Two Pieces from Lt. Kije

From Wind Repertory Project
Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev (arr. Fisher Tull)


This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it,
please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information.


General Info

Year: 1934 / 1971
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $55.00   |   Score Only (print) - $17.99


Movements

1. Wedding of Kije
2. Troika


Instrumentation

Full Score
B-flat Trumpet I-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion

(Percussion detail desired)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé music was originally written to accompany the film of the same name, produced by the Belgoskino film studios in Leningrad in 1933–34 and released in March 1934. It was Prokofiev's first attempt at film music, and his first commission.

In the early days of sound cinema, among the various distinguished composers ready to try their hand at film music, Prokofiev was not an obvious choice for the commission. Based in Paris for almost a decade, he had a reputation for experimentation and dissonance, characteristics at odds with the cultural norms of the Soviet Union. By early 1933, however, Prokofiev was anxious to return to his homeland, and saw the film commission as an opportunity to write music in a more popular and accessible style.

After the film's successful release, the five-movement Kijé suite quickly became part of the international concert repertoire. It has remained one of the composer's best-known and most frequently recorded works. Elements of the suite's score have been used in several later films, and in two popular songs of the Cold War era.

Kijé's Wedding begins with and is regularly visited by a broad, ceremonial and somewhat pompous melody, played on brass and woodwind. In between these formal-sounding statements are a cheerful cornet solo and various elaborations and variations on the Kijé theme, which together give the movement a celebratory feel, both boisterous and sentimental.

The principal melody in in Troika is taken from an old Hussar song, for which Prokofiev provided an optional baritone part. The melody first appears in a slow and somewhat dissonant statement, after which the pace quickens: sleigh bells, rapid pizzicato strings, and piano combine to give the impression of a fast winter's journey by means of the troika, a traditional Russian three-horse sled. The ride is accompanied at regular intervals by the song theme, which brings the movement to its close with a slow repetition of its final phrase.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


State Ratings

  • Indiana: 090 - LARGE BRASS ENSEMBLES


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Stephen F. Austin University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Wind Symphony (Tamey Anglley, conductor) - 2 March 2021


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Lieutenance Kijé, Wikipedia Accessed 20 May 2021
  • Prokofiev, S.; Tull, F. (1971) . Two Pieces from Lieutenant Kije [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: New York, N.Y.
Retrieved from "https://www.windrep.org/index.php?title=Two_Pieces_from_Lt._Kije&oldid=226356"