music.wikisort.org - CompositionThe Scythian Suite, Op. 20 is an orchestral suite by Sergei Prokofiev written in 1915.
Orchestral suite by Sergei Prokofiev
Scythian Suite |
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 Sergei Prokofiev in 1918 |
Opus | 20 |
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Composed | 1915 |
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Movements | Four |
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Scoring | Orchestra |
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Date | 16 January 1916 (1916-01-16) |
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Location | St. Petersburg |
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Conductor | Sergei Prokofiev |
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Background
Prokofiev originally wrote the music for the ballet Ala i Lolli, the story of which takes place among the Scythians. Commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, the ballet was written to a scenario by Russian poet Sergey Gorodetsky.[1][2] But when Diaghilev rejected the score even before its completion,[3] the composer reworked the music into a suite for concert performance.[4]
The suite was premiered on 16/29 January 1916 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer.[5]
A scheduled Moscow performance of the suite that December was cancelled at the last minute due to the difficulty of finding musicians to play the piece;[6] it called for an enlarged orchestra and, as many performers had been mobilized due to World War I, enough players could not be found. Nevertheless, the Moscow music critic Leonid Sabaneyev gave the music a scathing review.[7] Prokofiev responded that the supposed performance must have been a product of Sabaneyev's imagination, as the only copy of the score was in the composer's hands and thus he had not even been able to see it.
Movements
The suite is in four movements and lasts around 20 minutes.
- Invocation to Veles and Ala – barbaric and colorful music describing the Scythians' invocation of the sun
- The Evil God and the Dance of the Pagan Monsters (also known as "The Alien God and the Dance of the Evil Spirits"[8]) – as the Scythians make a sacrifice to Ala, daughter of Veles, the Evil God performs a violent dance surrounded by seven monsters
- Night – the Evil God harms Ala; the Moon Maidens descend to console her
- The Glorious Departure of Lolli and the Cortège of the Sun – Lolli, the hero, comes to save Ala; the Sun God assists him in defeating the Evil God. They are victorious, and the suite ends with a musical picture of the sunrise
Instrumentation
The music is scored for a large orchestra:
- Woodwinds
- 1 piccolo
- 3 flutes (3rd doubling alto flute)
- 3 oboes
- 1 English horn
- 3 clarinets (3rd doubling E♭ clarinet)
- 1 bass clarinet
- 3 bassoons
- 1 contrabassoon
- Brass
- 8 horns
- 4 (optionally 5) trumpets (3rd doubling E♭ trumpet)
- 4 trombones
- 1 tuba
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- Percussion
- Timpani
- Glockenspiel
- Xylophone
- 2 cymbals
- Tamtam
- Triangle
- Bass drum
- Snare drum
- Tambourine
- Celesta
- Piano
- Strings
- Violins I, II
- Violas
- Cellos
- Double basses
- 2 harps
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Adaptations
The Bermuda Triangle (1978) is an electronic adaptation by Isao Tomita that includes the first movement (The Adoration of Veles and Ala) of the Scythian Suite.[9]
The track "The Enemy God Dances with the Black Spirits" on Works Volume 1 by progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer is an arrangement of the second movement.
The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, performed the piece during Metallica's S&M2 concerts at Chase Center, San Francisco on September 6 and 8, 2019.
Notes
References
- David Ewen. Encyclopedia of Concert Music. New York: Hill and Wang, 1959.
- Nicolas Slonimsky. Slonimsky's Book of Musical Anecdotes. New York: Schirmer Books, 1998.
- Sergei Prokofiev. Soviet Diary 1927 and Other Writings. London: Faber, 1991.
- Sergei Prokofiev. Diaries 1915-1923: Behind the Mask, trans. Anthony Phillips. London: Faber, 2008.
External links
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List of compositions |
Operas |
- The Giant
- Maddalena
- The Gambler
- The Love for Three Oranges
- The Fiery Angel
- Semyon Kotko
- Betrothal in a Monastery
- War and Peace
- The Story of a Real Man
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Ballets |
- Ala i Lolli
- Chout
- Trapèze
- Le pas d'acier
- Prodigal Son
- On the Dnieper
- Romeo and Juliet (Montagues and Capulets)
- Cinderella
- The Tale of the Stone Flower
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Symphonies | |
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Concertos | Piano |
- No. 1 in D♭ major
- No. 2 in G minor
- No. 3 in C major
- No. 4 in B♭ major (left-hand)
- No. 5 in G major
- No. 6 (unfinished)
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Other |
- Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major
- Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor
- Cello Concerto in E minor
- Symphony-Concerto for Cello in E minor
- Cello Concertino in G minor (unfinished)
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Orchestral works |
- Sinfonietta in A major (orig. & rev.)
- Summer Night
- Symphonic Song
- Russian Overture
- The Year 1941
- Peter and the Wolf
- Pushkin Waltzes
- Waltz Suite
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Film music | |
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Vocal music | |
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Chamber music |
- Overture on Hebrew Themes
- Quintet in G minor
- Divertissement
- String Quartet No. 1
- String Quartet No. 2
- Violin Sonata No. 1
- Violin Sonata No. 2
- Flute Sonata in D major
- Cello Sonata in C major
- Sonata for Two Violins in C major
- Sonata for Solo Violin
- Sonata for Solo Cello in C♯ minor
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Piano music | Sonatas |
- No. 1 in F minor
- No. 2 in D minor
- No. 3 in A minor
- No. 4 in C minor
- No. 5 in C major (orig. & rev.)
- No. 6 in A major
- No. 7 in B♭ major ("Stalingrad")
- No. 8 in B♭ major
- No. 9 in C major
- No. 10 (unfinished)
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Other |
- Toccata in D minor
- Sarcasms
- Visions fugitives
- Tales of an Old Grandmother
- March and Scherzo from The Love for Three Oranges
- Three Pieces from War and Peace
- Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet
- Three Pieces & Six Pieces & Ten Pieces from Cinderella
- Fantasia on Scheherazade (1926)
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Related articles | |
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Authority control  | |
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На других языках
- [en] Scythian Suite
[ru] Скифская сюита
«Ала и Ло́ллий» (ски́фская сюи́та), op. 20 или «Ски́фская сюи́та» — симфоническая сюита русского композитора Сергея Прокофьева для большого оркестра, созданная на основе музыки к балету «Ала и Лоллий». Закончена в сентябре 1915 года. Премьера состоялась 16 [29] января 1916 года в Петрограде в Мариинском театре под управлением автора. «Скифская сюита» стоит в ряду сочинений, свидетельствующих о создании композитором собственного стиля.
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