BBC 1971CD
Concerts Colonne Orchestra Jascha Horenstein Vox 1972CD/LP
Orchestre National de France Jean Martinon Vox 1974LP/CD
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra Gennadi Rozhdestvensky Melodiya 1975LP
Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy RCA 1975CD (Japan only)
London Symphony Orchestra Walter Weller Decca 1976CD
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Zdeněk Košler Supraphon 1979CD
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Leonard Bernstein CBS Masterworks1980CD
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Leonard Slatkin RCA 1984LP/CD
Concertgebouw Orchestra Vladimir Ashkenazy Decca 1985CD
Scottish National Orchestra Neeme Järvi Chandos 1985CD
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra André Previn Philips 1986CD
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Mariss Jansons Chandos 1987CD
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Dmitri Kitajenko RCA 1987CD
Orchestre National de France Mstislav Rostropovich Erato 1988CD
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra Stephen Gunzenhauser Naxos 1989CD
Berlin Philharmonic Seiji Ozawa Deutsche Grammophon 1990CD
Philadelphia Orchestra Riccardo Muti Philips 1990CD
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Yoel Levi Telarc 1991CD
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Yuri Temirkanov RCA 1991CD
London Symphony Orchestra Michael Tilson Thomas Sony Classical 1991CD
Chicago Symphony Orchestra James Levine Deutsche Grammophon 1992CD
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Simon Rattle EMI 1992CD
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine Theodore Kuchar Naxos 1995CD
London Symphony Orchestra Valery Gergiev Philips 2004CD
Concertgebouw Orchestra Mariss Jansons RCO Live 2016SACD
The Cleveland Orchestra Franz Welser-Möst The Cleveland Orchestra 2023SACD

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References

  1. "Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 (Sergei Prokofiev)". LA Phil. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  2. "Music At War: A Guide to Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5". Houston Symphony. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  3. "Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5". Utah Symphony. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  4. Schwarz, Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia, p.196, cited in Preston Stedman, The Symphony, p.290
  5. Prokofiev, Sergey (1960). Autobiography, Articles, Reminiscences. Honolulu, Ha: University Press of the Pacific. pp. 134–135. ISBN   9780898751499.
  6. 1 2 "Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 Reflects Drama of World War II". Evanston Symphony Orchestra. 13 October 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  7. Edinburgh Festival, 1951, Dennis Dobson. Music Survey, vol. IV, no. 2, February 1952, p. 425.