Symphony No. 7 (Prokofiev)

Last updated
Symphony No. 7
by Sergei Prokofiev
Key C-sharp minor
Opus 131
Composed1952 (1952)
Duration31 - 35 min
MovementsFour
Premiere
DateOctober 11, 1952 (1952-10-11)
LocationTrade Union Hall of Columns, Moscow
Conductor Samuil Samosud
PerformersAll-Union Radio Orchestra

Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, was completed in 1952, the year before his death. It is his last symphony.

Contents

Background

Most of the symphony is emotionally restrained, nostalgic and melancholy in mood, including the ending of the Vivace final movement. However, Prokofiev was later convinced to add an energetic and optimistic coda, so as to win the Stalin Prize of 100,000 rubles.[ citation needed ] Before he died, Prokofiev indicated that the original quiet ending was to be preferred. [1]

The premiere was well-received, and in 1957, four years after Prokofiev's death, the symphony was awarded the Lenin Prize.

Movements

The symphony is in four movements, lasting 30–35 minutes:

  1. Moderato
  2. Allegretto
  3. Andante espressivo
  4. Vivace

The first movement, in sonata form, opens with a melancholic first theme on violins, which contrasts with the warm and lyrical second theme on winds. After a brief development section, the recapitulation of the two themes follows, and the movement ends in a reflective mood with the clock-ticking sounds on glockenspiel and xylophone.

The second movement is an autumnal waltz, reminiscent of Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella, while the third movement is an expressive and singing slow movement.

The finale, in D-flat major (C-sharp major enharmonic), contains an innocent cheerfulness. There is a slowing of pace and the return of the warm wind theme from the first movement, and the symphony ends with the same tinkling sounds from the tuned percussion as the first movement.

Instrumentation

The work scores for the following:

Woodwinds

Brass

Percussion

Keyboard

Strings

Recordings

Samuil Samosud conducted the premiere performance (Trade Union Hall of Columns, Moscow, All-Union Radio Orchestra, 11 October 1952); he recorded it with the same orchestra, using the original slow ending, in 1953 (reissued in 1957 as "Moscow Radio-TV Orchestra".) The first recording with the new assertive ending was by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, from sessions on 26 April 1953. Nikolai Malko and the Philharmonia Orchestra were the first to record the music in stereo, in 1955.

OrchestraConductorRecord CompanyYear of RecordingFormatNotes
Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy Columbia 1953 (ML 4683)LP
All-Union Radio Orchestra, USSR Samuil Samosud Melodiya 1953 (issued 1957 as D 01476)LPUses original slow ending
Philharmonia Orchestra [2] Nikolai Malko EMI 1955CD
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra Jean Martinon RCA Victor 1959LP
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra Gennady Rozhdestvensky Melodiya between 1965-67 (CD booklet doesn't specify)LP/CDUses original slow ending
National Orchestra of the O.R.T.F. Jean Martinon Vox/Turnabout 1974LP/CD
London Symphony Orchestra Walter Weller Decca 1974LP/CD
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Zdeněk Košler Supraphon 1977LP/CD
London Symphony Orchestra André Previn EMI Records 1977LP
Scottish National Orchestra Neeme Järvi Chandos 1986CD
Orchestre National de France Mstislav Rostropovich Erato 1988CDUses original slow ending
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Seiji Ozawa Deutsche Grammophon 1989CDUses original slow ending
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra André Previn Philips 1989CD
Cleveland Orchestra Vladimir Ashkenazy Decca 1995CDUses original slow ending
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine Theodore Kuchar Naxos 1994CD
London Symphony Orchestra Valery Gergiev Philips 2004CDUses original slow ending
Mariinsky Orchestra Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Records2012SACD
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Kirill Karabits Onyx Records2013CDUses original slow ending, revised ending included as a bonus track
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Tugan Sokhiev Sony Classics 2014CD
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Andrew Litton BIS 2016CDUses original slow ending, a second version of the final movement including the revised ending is included as a bonus track
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra James Gaffigan Northstar Recordings2016SACDUses original slow ending
São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop Naxos 2016CDUses original slow ending, revised ending included as a bonus track

Notes

  1. "The symphony was originally to have wound down on this desolate theme, but Prokofiev was convinced—by Samosud, according to Rostropovich—to write a much more upbeat end in order to win a first rather than a third class Stalin Prize. Prokofiev told Rostropovich he did so in order to gain the much needed 100,000 rubles: 'But Slava, you will live much longer than I, and you must take care that this new ending never exists after me.' " Daniel Jaffé, Sergey Prokofiev (London; New York: Phaidon Press, 1998): p. 211.
  2. This recording was made in 1955 directly after the UK premiere, with Malko conducting. It was EMI's first commercial stereophonic recording.

Bibliography