Background

Prokofiev, along with other composers, was evacuated to Caucasus when Germany started attacking the Soviet Union in 1941. It was under such circumstances that Prokofiev began work on this symphonic suite (He was working on his epic opera War and Peace

War and Peace (Prokofiev)

War and Peace is an opera in two parts , sometimes arranged as five acts, by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson, based on the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...

at the same time).

Movements

The whole suite lasts for around 15 minutes.

1. In the Struggle
2. In the Night
3. For the Brotherhood of Man

Analysis

Shostakovich had criticized the work's materials being under-developed. Even Myaskosvky, Prokofiev's closest friend, did not like the work. However, the work does contain a wealth of melodic material, albeit without symphonic treatment.