Composed: 1935

Length: c. 37 minutes

Orchestration: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, bells, cymbals, maracas, snare drum, tambourine, triangle, xylophone), harp, celesta, piano, and strings

Prokofiev composed the score for Romeo and Juliet in 1935 for the Leningrad Theatre of Opera and Ballet, but the music became known through concert performances of suites the composer arranged well before the first staging in Russia by the Kirov Ballet, which, with choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky, occurred in 1940. (The premiere of the ballet actually took place in Czechoslovakia in 1938.)

The score is little short of miraculous. With impressive economy of means, without ever resorting to inflated emotionalism, Prokofiev conjures in sound every circumstance, character, and mood. The musical pictorialism is endlessly intriguing, the musical footprints clearly recognizable.

Montagues and Capulets. An angry dissonance suggests the eventual tragedy. The arrogance of the feuding families is pictured in the long striding steps of the string theme and the horns' haughty counter-theme. A contrasting middle section, which is Juliet's first dance with Paris, her parents' choice of a suitor for her, has the colorful shadings of harp, triangle, tambourine, snare drums, and glissando violas accompanying the sinuous flutes.

The Young Juliet. One of Prokofiev's most miraculous musical portraits, this episode skitters and cajoles warmly, exudes exuberant naiveté, and intimates the recognition in the teen-aged heroine of the blossoming of mature emotions.

Friar Laurence. The cleric is represented by a pair of themes, one in bassoons, tuba, and harp, the other in divided cellos.

Dance. Harp, piano, side drum, and pizzicato strings provide the rhythmic energy for this dance that is part of the opening scene of the second act. First an oboe, then a flute, pipe the jaunty main tune. Later the violins inject an insinuating, sensuous melody into the proceedings.

Romeo at Juliet's Before Parting. This impassioned, highly developed section is built on the theme of Romeo's love. The soaring music is shot through with intimations of impending tragedy.

Dance of the Girls from Antilles. This is a purely ornamental dance, not intrinsic to the action. To the accompaniment of maracas and tambourine, violin and woodwind solos define the dance performed when Paris presents a gift of pearls to Juliet.

Masks. Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio, disguised, appear outside the Capulets' (Juliet's) house as guests arrive for a ball. The exuberant music reflects the spirited antics of the three friends.

Death of Tybalt. Romeo avenges his friend Mercutio, who has just met death at the hand of Tybalt. This is the wedding day of Romeo and Juliet, and Romeo, at first reluctant to engage in battle, now slays the murderer of Mercutio. The dueling music swirls, careens, and lunges dizzily; Tybalt's death agonies are intensified by fifteen throbbing timpani and woodwind punctuations. The fallen Tybalt's body is borne away as a searing theme intones the present tragedy and the larger one to come.

- compiled from previous Philharmonic programs

10/07