Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...

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

Background

This symphony

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

 represents a turning away from the more dissonant aspects of Prokofiev's music, toward a simpler style, and was premiered as part of a radio program for children. Because of this it has been called the "Children's symphony". Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....

 expressed admiration for the work, and it may have influenced his 15th symphony

Symphony No. 15 (Shostakovich)

The Symphony No. 15 in A major , Dmitri Shostakovich's last, was written in a little over a month during the summer of 1971 in Repino. It was first performed in Moscow on 8 January 1972 by the All-Union Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich.-Form:The work has four...

.

Most of the symphony is emotionally restrained, nostalgic and melancholy in mood, including the ending of the Vivace

Vivace

Vivace is Italian for "lively" and "vivid". It is pronounced in the International Phonetic Alphabet.Vivace is used as an Italian musical term indicating a movement that is in a lively mood ....

 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 (because of official disapproval, Prokofiev was living in poverty at this time). Before he died, Prokofiev indicated that the original quiet ending was to be preferred .

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

Lenin Prize

The Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...

.

Movements

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

1. Moderato
   Tempo
   In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
   
   
2. Allegretto
3. Andante espressivo
   Musical terminology
   This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian , in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings of these phrases differ from...
   
   
4. Vivace
   Vivace
   Vivace is Italian for "lively" and "vivid". It is pronounced in the International Phonetic Alphabet.Vivace is used as an Italian musical term indicating a movement that is in a lively mood ....
   
   

The first movement, in sonata form

Sonata form

Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...

, opens with a melancholic first theme on violins, which contrasts with the warm and lyrical second theme on cellos. 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

Glockenspiel

A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...

 and xylophone

Xylophone

The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...

.

The second movement is an autumnal waltz, reminiscent of Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella

Cinderella (Prokofiev)

Cinderella is a ballet, Op. 87, composed by Sergei Prokofiev to a scenario by Nikolai Volkov. It is one of his most popular and melodious compositions, and has inspired a great many choreographers since its inception. The piece was composed between 1940 and 1944. Part way through writing it he...

, while the third movement is an expressive and singing slow movement.

The finale, in C-sharp major, contains an innocent cheerfulness. There is a slowing of pace and the return of the warm cello 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

• Piccolo
  Piccolo
  The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
  
  
• 2 Flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  s
• 2 Oboe
  Oboe
  The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
  
  s
• Cor Anglais
  Cor anglais
  The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
  
  
• 2 Clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  s
• Bass Clarinet
  Bass clarinet
  The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
  
  
• 2 Bassoon
  Bassoon
  The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
  
  s

Brass

• 4 horn
  Horn (instrument)
  The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
  
  s
• 3 Trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  s
• 3 Trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  s
• Tuba
  Tuba
  The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
  
  

Percussion

• Timpani
  Timpani
  Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
  
  
• Bass Drum
  Bass drum
  Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
  
  
• Snare Drum
  Snare drum
  The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
  
  
• Cymbal
  Cymbal
  Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
  
  s
• Tambourine
  Tambourine
  The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
  
  
• Triangle
  Triangle (instrument)
  The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
  
  
• Wood block
  Wood block
  A woodblock is essentially a small piece of slit drum made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument. It is struck with a stick, making a characteristically percussive sound....
  
  s
• Xylophone
  Xylophone
  The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
  
  
• Glockenspiel
  Glockenspiel
  A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
  
  

Keyboard

• Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  

Strings

• Harp
  Harp
  The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
  
  
• Violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  s (1st and 2nd)
• Viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  s
• Cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  s
• Double Bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  es

Recordings

The first recording was made by Eugene Ormandy

Eugene Ormandy

Eugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.-Early life:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of five...

 with the Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

 for the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 label in April 1953. Nikolai Malko

Nikolai Malko

-Biography:Malko was born in Semaky, Ukraine. His father was Ukrainian, his mother Russian. He studied philology at St Petersburg University. He published articles on music criticism in the Russian press and performed as a pianist and later a conductor. In 1906 he completed his studies in history...

 and the Philharmonia Orchestra

Philharmonia Orchestra

The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...

 were the first to record the music in stereo, in 1955. Recordings using the original slow ending are marked by an asterisk.

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Cleveland Orchestra Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...	Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland... *	Decca Decca Records Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....	1995	CD
London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...	Valery Gergiev Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,... *	Philips Philips Records Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...	2004	CD
Scottish National Orchestra	Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi is an Estonian-born conductor.-Early life:Järvi studied music first in Tallinn, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, among others...	Chandos Chandos Records Chandos Records is an independent classical music recording company based in Colchester, Essex, in the United Kingdom, founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.- Background :...	1986	CD
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Czech Philharmonic Orchestra The Česká filharmonie is a symphony orchestra based in Prague and is the best-known and most respected orchestra in the Czech Republic.- History :...	Zdeněk Košler Zdenek Košler Zdeněk Košler was a Czech conductor, who played an important role in Czech musical life of the second half of 20th century, notably during the sixties and the eighties. He was particularly well-known as an opera conductor....	Supraphon Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...	1977	CD
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is one of the principle orchestras of Ukraine....	Theodore Kuchar Theodore Kuchar Theodore Kuchar is a Ukrainian American conductor of classical music and a violist.-Biography:Kuchar was born in 1960 in New York City. He started to learn to play the violin at ten years of age, later switching to viola...	Naxos Naxos Records Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...		CD
Philharmonia Orchestra Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...	Nikolai Malko Nikolai Malko -Biography:Malko was born in Semaky, Ukraine. His father was Ukrainian, his mother Russian. He studied philology at St Petersburg University. He published articles on music criticism in the Russian press and performed as a pianist and later a conductor. In 1906 he completed his studies in history...	EMI EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...	1955	CD
National Orchestra of the O.R.T.F.	Jean Martinon Jean Martinon Jean Martinon was a French conductor and composer.-Biography:Martinon was born in Lyon, where he began his education, going on to the Conservatoire de Paris to study under Albert Roussel for composition, under Charles Munch and Roger Désormière for conducting, under Vincent d'Indy for harmony,...	Vox Vox Records VOX Records is a budget classical record label. The name is Latin for "voice."-History:Vox was founded in 1945, starting out with 78-rpm discs, specializing in licensed pressings of classical recordings made in Europe. It was one of the last major recording companies to adopt stereo recording,...		CD
Berlin Philharmonic	Seiji Ozawa Seiji Ozawa is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:... *	Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...	1989	CD
Orchestre National de France Orchestre National de France The Orchestre national de France is a symphony orchestra run by Radio France. It has also been known as the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française and Orchestre national de l'Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française .Since 1944, the orchestra has been based in the Théâtre...	Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of... *	Erato Erato Records Erato Records is a record label founded in 1953 to promote French classical music. In 1992 it became part of Warner Bros. Records. In 1999 Erato launched a subsidiary Detour Records....	1988	CD
USSR Ministry of Culture State Symphony Orchestra	Gennadi Rozhdestvensky			CD/LP
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra	Gennadi Rozhdestvensky*			LP
London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...	Walter Weller Walter Weller Walter Weller is an Austrian conductor and violinist.-Biography:Weller was born in Vienna, Austria where he first gained renown as a prodigy on the violin...	Decca Decca Records Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....	1974	CD