Romeo and Juliet, Op.64

Juliet, the young girl

Montagues and Capulets

Romeo at Juliet’s Tomb

Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet has always been a favourite item in the concert hall. That, in fact, is where its life began. Although it is now recognised as not only the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky but also the most inspired of all ballets on Shakespearean themes, it was initially rejected by both of the leading Soviet theatres - the Kirov in 1935 and the Bolshoi in 1936. The composer’s reaction to the setback was to compile a Romeo and Juliet concert suite, which was first performed with much success in Moscow in November 1936.

The ballet still not having reached the stage by the following year, Prokofiev put together a second orchestral suite of seven dances, for Leningrad this time, and a set of ten piano pieces which he himself introduced to the Moscow audience in 1937. The strategy was effective at least in that, by a quirk of history, it led to a staging of the ballet by the Yugoslav National Ballet in Brno in Czechoslovakia in 1938. It was not seen in Russia, however, until the Kirov condescended to present it in 1940. In anticipation of a new production at the Bolsho Prokofiev produced a third orchestral suite in 1946.

All three of today’s extracts come from the second suite. Juliet the young girl presents Shakespeare’s heroine before she meets Romeo and, though not yet fourteen, is destined by her parents to marry Count Paris. She is introduced by a playful theme of runs and leaps in a movement which features also a charmngly innocent tune for clarinet and, as she expresses her reluctance to accept the hand of Paris, a slower middle section with a poignant flute melody.

With Montagues and Capulets the scene changes to the ball at the house of the Capulets, where the knights dance in aggressively heavy-footed rhythms. In a graceful middle section Juliet, who has still not met Romeo, dances with her suitor Paris to an elegant variant of the same Capulet theme, gliding with the flute on viola glissandi and turning in quietly expressive chromatic harmonies.

Romeo at Juliet’s Grave comes from near the end of the ballet, after Romeo and Juliet have been secretly married. In an effort to avoid the threat of marriage to Paris, Juliet has taken a potion which allows her to feign death - and which, after a miscalculation by Friar Laurence, is so efficacious that it convinces Romeo too. After the lamenting opening and the departure of the family mourners, Romeo enters the Capulet crypt, takes Juliet’s apparently dead body in his arms and, before killing himself, guides her through their Balcony Scene dance for one last time. The scene ends as a distant echo of the flute melody from Juliet the young girl, now floating on high violins, dies quietly away.

4 movements from Suite No.2

Montagues and Capulets

Dance

Romeo & Juliet Before Parting

Romeo at Juliet’s Grave

Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet has always had a life in the concert hall. Although it was eventually recognised as the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky - and the most inspired of all ballets on Shakespearean themes - it was initially rejected by both of the leading Soviet theatres, the Kirov in 1935 and the Bolshoi in 1936. The composer’s reaction to the setback was to compile a Romeo and Juliet concert suite, which was first performed with much success in Moscow in November 1936.

The ballet still not having reached the stage by the following year, Prokofiev put together not only a second orchestral suite of seven dances, for Leningrad this time, but also set of ten piano pieces which he himself introduced to the audience in Moscow. The strategy was effective at least in that, by a quirk of history, it led to a staging of the ballet by the Yugoslav National Ballet in Brno in Czechoslovakia in 1938. It was not seen in Russia, however, until the Kirov condescended to present it in 1940 and, although the Kirov version was also performed in Moscow, the Bolshoi mounted its own production only in 1946 - in anticipation of which Prokofiev compiled the third and last of Romeo and Juliet orchestral suites.

The Second Suite begins most dramatically with The Montagues and the Capulets and the fateful succession of dissonant chords which accompany the Prince’s warning to the two feuding families:

“If ever you disturb our streets again,

Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

The scene changes to the ball at the house of the Capulets, where the knights dance in aggressively heavy-footed rhythms. In a graceful middle section Juliet - who has not yet met Romeo - dances with her suitor Paris to an elegant variant of the same Capulet theme, gliding with the flute on viola glissandi and turning in quietly expressive chromatic harmonies.

The lively Dance, which includes two items from the Verona street carnival in the second act, is an entertaining diversion and has nothing directly to do with the story of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet before Parting, on the other hand, finds the lovers in Juliet’s bedroom on the morning after their secret marriage. They awaken to the song of the lark and take their leave of each other amidst a frankly operatic orgy of melody, including a rhapsody on the “Love Dance” associated with their first meeting in Act One and now introduced on a solo viola (or viola d’amore) before it is taken up by a passionately expressive saxophone.

The contrastingly tragic but no less romantic Romeo at Juliet’s Grave comes from near the end of the ballet. In an effort to avoid marriage to Paris, Juliet has taken a potion which allows her to feign death - and which, after a miscalculation by Friar Laurence, is so efficacious that it convinces Romeo too. Here he enters the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, takes Juliet’s apparently dead body in his arms and, before killing himself, guides her through their “Love Dance” for one last time.

Montagues and Capulets

The Child Juliet

Friar Laurence

Dance

Romeo & Juliet before parting

Dance of the Girls from the Antilles

Romeo at Juliet’s Grave

Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet has always had a life in the concert hall. Although it was eventually recognised as the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky - and the most inspired of all ballets on Shakespearean themes - it was initially rejected by both of the leading Soviet theatres, the Kirov (Leningrad) in 1935 and the Bolshoi (Moscow) in 1936. The composer’s reaction to the setback was to compile a Romeo and Juliet concert suite, which was first performed with much success in Moscow in November 1936.

The ballet still not having reached the stage by the following year, Prokofiev put together not only a second orchestral suite of seven dances, for Leningrad this time, but also set of ten piano pieces which he himself introduced to the audience in Moscow. The strategy was effective at least in that, by a quirk of history, it led to a staging of the ballet by the Yugoslav National Ballet in Brno in Czechoslovakia in 1938. It was not seen in Russia, however, until the Kirov condescended to present it in 1940 and, although the Kirov version was also performed in Moscow, the Bolshoi mounted its own production only in 1946 - in anticipation of which Prokofiev compiled the third and last of Romeo and Juliet orchestral suites.

The Second Suite begins most dramatically with The Montagues and the Capulets and the fateful succession of chords which accompany the Prince’s warning to the two feuding families:

“If ever you disturb our streets again,

Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

The scene changes to the ball at the house of the Capulets, where the knights dance in aggressively heavy-footed rhythms and where Juliet dances with Paris to a graceful variant of the same Capulet theme, gliding with the flute on viola glissandi and turning in quietly expressive chromatic harmonies. The Child Juliet comes from somewhat earlier in the ballet during the preparations for the ball, before Juliet has set eyes on Romeo. She is introduced here in a state of playful innocence, running in semiquavers with the violins and clapping her hands to staccato chords on woodwind; and yet, as the clarinet indicates, she is not lacking in sentiment and, on the subject of her forthcoming and unwelcome marriage to Paris, not unthoughtful either.

Friar Laurence introduces the unfortunate cleric who, in the vain hope of uniting the feuding Montague and Capulet families, agrees to Romeo’s request to marry him to Juliet. He is characterised here by a ponderous chorale on lower strings and wind which is offset by more supple melodic material associated with Romeo. This lugubrious episode is effectively offset by the lively Dance which forms part of a street carnival in the second act.

Romeo and Juliet before Parting comes from after their secret marriage as they awaken in Juliet’s bedroom to the song of the lark and as they take their leave of each other amidst a frankly operatic orgy of melody. Juliet is still expected by her family to go through with her marriage to Paris, however: the charmingly ironic Dance of the Girls from Antilles (or Dance of the Girls with the Lilies as it is called in the ballet) is part of the pre-nuptial celebrations. It is in an effort to avoid that marriage that Juliet takes a potion which allows her to feign death - and which, after a miscalculation by Friar Laurence, is so efficacious that it convinces Romeo too. In Romeo at Juliet’s Grave he enters the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, takes Juliet’s apparently dead body in his arms, guides her for the last time through their “Love Dance” and kills himself.

Montagues and Capulets

The Child Juliet

Masks

Romeo and Juliet before Parting

Death of Tybalt

Romeo at Juliet’s Grave

Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet - the most successful of all ballets on a Shakespearian theme - was at one time going to have a happy ending. “The reasons that led us to such a barbarism,” the composer explained, “were purely choreographic. Living people can dance, but the dead cannot dance lying down.” That is one reason why the Bolshoi rejected it when Prokofiev played the score over to them in October 1935. Another reason is that they thought the music was “undanceable.”

Even when the Kirov accepted the ballet, with Shakespeare’s tragic ending duly restored, Prokofiev’s troubles were far from over. It had actually been performed by the Yugoslav National Ballet in Czechoslovakia in 1938, but in Leningrad in 1940 “the music seemed incomprehensible and almost impossible to dance to,”Galina Ulanova recalled. “We were badly hampered by the unusual orchestration… and the frequent changes of rhythm, too, gave us a great deal of trouble.” Ulanova’s Juliet was, as it turned out, a triumph and the score was eventually acknowledged as the greatest of its kind by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky.

It was because of the delays and difficulties in getting the ballet performed in Russia (or the Soviet Union as it then was) that Prokofiev compiled the first two of his three Romeo and Juliet orchestral suites. The music not only proved its worth in the concert hall but became a durable and popular item in the orchestral repertoire - although most conductors these days prefer to make their own choice rather than perform the suites just as Prokofiev arranged them. Tonight’s selection begins most dramatically with The Montagues and the Capulets and the fateful succession of chords which accompany the Prince’s warning to the two feuding families:

“If ever you disturb our streets again,

Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

The scene changes to the ball at the house of the Capulets, where the knights dance in aggressively heavy-footed rhythms and where, in the middle section, Juliet dances to a graceful variant of the same Capulet theme, gliding with the flute on viola glissandi and turning in quietly expressive chromatic harmonies.

The Child Juliet comes from somewhat earlier in the ballet, during the preparations for the ball. Juliet has not set eyes on Romeo and, though not yet fourteen, is destined by her parents to marry Count Paris. She is introduced by a playful theme of runs and leaps in a movement which features also a charmingly innocent tune for clarinet and, as she expresses her reluctance to accept the hand of Paris, a slower middle section with a poignant flute melody. In Masks Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio make their necessarily incognito entry to the Capulet ball, cautiously at first on quiet percussion and stealthy clarinet but with increasing self-confidence and in increasingly bold melodic profile.

Romeo and Juliet before Parting comes from after the lovers’ secret marriage. They awaken in Juliet’s bedroom to the song of the lark and take their leave of each other amidst a frankly operatic orgy of melody. The amorous atmosphere is cruelly dispatched by the violent events associated with the Death of Tybalt - Mercutio’s ill-advised sword fight with Juliet’s brother Tybalt, Romeo’s angered reprisal on Tybalt with its fifteen fatal blows, and the dramatic second-act finale in which the Capulets mourn Tybalt and swear vengeance on the Montagues.

In an effort to avoid marriage to Paris Juliet has taken a potion which allows her to feign death - and which, after a miscalculation by Friar Laurence, is so efficacious that it convinces Romeo too. In Romeo at Juliet’s Grave he enters the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, takes Juliet’s apparently dead body in his arms, guides her for the last time through the dance they first performed in the balcony scene and kills himself.

Montagues and Capulets

The Child Juliet

Masks

Romeo & Juliet before parting

Dance of the Girls from the Antilles

Death of Tybalt

Romeo at Juliet’s Tomb

Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet has always had a life in the concert hall. Although it was eventually to be recognised as the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky – and the most inspired of all ballets on Shakespearean themes – it was initially rejected by both of the leading Soviet theatres, the Kirov in 1935 and the Bolshoi in 1936. The composer’s reaction to the setback was to compile a Romeo and Juliet concert suite, which was first performed with much success in Moscow in November 1936. The ballet still not having reached the stage by the following year, Prokofiev put together a second orchestral suite of seven dances, this time for Leningrad.

The eventual worldwide success of the ballet – after its first performances in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1938 and at the Kirov in Leningrad in 1940 – has not rendered the orchestral suites redundant. Far from it: they are now more popular than ever both in the concert hall and on record. Even so, in common with a rarely performed third suite compiled by the composer in 1946, they have the disadvantage that the various extracts do not appear in the same order as the events they represent in the story. Although the present selection (seven movement taken from the first two of Prokofiev’s orchestral suites) does not present the episodes in exactly the same order as in the ballet, it does not seriously contradict the chronology of the scenario.

The Montagues and the Capulets begins with the fateful succession of chords which accompany the Prince’s warning to the two feuding families:

“If ever you disturb our streets again,

Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

The scene changes to the ball at the house of the Capulets, where the knights dance in aggressively heavy-footed rhythms and where Juliet dances with Paris to a graceful variant of the same Capulet theme, gliding with the flute on viola glissandi and turning in quietly expressive chromatic harmonies. The Child Juliet comes from somewhat earlier in the ballet, during the preparations for the ball. Juliet has not set eyes on Romeo and, though not yet fourteen, is destined by her parents to marry Count Paris. She is introduced by a playful theme of runs and leaps in a movement which features also a charmingly innocent tune for clarinet and, as she expresses her reluctance to accept the hand of Paris, a slower middle section with a poignant flute melody. In Masks Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio make their necessarily incognito entry to the Capulet ball, cautiously at first on quiet percussion and stealthy clarinet but with increasing self-confidence and in increasingly bold melodic profile.

Romeo and Juliet before parting comes from after the lovers’ secret marriage. They awaken in Juliet’s bedroom to the song of the lark and take their leave of each other amidst a frankly operatic orgy of melody. Juliet is still expected by her family to go through with her marriage to Paris, however: the charmingly ironic Dance of the Girls from Antilles (or Dance of the Girls with the Lilies as it is more comprehensibly called in the ballet) is part of the pre-nuptial celebrations. Feminine grace is displaced by a fiercely virile reminder of the violent events associated with the Death of Tybalt - Mercutio’s ill-advised sword fight with Juliet’s brother Tybalt, Romeo’s angered reprisal on Tybalt with its fifteen fatal blows, and the dramatic second-act finale in which the Capulets mourn Tybalt and swear vengeance on the Montagues.

In an effort to avoid marriage to Paris Juliet has taken a potion which allows her to feign death - and which, after a miscalculation by Friar Laurence, is so efficacious that it convinces Romeo too. In Romeo at Juliet’s Grave he enters the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, takes Juliet’s apparently dead body in his arms, guides her for the last time through the dance they first performed in the balcony scene, and kills himself.

Montagues and Capulets

Masks

Romeo and Juliet

Scene

Dance

Death of Tybalt

Romeo at Juliet’s Grave

Juliet’s Death

Dance with Mandolins

It is one of the many ironies of Soviet musical history that Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet - the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer after Tchaikovsky - was at first rejected by both the Kirov and the Bolshoi as undanceable. The composer’s immediate reaction to his disappointment was to compile two orchestral suites to demonstrate the quality of the score, above all the rhythmic and melodic attractions of the set-piece dances and the dramatic and psychological interest of the key dramatic scenes. Concert performances of the two suites led to a staging of the ballet in Brno in 1938 and its first Russian production at the Kirov two years later.

Although those two suites are still popular in the concert hall and on record, they have the disadvantage - more significant now that the ballet itself is almost as familiar as Shakespeare’s play - that the various extracts do not appear in the same order as the events they represent in the story. A third suite, compiled by Prokofiev from generally less interesting areas of the score in 1944, does not solve the problem. Conductors are free, however, to make their own selection: of the nine movements chosen for this occasion - including four from the first suite (Masks, Romeo and Juliet, Scene, The Death of Tybalt), three from the second (Montagues and Capulets, Dance, Romeo at Juliet’s Grave) and one from third (Juliet’s Death) - those which advance the plot occur more or less in chronological order; the three remaining dances are presented as an interlude and a kind of postlude.

The first movement, The Montagues and the Capulets, begins with the fateful succession of chords representing the Prince of Verona’s dire warning to the two feuding families. The scene then changes to the ball at the house of the Capulets, where the knights dance in aggressively heavy-footed rhythms and Juliet glides along on a graceful variant of the same Capulet theme. Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio make their necessarily incognito entry to the Capulet ball in Masks, stealthily at first but with increasing self-confidence.

Romeo and Juliet opens with the ballet’s “Balcony Scene.” Set in a delicate nocturnal atmosphere created by harp and muted strings, it introduces Romeo’s theme on solo violins and Juliet’s nervous answer on flute. It incorporates also an ardent passage identified by Prokofief in the ballet score as “Love Dance,” where a another melody associated with Romeo is developed to an amorous climax before subsiding into the sweet sorrow of parting.

The two interludes introduced at this point are both outdoor episodes. Scene is set in a comparatively quiet Verona, with a cheerful bassoon prominent among a few early risers, as “The Street Awakens” not far into the first act. Dance, on the other hand, is from the height of the carnival in the second act and includes extracts from the dashing “Dance of the Five Couples” and “The Carnival goes on.”

It is against the carnival background that the violent events associated with theDeath of Tybalt take place - Mercutio’s ill-advised sword fight with Tybalt, Romeo’s angered reprisal on Tybalt with its fifteen fatal blows, and the dramatic second-act finale in which the Capulets mourn Tybalt and swear vengeance on the Montagues.

Romeo at Juliet’s Grave and Juliet’s Death are from the short last act of the ballet. Entering the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, Romeo takes Juliet’s inert (and apparently dead) body in his arms, guides her for the last time through the “Love Dance,” and kills himself. In the closing scene, Juliet awakens to the saddest of the group of melodies associated with her and, as it develops, finds Romeo dead beside her. She too recalls the “Love Dance,” but only a ghostly echo of it on clarinet in this case, before embracing Romeo and “dying slowly.”

A colourful episode not included by Prokofiev in any of the suites - presumably because of the problem of finding the instruments - is the Dance with Mandolins in the second-act carnival. It is appended here to cheer you up before the interval.

Introduction to Act I

Dance of the Knights

Balcony Scene

Duel

Romeo decides to avenge Mercutio

Finale (Death of Tybalt)

Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet has always had a life in the concert hall. Although it was eventually recognised as the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky - and the most inspired of all ballets on Shakespearean themes - it was initially rejected by both of the leading Soviet theatres, the Kirov in 1935 and the Bolshoi in 1936. The composer’s reaction to the setback was to compile a Romeo and Juliet concert suite, which was first performed with much success in Moscow in November 1936.

The ballet still not having reached the stage by the following year, Prokofiev put together not only a second orchestral suite of seven dances, for Leningrad this time, but also set of ten piano pieces which he himself introduced to the audience in Moscow. The strategy was effective at least in that, by a quirk of history, it led to a staging of the ballet by the Yugoslav National Ballet in Brno in Czechoslovakia in 1938. It was finally accepted for production at the Kirov in 1940, though not without serious misgivings. “The music seemed to us incomprehensible and almost impossible to dance to,” recalled Galina Ulanova, who was shortly to be identified with the role of Juliet. “We were badly hampered by the unusual orchestration… and the frequent changes of rhythm, too, gave us a great deal of trouble.” In fact, it was a great success and, after borrowing the Kirov production in 1940, the Bolshoi mounted its own in 1946 - in anticipation of which Prokofiev compiled a third and last Romeo and Juliet orchestral suite.

While the composer’s first two suites are still popular in the concert hall and on record, they share with the rarely performed third suite the disadvantage - more significant now that the ballet itself is almost as familiar as the play - that the various extracts do not appear in the same order as the events they represent in the story. The excerpts to be heard on this occasion are taken, in authentically Shakespearian order, not from the suites but from first two acts of the ballet score itself.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the music is that there is so little local colour in it. There are several period pieces and a whole series of folk dances but the sound still relates more to Russia of Prokofiev’s day than to Italy of the past. Clearly, he is interested not so much in time and place as in character, which he identifies with specific themes and which he develops with all the means at his disposal. Far from setting the scene in Renaissance Verona, the Introduction floats straight into the erotic action on a lyrical fragment of melody associated with the most passionate episode in the ballet, Farewell before Parting in Act III. The rest is a character study of Juliet, including (on violins) the delightfully innocent theme to be definitively introduced in Juliet, the Young Girl in Act I and a more sensuous one (on clarinet) from Juliet’s Variation in the same scene.

The Dance of the Knights comes from the ball at the house of the Capulets in the first act. Aggressive rhythms and heavy masculine footwork most effectively offset a graceful middle section where Juliet dances with Paris, her family’s preferred suitor, to a graceful variant of the same Capulet theme, gliding along with the flute on viola glissandi and turning in quietly expressive chromatic harmonies. Set in a delicate nocturnal atmosphere created by harp and muted strings, the Balcony Scene introduces Romeo’s theme on solo violins and Juliet’s nervous answer on flute. It incorporates also an ardent passage identified by Prokofiev in the ballet score as “Love Dance,” where another Romeo melody is developed to an amorous climax before subsiding into sweet sorrow. The amorous atmosphere is cruelly dispatched by violent events from the end of the second act - Mercutio’s athletic, even acrobatic but fatally ill-advised Dual with Juliet’s brother Tybalt, Romeo’s ferociously angered reprisal on Tybalt, the fifteen fatal blows, and the no less dramatic Finale in which the Capulets mourn Tybalt and swear vengeance on the Montagues.

The Child Juliet

Folk Dance

Masks

Friar Laurence

Dance

Romeo and Juliet

Death of Tybalt

Romeo & Juliet before parting

Dance of the Girls from the Antilles

Romeo at Juliet’s Grave

It is one of the many ironies of Soviet musical history that Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet - the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer after Tchaikovsky - was at first rejected by both the Kirov and the Bolshoi as undanceable. The composer’s immediate reaction to his disappointment was to compile two orchestral suites to demonstrate the quality of the score, above all the rhythmic and melodic attractions of the set-piece dances and the dramatic and psychological interest of the key dramatic scenes. Concert performances of the two suites led to a staging of the ballet in Brno in 1938 and its first Russian production at the Kirov two years later.

Those two suites, popular though they are, have the disadvantage that the various extracts do not appear in the same order as the events they represent in the story. A third suite, compiled by Prokofiev from generally less interesting areas of the score in 1944, does nothing to solve the problem. Conductors are free, however, to make their own selection: usefully, of the ten movements chosen on this occasion, including four from the first suite and six from the second, those which advance the plot occur more or less in Shakespearean order.

The Child Juliet comes from the first act of the ballet, where the Capulets are preparing for the ball at which Romeo and Juliet will meet for the first time. Juliet is introduced here in a state of playful innocence, running in semiquavers with the violins and clapping her hands to staccato chords on the woodwind; and yet, as the clarinet indicates, she is not incapable of tender sentiment and, on the subject of her forthcoming and unwelcome marriage to Paris, not unthoughtful either. A Folk Dance, a brilliantly sustained tarantella from the beginning of the second act, intervenes before Masks where Romeo and Mercutio make their masked entry at the Capulets’ ball, cautiously at first on quiet percussion and stealthy clarinet but then in increasingly bold melodic profile.

Friar Laurence introduces the unfortunate cleric who, in the vain hope of uniting the feuding Montague and Capulet families, agrees to Romeo’s request to marry him to Juliet. He is characterised here by a ponderous chorale on lower strings and wind which is offset by more supple melodic material associated with Romeo. As in Prokofiev’s own Suite No.2 this lugubrious episode is followed by the lively Dance which forms part of the street carnival in the second act.

Romeo and Juliet, opens with the ballet’s equivalent of the “Balcony Scene” in the first act. Set in a delicate nocturnal atmosphere created by harp and muted strings, it introduces Romeo’s theme on solo violins and Juliet’s nervous answer on flute. It incorporates also an ardent passage identified by Prokofief in the ballet score as “Love Dance,” where a another Romeo melody is developed to an amorous climax before subsiding into sweet sorrow. Again following Prokofiev’s own example, the amorous atmosphere is cruelly dispatched by the violent events associated with the Death of Tybalt - Mercutio’s ill-advised sword fight with Juliet’s brother Tybalt, Romeo’s angered reprisal on Tybalt with its fifteen fatal blows, and the dramatic second-act finale in which the Capulets mourn Tybalt and swear vengeance on the Montagues.

Romeo and Juliet before Parting comes from after their secret marriage as they awaken in Juliet’s bedroom to the song of the lark and as they take their leave of each other amidst a frankly operatic orgy of melody. Juliet is still expected by her family to go through with her marriage to Paris, however: the charmingly ironic Dance of the Girls from Antilles (or Dance of the Girls with the Lilies as it is called in the ballet) is part of the pre-nuptial celebrations. It is in an effort to avoid that marriage that Juliet takes a potion which allows her to feign death - and which, after a miscalculation by Friar Laurence, is so efficacious that it convinces Romeo too. In Romeo at Juliet’s Grave he enters the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, takes Juliet’s apparently dead body in his arms, guides her for the last time through the “Love Dance,” and kills himself.

Gerald Larner©

Introduction

The Duke’s Decree

Juliet the Young Girl

Masks

Dance of the Knights

The People Make Merry

The Duel: Tybalt and Mercutio Fight

Romeo Resolves to Avenge Mercutio’s Death

Finale to Act II (Tybalt’s Funeral Cortège)

Juliet’s Bedroom

Juliet’s Funeral (and Death of Romeo)

Juliet’s Death

Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet has always had a life in the concert hall. Although it was eventually to be recognised as the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky - and the most inspired of all ballets on Shakespearean themes - it was initially rejected by both of the leading Soviet theatres, the Kirov in 1935 and the Bolshoi in 1936. The composer’s reaction to the setback was to compile a Romeo and Juliet concert suite, which was first performed with much success in Moscow in November 1936. The ballet still not having reached the stage by the following year, Prokofiev put together a second orchestral suite of seven dances, this time for Leningrad.

The eventual worldwide success of the ballet - after its first performances in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1938 and at the Kirov in Leningrad in 1940 - has not rendered the orchestral suites redundant. Far from it: they are now more popular than ever both in the concert hall and on record. Even so, in common with a rarely performed third suite compiled by the composer in 1946, they have the disadvantage that the various extracts do not appear in the same order as the events they represent in the story. The twelve excerpts to be heard on this occasion, taken not from the suites but from the ballet score itself, are presented in authentically Shakespearian order.

Although the present selection tends to favour dramatic impact over love interest, it begins (like the ballet) with an Introduction that floats straight into the erotic action on a lyrical fragment of melody anticipating a particularly passionate episode in Romeo and Juliet’s love story. There is no more dramatic moment in the whole ballet, on the other hand, than The Duke’s Decree. A fateful succession of dissonant chords, passing between wind and strings at opposite extremes of the dynamic range, accompanies the Duke of Verona’s dire warning to the feuding Montague and Capulet families: “If ever you disturb our streets again,” he says in Shakespeare’s play, “Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

The scene changes to the Capulet house and the preparations for the ball in which Juliet, though about to be betrothed to Paris, is to meet Romeo for the first time. Juliet the Young Girl is characterised by a playful theme of runs and leaps on violins and woodwind together with a clarinet melody (already heard in the Introduction) symbolic of her childish innocence. In a slower middle section she expresses her reluctance to accept the hand of Paris with a poignant flute melody. Braving the danger of attending a ball in the Capulet house, Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio make their incognito entry in Masks, stealthily at first but with increasing confidence in their cheerful athleticism. The poetic allusion to the amorous side of Romeo just before the end of Masks contrasts significantly with the heavy-footed rhythms and armour-plated orchestration of the Capulet Dance of the Knights - which does, however, have its more graceful episodes, not least Juliet’s dance with Paris exquisitely coloured by flute over harp and pizzicato strings.

The People Make Merry is one of several folk dances from Act II, the basis of which is a carnival where, according to Prokofiev, “gaiety, lightness and frivolity prevail.” The atmosphere changes as Tybalt, Juliet’s brother, meets Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend, and a duel ensues. Tybalt and Mercutio Fight in a dramatic development of themes earlier associated with Mercutio who, although he retains his sprightly humour in the face of Tybalt’s aggression, is killed at the end. In inevitable retaliation Romeo Resolves to Avenge Mercutio’s Death and does just that in a frantic episode ending with no fewer than fifteen hammered discords. The Finale to Act Two is an impressively grief-stricken public lament for Tybalt.

In Juliet’s Bedroom, having acquired from Friar Laurence a potion which will allow her to feign death and lie in state in the Capulet crypt until Romeo comes to release her, Juliet feigns her consent to marriage with Paris. Recalling the melody to which she danced with him at the ball, she dances with him again, but not without the by now familiar expression of reluctance.

The two remaining movement correspond to the two short scenes of the fourth and final act of the ballet. Juliet’s Funeral must be the most tragic all laments for someone who is not actually dead. But as far as Romeo knows Juliet is dead. Entering the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, he takes her inert body in his arms, guides her for the last time through a love dance remembered from the balcony scene and kills himself. In Juliet’s Death she awakens to the saddest of the group of melodies associated with her and finds Romeo dead beside her. She too recalls the love dance, but only a ghostly echo of it on clarinet in this case, before embracing Romeo and, according to the stage directions, “dying slowly.”

Gerald Larner ©2004

Introduction: andante assai

Act I

Scene 1

Romeo: andante

The Street Awakens: allegretto

Morning Dance: allegro

The Quarrel: allegro brusco

The Fight: presto

The Duke’s Command: andante

Interlude: andante pomposo -

Scene 2

Preparation for the Ball: andante assai, scherzando

Juliet, the Young Girl: vivace

Arrival of the Guests: assai moderato

Masks: andante marciale

Dance of the Knights: allegro pesante

Juliet’s Variation: moderato (quasi allegretto)

Mercutio: allegro giocoso

Madrigal: andante teneroso

Tybalt recognises Romeo: allegro -

Gavotte: allegro

Balcony Scene: larghetto -

Romeo’s Variation: allegro amoroso -

Love Dance: andante

Prokoviev’s Romeo and Juliet is not only the most inspired of all ballets on Shakespearean themes but also the greatest ballet score by any Russian composer since Tchaikovsky. Unfortunately, its merits were not recognised by the Soviet authorities who ran the major theatres when Prokofiev was trying to get it performed in the mid-1930s. Both the Kirov in (what was then) Leningrad and the Bolshoi in Moscow rejected it at first. It was only in 1938, after two orchestral suites had demonstrated the quality of the music, that the ballet was staged - and even then only in Brno in (what was then) Czechoslovakia.

It was finally accepted for production at the Kirov in 1940, though not without serious misgivings. “The music seemed to us incomprehensible and almost impossible to dance to,” recalled Galina Ulanova, who was shortly to be identified with the role of Juliet. “We were badly hampered by the unusual orchestration… and the frequent changes of rhythm, too, gave us a great deal of trouble.” In fact, it was a great success and, after borrowing the Kirov production in 1940, the Bolshoi mounted its own in 1946.

Introduction

Far from setting the scene in Renaissance Verona with period and local colour, the Introduction begins with an anticipation of the most passionate episode of all, Romeo and Juliet’s Farewell before Parting in Act III. The rest is a character study of Juliet, including (on violins) the delightfully innocent theme to be definitively introduced in Juliet, the Young Girl in Act I and a more sensuous one (on clarinet) from Juliet’s Variation in the same scene.

Act I, Scene 1

The first scene, which is set in the early morning in the street outside the Capulet house, is constructed as a compellingly dramatic progression. Beginning with the comparatively tranquil Romeo, where the romantic hero’s main theme is introduced on clarinet, it accumulates activity in The Street Awakens, featuring an important syncopated theme on bassoon, and an exhilaratingly vigorous Morning Dance. Intensity increases as the dance develops into a Quarrel between representatives of the Montagues and the Capulets and then a frantic Fight which attracts the attention of the heavy-footed Capulet knights and, as alarm bells ring, of the Duke of Verona himself. His Command (as Shakespeare’s Prince has it)

If ever you disturb our streets again

Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace

is interpreted by Prokofiev as a fateful succession of dissonant chords at extremes of the dynamic range.

Act I, Scene 2

A brass band Interlude leads into the second scene, set in the Capulet house, where Juliet and her Nurse - the latter characterised by a comically clumsy woodwind tune - are among those involved in the Preparations for the Ball. Juliet the Young Girl, introduced by a playful theme of runs and leaps in a movement, features also the innocent melody already familiar from the Introduction and, as Juliet expresses her reluctance to accept the hand of Paris, a slower middle section with a poignant flute melody. The Arrival of the Guests takes place to the accompaniment of a minuet, the old-world pomposity of which is relieved by an anticipation on cornet of the graceful ladies’ dance which is to be heard later in the Dance of the Knights. Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio make their incognito entry in Masks, stealthily at first but with increasing confidence in their cheerful athleticism.

The poetic allusion to the amorous side of Romeo just before the end of Masks contrasts significantly with the crude Capulet rhythms and heavy orchestration of the Dance of the Knights - although the latter does have its more graceful episodes, not least Juliet’s dance with Paris exquisitely coloured by flute over harp and pizzicato strings. Juliet’s Variation is a reflection on most of the themes associated with her so far. If, as the acrobatic Mercutio indicates, Romeo’s best friend is indifferent to Juliet’s charms, the next movement demonstrates that the feuding Montague and Capulet families have the beginning of a problem on their hands: to the tender three-part counterpoint of the Madrigal Romeo approaches Juliet and, as his mask falls from his face, a romantic melody to be heard later in the Balcony Scene rises on violins. In Tybalt recognises Romeo Juliet’s possessive brother is angered to see her in intimate conversation with Romeo but positive action is forestalled by the formal Departure of the Guests (set to a variant of the Gavotte from the Classical Symphony).

The last three movements of the Act I form an unbroken, progressively passionate dialogue between the two lovers - the tenderly expressive Balcony Scene, where themes associated with Romeo and Juliet mingle with memories of the Madrigal , the impulsive waltz of Romeo’s Variation, the ardent Love Dance which transforms the rhythm of the waltz tune and develops it to a climax before subsiding into the sweet sorrow of parting.

Gerald Larner©2002

Introduction: andante assai

Act I

Scene 1

Romeo: andante

The Street Awakens: allegretto

Morning Dance: allegro

The Quarrel: allegro brusco

The Fight: presto

The Duke’s Command: andante

Interlude: andante pomposo -

Scene 2

Preparation for the Ball: andante assai, scherzando

Juliet, the Young Girl: vivace

Arrival of the Guests: assai moderato

Masks: andante marciale

Dance of the Knights: allegro pesante

Juliet’s Variation: moderato (quasi allegretto)

Mercutio: allegro giocoso

Madrigal: andante teneroso

Tybalt recognises Romeo: allegro -

Gavotte: allegro

Balcony Scene: larghetto -

Romeo’s Variation: allegro amoroso -

Love Dance: andante

Act II

Scene 3

Folk Dance: allegro giocoso

Romeo and Mercutio: andante teneroso

Dance of the Five Couples: vivo

Dance with Mandolins: vivace

The Nurse: adagio scherzoso

The Message from Juliet: vivace

Scene 4

Romeo at Friar Laurence’s Cell: andante espressivo

Juliet at Friar Laurence’s Cell: lento -

Scene 5

The Carnival Continues: vivo

Another Folk Dance: allegro giocoso

Tybalt meets Mercutio: moderato -

Tybalt fights with Mercutio: precipitato

Mercutio’s Death: moderato

Romeo avenges Mercutio: andante (quasi allegro) -

Finale: adagio dramatico

Act III

Scene 6

Introduction: andante -

Romeo and Juliet: lento

Romeo and Juliet before Parting: andante

The Nurse: andante assai -

Juliet refuses to marry Paris: vivace

Juliet alone: adagio -

Interlude: adagio -

Scene 7

In Friar Laurence’s Cell: andante -

Interlude: l’istesso tempo -

Scene 8

Juliet’s Room: moderato tranquillo

Juliet alone: andante

Morning Serenade: andante giocoso

Dance of the Girls with the Lilies: andante con eleganza

Juliet’s Bedside: andante assai

Act IV

Scene 9

Juliet’s Funeral: adagio funebre -

Juliet’s Death: adagio

Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet has always had a life in the concert hall. In fact, the first that was heard of it was the seven movements of the orchestral suite which, frustrated by the rejection of his ballet by both the Kirov and the Bolshoi, the composer put together for a performance in Moscow in November 1936. A year later, the ballet still not having reached the stage, a second orchestral suite of seven movements was presented in (what was then) Leningrad and a set of ten pieces for piano was introduced by the Prokofiev himself in Moscow. The ballet itself was not seen until 1938 when, by a quirk of history - and in the absence of the composer - it was performed by the Yugoslav National Ballet in Brno in (what was then) Czechoslovakia.

The idea for the ballet had come originally from Sergei Radlov, the progressive-minded artistic director of the former Mariinsky Theatre, at that time known as the Leningrad State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. Having staged the first Russian production of The Love for Three Oranges in Leningrad in 1926, Radlov knew Prokofiev well and considered him to be the right composer to collaborate with him on a ballet project he had conceived while working on a production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in 1934. Prokofiev responded with enthusiasm to Radlov’s proposals - mainly because he liked the subject but also because he had every reason to believe that the work would be performed at what he no doubt still thought of as the Mariinsky Theatre and that it would establish him as the leading Soviet composer on his definitive return to Russia in 1935.

Unfortunately, after the political changes following the assassination of Sergei Kirov and the renaming of the Leningrad State Academic Theatre as the Kirov State Academic Theatre, Radlov lost all influence there. In the hope now of securing a production at the Bolshoi, Radlov and Prokofiev continued to work on the scenario and the piano score was completed in a surge of inspiration in less than five months in the summer and autumn of 1935. But when Prokofiev played it over to the Bolshoi administration in October of that year they took fright at the project. They considered the music “undanceable” and they didn’t like the happy ending which Radlov and Prokofiev had in mind at that stage. “The reasons that led us to such a barbarism,” Prokofiev explained later, “were purely choreographic. Living people can dance, but the dead cannot dance lying down.”

Persuaded to think again about that, Radlov and Prokofiev were joined by two more collaborators, the choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky and the playwright Adrian Piotrovsky, and the four of them together fashioned the version with the Shakespearan ending which was finally accepted for production at the Kirov. But Prokofiev’s problems were not ever even then. The rehearsal period leading up to the opening of the production in Leningrad in January 1940 was fraught with difficulties. “The music seemed to us incomprehensible and almost impossible to dance to,” recalled Galina Ulanova, who was shortly to be identified with the role of Juliet. “We were badly hampered by the unusual orchestration… and the frequent changes of rhythm, too, gave us a great deal of trouble.” At the same time, much against the composer’s will, Lavrovsky was demanding new pieces of music to match his concept of the scale of the work and his choreography for it.

Although the highly successful Kirov production of Romeo and Juliet was taken to Moscow early in 1940, the Bolshoi did not mount its own until 1946. It was in anticipation of that event that Prokofiev compiled a third orchestral suite, adding six movements to the fourteen already available for concert performance in the first two suites. The problem with all three suites - and the more familiar the ballet became the greater the problem - is that none of them presents the musical excerpts in Shakespearian order. Conscious too that the twenty movements in the three suites together represent less than half of the numbers in the complete ballet, conductors have recently taken to compiling their own longer, chronologically ordered selections. A concert performance of all fifty-two numbers of the ballet is the logical next step.

Introduction and Act I

One of the more remarkable aspects of the score is that there is so little local colour in it. There are several period pieces and a whole series of folk dances but the sound still relates more to Russia of the day than to Italy of the past. Clearly, Prokofiev is interested not so much in time and place as in sex and violence and, above all, character, which he identifies with specific themes and which he develops with all the means at his disposal. Far from setting the scene in Renaissance Verona, the Introduction floats straight into the erotic action on a lyrical fragment of melody associated with the most passionate episode in the ballet, Farewell before Parting in Act III. The rest is a character study of Juliet, including (on violins) the delightfully innocent theme to be definitively introduced in Juliet, the Young Girl in Act I and a more sensuous one (on clarinet) from Juliet’s Variation in the same scene.

Another remarkable aspect of the score is that, although it is presented as a succession of short pieces - the longest is just over seven minutes, the shortest just under one minute - the long-term effect is the opposite of episodic. The first scene, which is set in the early morning in the street outside the Capulet house, is constructed as a compellingly dramatic progression. Beginning with the comparatively tranquil Romeo, where the romantic hero’s main theme is introduced on clarinet and his so far unfocused amorous sentiments suggested in a gently rising phrase on violins in the closing bars, it accumulates activity in The Street Awakens, featuring an important syncopated theme on bassoon, and an exhilaratingly vigorous Morning Dance. Intensity increases as the dance develops into a Quarrel between representatives of the Montagues and the Capulets and then a frantic Fight which attracts the attention of the heavy-footed Capulet knights and, as alarm bells ring, of the Duke of Verona himself. His Command (as Shakespeare’s Prince has it)

If ever you disturb our streets again

Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace

is interpreted by Prokofiev as a fateful succession of dissonant chords at extemes of the dynamic range.

A brass band Interlude leads into the the second scene, set in the Capulet house, where Juliet and her Nurse - the latter characterised by a comically clumsy woodwind tune - are among those involved in the Preparations for the Ball. Juliet theYoung Girl, introduced by a playful theme of runs and leaps in a movement, features also the innocent melody already familiar from the Introduction and, as Juliet expresses her reluctance to accept the hand of Paris, a slower middle section with a poignant flute melody which is to assume great importance in Acts III and IV. The Arrival of the Guests takes place to the accompaniment of a minuet, the old-world pomposity of which is relieved by an anticipation on cornet of the graceful ladies’ dance which is to be heard later in the Dance of the Knights. Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio make their incognito entry in Masks, stealthily at first but with increasing confidence in their cheerful athleticism.

The poetic allusion to the amorous side of Romeo just before the end of Masks contrasts significantly with the crude Capulet rhythms and heavy orchestration of the Dance of the Knights - although the latter does have its more graceful episodes, not least Juliet’s dance with Paris exquisitely coloured by flute over harp and pizzicato strings. Juliet’s Variation is a reflection on most of the themes associated with her so far. If, as the acrobatic Mercutio indicates, Romeo’s best friend is indifferent to Juliet’s charms, the next movement demonstrates that the feuding Montague and Capulet families have the beginning of a problem on their hands: to the tender three-part counterpoint of the Madrigal Romeo approaches Juliet and, as his mask falls from his face, a romantic melody to be heard later in the Balcony Scene rises on violins. In Tybalt recognises Romeo Juliet’s possessive brother is angered to see her in intimate conversation with Romeo but positive action is forestalled by the formal Departure of the Guests (set to a variant of the Gavotte from the Classical Symphony).

The last three movements of the Act I form an unbroken, progressively passionate dialogue between the two lovers - the tenderly expressive Balcony Scene, where themes associated with Romeo and Juliet mingle with memories of the Madrigal , the impulsive waltz of Romeo’s Variation, the ardent Love Dance which transforms the rhythm of the waltz tune and develops it to a climax before subsiding into the sweet sorrow of parting.

Act II

According to the composer, each act has its own specific colour. “The basis of Act II,” he says, “is a carnival. In contrast to Act I, gaiety, lightness and frivolity prevail.” The tarantella Folk Dance, the dashing Dance of the Five Couples, the brass-band procession which interrupts it, and the colourful Dance with Mandolins are all part of the street celebrations. Romeo and Mercutio is a more private episode: Romeo is brooding on the Madrigal theme and, in spite of the efforts of the irrepressible Mercutio to distract him, he continues to dream of Juliet. What does distract him is the entry of The Nurse and The Message from Juliet warning him, by means of an agitated version of Juliet’s playful theme, that he must marry her before she is forced into an arranged marriage with Paris.

The next scene introdues a new character and, on lower wind at the beginning of Romeo at Friar Laurence’s Cell, a ponderous new chorale theme to go with him. In the hope of uniting the two families, Friar Laurence accedes to Romeo’s request to marry him to Juliet. The wedding takes place in Juliet at Friar Laurence’s Cell at daybreak, as signalled by the song of the lark on solo flute: Juliet enters neither playfully nor innocently but gracefully on a cello melody poised in 2/4 against a 6/8 accompaniment.

The festive atmosphere is revived in the Carnival Continues (a varied repeat of the Dance of the Five Couples)and Another Folk Dance but is shattered as Tybalt Meets Mercutio, a once nonchalant dance tune now assuming an aggressive posture as it meets the strutting Capulet theme. Romeo, thinking of Juliet, attemps to pacify them but fails. Tybalt fights with Mercutio is a dramatic development of themes from Mercutio and Mercutio’s Death sadly recalls the music associated with the friendship of Mercutio with Romeo and Benvolio in Masks in Act One. Romeo avenges Mercutio renews the frantic material of the earlier Fight, although in this case, as the notorious series of fifteen hammered discords unmistakably indicates, with more serious results. The Finale of Act Two is an impressively grief-stricken public lament for Tybalt.

Act III

The Introduction to Act III serves as a grim reminder of the power of the Duke of Verona, who has sentenced Romeo to exile for his part in the death of Tybalt. In Romeo and Juliet the lovers awaken to the song of the lark and in Farewell before Parting take their leave of each other amidst a frankly operatic orgy of melody, including an expansive new idea for horn and clarinet and, in the middle section, a rhapsody on the waltz theme as it was so expressively developed in the Love Dance in Act One and as re-introduced here on viola d’amore. As Romeo leaves, The Nurse warns Juliet of the approach of her parents with Paris, who make their entry to echoes of the ball scene in Act One. Juliet Refuses to Marry Paris to a petulant version of her playful theme and to the tearful melody already heard in a similar situation in Act One. Her parents’ reply is characteristic Capulet aggression. In Juliet Alone, in despair and remembering her Love Dance with Romeo, she decides to seek help from Friar Laurence.

By way of an Interlude developing the big tune from Farewell before Parting, Juliet arrives At Friar Laurence’s Cell where, pleading her love for Romeo, she asks for help and receives it in the form of a potion which will allow her to feign death and lie in state in the Capulet crypt until Romeo comes to release her. A sinister figure rising from the depths of the orchestra and sliding chromatically down again offers a dark hint that something will go disastrously wrong. The rest of that episode merges with an Interlude of mixed Capulet feelings as Juliet returns home to carry out her plan.

In Juliet’s Room she consents to marry Paris and, recalling the melody to which she danced with him at the ball, dances with him again, but not without the by now familiar expression of reluctance. Juliet alone finds her too harbouring dark misgivings but, encouraged by an echo of the Love Dance (on oboe and viola d’amore), she swallows the potion. After a cheerful Morning Serenade on mandolins and a charming Dance of Maidens with Lillies, both designed as tributes to Paris’s bride, the Nurse and her mother come to Juliet’s Bedside - but only, as woodwind low comedy turns to high-lying violin poignancy, to find that they cannot awaken her and to conclude that Juliet is dead.

Act IV (or Epilogue)

Juliet’s Funeral, where the premonition of disaster is now elevated to the status of a searingly passionate main theme, must be the most tragic all laments for someone who is not actually dead. But as far as Romeo knows, Friar Laurence’s stratagem having failed, Juliet is dead. Entering the Capulet crypt after the departure of the family mourners, he takes her inert body in his arms, guides her for the last time through the Love Dance and kills himself.

In the closing episode of the ballet, Juliet awakens to the saddest of the group of melodies associated with her and, as it develops, finds Romeo dead beside her. She too recalls the Love Dance, but only a ghostly echo of it on clarinet in this case, before embracing Romeo and, according to the stage directions, “dying slowly.”

Gerald Larner