In 1934, the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad (now known as the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg) offered Sergei Prokofiev the job of scoring its new ballet. However, the choice of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as a subject inspired so much criticism that the Kirov soon abandoned the project, believing that dance was unable to express the psychological nuances of the tragedy without the poet’s text. It was then picked up by the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, with Prokofiev still attached to the project. His approach to the musical realization of drama consisted of creating full-blooded musical images evoking multiple emotional states and developing them symphonically. As Prokofiev explained, “Whenever I am asked to write music for a dramatic spectacle or a film…I take five or 10 days to watch the play—that is, to see the characterization of the roles, illustration of their emotions, and their action. Thus observing it, I get my best ideas.”  

Prokofiev completed the score during summer 1935, but the directors of the Bolshoi soon canceled the contract. Their excuse revolved around the accusation that, due to the advanced harmonic and rhythmic language of the score, it was not suited for dance. In addition, they found Prokofiev’s original “happy ending” untenable. Prokofiev defended his taking liberty with Shakespeare’s ending as a logical necessity from a choreographic perspective: “Live people can dance, but the dying can hardly be expected to dance in bed.” Even after the tragic ending had been restored, the project remained rejected. The composer then fashioned two orchestral suites from his moribund child and arranged the Ten Pieces for Piano from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75, in 1937. —Steve Lacoste