introduction i'i bui lt o n th is Ihe mc whic h reappear'i two more lim e~ in the middlc of lhe piece imd is u ~cd in an expanded fonn fo r the conclu!<Iion. "ZdJ'(ll'irsa was olle of Proko fie v's m o~ t o fficial ly successful ~Htempl5 in the ge nre of political Camilla". I" Prokofie\'!.. ne xt c ho ral projec i wa~co n ceivcd in 19..t2 while he wa.., an evacuee in Tbil si. Baffad oJ (III Vf/lllOlni Boy. Op. 93. ~co red for soprano and tcnor !:<o lo isl. choru~. a nd orchest ra. i~ a patriotic C~\llIatn sel 10 the an ti · N a zi te x i of th e popular So v iet poe l Antokol sky, ln hi ~ program notes Prokofiev wrotc: The basis of the cantata is the rat e of Ihe boy whose rno ther and sister were J....ill ed bythe Fasc isls, whohad robbed hi 111 of hb happy c hildhood. The :-.haJ....en ~o ul of the boy reache~ manhood. and he i~ ready (or il fcm of arms. D uring Ihe rc lrcal by the Genllans from h i~ home IOwn. the boy blows up the car of a Fasci;;;t cOlllmander wi th a grenade, 111e nam e of and fa le of Ihe boy arc Ilot known. bU I the g lory and va lor of Ihi s act ion spreads Ihrougho ut the un it al the front and in Ih e rear. spurri ng Ihem o n 10 fig ht theene my. 1 ha ve e ndea vored to make the cu nt::l1 a a sw ifHlloving. drnmalic composition . Des pi le hi s e ft'o lh. the canl ala was Ilot we il received and wa~ pe rfo nned o nl y once in Moscow in 1944. Eve n Shostakovich gave it a cril ical eV~l luat i on: " In the Bal/ad the mus ic is deprived of li so l id. construc ti ve base. 1 sense il as a ..e ries of separale. uncon nec led music~ll cadrc ~. 1'0 me il ~cc ms impossib le 10 c rca le li work of the largesl dimens ions by a method of Ihi ;;; son .":O Prokofiev used Ihe technique of c mployi ng IWO comrasti llg ~ I y· les of mus ic to portray the connicting a nd dramati c e lc me l1l :-. of lhe story as he had done in A/exandu Ne\·,\1I.)'. bu t fe ll illl o Ihe same d iffi cull y Ihat he had wi lh The Call1araJ{JI'lhe TII 'l'lI lielh AI/I/il'l'I'.'wry. T he pro~aic texi req uired li large :lmount of declamatory ph rases which le ftlilli e lyri c me lody fo r th e choru s . and the leading mus ic al l'Ole in a piece lasting ove n we my minut es was g iven over [0 the orchest ra.
Flourish, 0 M igllly Lal/d - A Call1(lrafor lite Tlliniellt Allllh'ersary ofOclOher Rem/If/ioll was anolhe r "Soviet" cant ma wrillen in 1947 fo r m ixed c horus and orc heslra. to a lext by the poet Do lJllalovsky. a fonn e r war corres· pondent who had wrille n man y popular song lyric s. The work is a one· moveme nt cantata thal is festi ve in spirit w ith lyric themes based on nati o nali slic Russ ian tunes . Thi s pieee received a t'oo l rece pli o n fr om Ih e 20yernme nt'!<. oflï c ia l quarter~. but in 1954 in ;n art ic le c ommemora tin g Prokofiev. hostak ov ic h pra i!o>cd Ihe canlala as ". a distinguished maslerpiece dedicaled to the grea l days of o ur lim e. a work of fe rven l p3triolÎ sm ." Althoug h Prokofi ev hac! obv io usly tried si nce bis relllrn to Ru s~ ia 10 compl y with some of
the e!ictate~ of the .. tate wi th regard to a "new !l. illlpliç ity in hi .., l11u ~ic (e ... pccin tl y hi s c ho ral \\ orh). heconlinued 10 come under al lack (a~ did man yothe rll1l1 ~ i cia n s in .. ide RU 5s ia ) from the govcrnl1lcnt. In 19..t8 the govemment decided 10 correct what il con,idered Ihe la'\: Si ale of l11u ~ i c. In a o ffi cial party dccrce. Ihe worh of Pro J.. . ofiev and 111 0~t OIher prominent comp0l:cr... \\ere denounced a .. "marked wilh fOfllla li , t perver'iion" ... a licn 10 the Soviel people." T he "fonnali sl perver.. ions" they objec ted to 1l1CUIlI generu ll y "mode mi slll of any k ind . including "a ll g ular. un~ in gab l e me lodi e .... prilll it ivisi rhY llllll !<l. Futu ri!)t noises. and e~pecially dodec:aphony". In pOOl' hca llh and (earine for hi s wifc's safe ly. Proko fi ev wrole a letter 10 the Gene ral Asse mbl y of Sov iet Compose rs and admi lled 10 "fo flll a li slll and advoc:alcd a retu l1l to a llleTllorable melody. a IUrn ing .lway frol11 atonality loward a s im ple hannoni c language. <.Ind a re in"lale me nl of polypho n yc~l p..ble o f incorporating Russian fo lk me lodies." 11 Even Ihoueh Prokofiev\ health cOll linued 10
deleriorale~( he r..uffered il slroJ....e that left him <.ln inva lid fo r a time). h e continued 10 COI11· po~e . and in 1949 accepted ano ther cOl11l11is· sion from Ihe Ali -Union Rad io for his nexi c horal work: Willter BOl/fi/'e. Op. 122. Thi s c hora l suile, wri tle n for a narrator. boys c ho ir. and orcheslra . is se l 10 Ihe leX I o f Marshak, a gifted Soviel write r fo r c hildre n, and te ll s tlle ; lOry of li cla y's o Litin g by c it y boys in the cou ntry. T here are c ight moveme nl s of the suit e (\V ith il te,'( ! rcc itecl before seven of the m ): 1 Dcp;u1ure. 11 S now l'all. 111 Waltzing olll ce. IV Young Pioneers' Rully. V Bonfire. VI Winler Nigh1. VII On the Marc h. VI1I . The Relllm. On ly the fi fth mo"cmen l used the boys C hOIU S. ~l
80th Prokofiev's chora l and inst rumental music encompass a wide array of means and styles, ranging from the primitive Seven , They are Seven and Scythian Suite Through the neo-Classism of Alexander Nevsky and the Classical Symphony to the simple folk-like appeal of Song of Our Days and Peter and the Wolf. Prokofiev. exhausled from Ihe effo l1 required 10 write \Vùuer BOf/ftre 10 the timetablc of lhe commi ss io n. Mil rtcd wha t was 10 he hi s la:-.t completed c hora l-orche:-.lral composit ion : an orator io SIal/li Vp JOl' Peaa . Op. 124. Prokofiev mUSI have sen'ied that hi s lim e was short. a nd even though hi s doclOrs o rde red him 10 dram alically c urta il his work. he conlinucd IOproduce il largequanlity of music. During the ~ umm er o f 1950. while working on the orato rio Sral/d Vpfo!' PeoC('. Prokofiev al so composcd Soldier'.\· Mo rclling SOllg (Op .
THE TALE OF THE RINGS OF POWER Tut b)'
J. R. R. Totlum
MusIC b)' Thomu
P~erson
Thomas Peterson's 80 minute musical saga based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Tht Silmarillion. For narrator, boy sopranos, soloists, chorus and o rchestra. lnfa., scores, and rentais:
Cynthian .-!I lrJ
Publications
1301 No. 4th St. Fugo, ND 58102 (701) 280·2009
12 1) in the slyle ofl he m ilit arychoru sesofhi s opera W ~lr and Peace.
The oratorio SWlld UpJo!' Peau. scored for llarralOr. con tra lt o. boy alto. c horus of boys. mi xed c horu s of acl ll1t ~. and full o rc hestra \Vith large percu~~ion sec li on. use!. text s wrillc n by Marshak dc,tling with war and the nccd for fulure peacc. Il is make up of 10 movements la51i1112 il lo ta l of 40 minutes. a nd is groupcd in lo Ihree d iffere nl parts whi c h Prokofiev \Van ted pe rfo l111e d wit ho lll interrupti on. Pa r Il ells of Ihe ravages of Ihe lasl w.lf. Move m ent 1. "Sca r el' I)' Ha d Ihe Earlh R eco\'crcd l'''o m War's T hu nder", Thi s dramatic introduction uscd the narrator. c horus. and o rc hestra's expressive phrases to reci.tll the eve nt ~ of Ihe pas!. MO\Ie m c n t II. "1'0 T hosc Who Are Te n YC ~lrs O ld" The c hildre ll's c hoi r is usee! in a poignant dialogue with Ihe aho solois!. MO\'e mc n t II I and I V."Sla lin gnld, C it y of a nd "May Ihe Indes lrucl ible Peace Be t he Hcroes ' Reward' . Bolh movemcnl S open \Vith an o rc hestral inlroduc tion b a ~c d on the le ilillotif of peace which i.. fo llowcd by a dec1am:ttory c horal part depicting a s ll cce~s ion of :'oce nes.
Glo r ~' "
P~lr t
Il d escr ibcs the peacefu l life of Soviet c hil d r cn. MUYCIllCnl V. " \ Ve 1)0 Not Want War"
IrnetnJIIOIIa[ (1" ....~1 Bulkll!!
IWI