Prokofiev’s “Romeo & Juliet” Suite
Notes by TŌN violinist Chance McDermott
Returning to the Soviet Union in 1933 after a 15-year period spent in America composing new works, Sergei Prokofiev was approached by director Sergei Radlov on behalf of the later-named Kirov Theatre with a proposal to create a new ballet based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. However, after years of challenges trying to complete the endeavor, including the assassination of politician Sergei Kirov and a premiere outside the USSR in Brno, Czechoslovakia, Prokofiev transformed the 52-scene scene ballet into three orchestral suites, and it finally received a Soviet premiere at the Kirov Theatre in 1940.
When Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is performed in symphonic concerts, conductors usually select a few movements from each of the three suites that encapsulate the story of the whole ballet. This performance will contain eight movements, beginning with “The Montagues and the Capulets”. One of the most well-known excerpts from the ballet, it is meant to depict the rivalry between the two feuding families. It features both a lyrical and muted section highlighting the flute and violas contrasted with a section with heavy pulsations in the low brass and percussion. “The Child Juliet” is a quick and lively movement meant to depict the vivacious and wistful energy of the young heroine through fast and lively passages in the violins. “Dance of the Girls with Lilies” is a waltz-like movement with soaring melodies in the solo violin and clarinet. “Masks” represents Romeo’s entrance into Capulet’s ball, which Prokofiev emulates with a steady snare rhythm beneath solo wind and string melodies. “The Death of Tybalt” depicts Romeo avenging the death of his brother Mercuito, who was slain by Tybalt, a member of the rival Capulet family. It features sword fighting—as heard is the frenetic scales and arpeggios in the violins—and the resulting funeral march, showcasing the cellos and horns lamenting over the heavy drums. “Romeo and Juliet Before Parting”, a tender love ballad for the flute and violas, sets up the dramatic “Romeo at the Tomb of Juliet”, where Romeo mistakenly believes Juliet to be dead. The anguish in the violins and brass and dissonant harmonies convey Romeo’s pain and heartbreak, ultimately leading him to commit suicide. The suite ends with “The Death of Juliet”, who awakens to find Romeo dead, and after musical references to the earlier movement “The Child Juliet”, she ends her own life and the violins represent her soul floating high up into the heavens.