(1891 - 1953)
Sergei Prokofiev perhaps contributed more new music to the standard ‘classical’ repertory than any of his contemporaries. Born and raised in Tsarist Russia, he established himself as a musical enfant terrible in the years before the Revolution, cultivating novel dissonances while still a student pianist-composer at the St Petersburg Conservatory. Like Beethoven, he completed five concertos for his own instrument, losing interest once he was no longer primarily an executant himself. Despite political and economic turmoil, a burst of creativity around 1917 produced a large pile of scores, not least the First Violin Concerto and the ‘Classical’ Symphony, in which the composer’s lyrical vein is more strongly apparent alongside his keen sense of irony. After 1918 he lived abroad, first in the USA, where his opera The Love for Three Oranges (1919) was staged, later mainly in Paris, where he became a peripheral member of the Diaghilev set. Several key compositions from this period have a tortured, Expressionistic character, notably the opera The Fiery Angel and the related Third Symphony.
Sergei Prokofiev Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Alexander Nevsky
Timpani + 7 percussion
Xylophone, wood block, snare drum, glockenspiel, triangle, maracas, glockenspiel, tambourine, low bass bell, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, tam tam
__________________________________________________________________________________
Lieutenant Kije
No Timpani + 4 percussion
Snare drum, clash cymbals, orchestral bass drum, triangle, sleigh bells, tambourine
__________________________________________________________________________________
Love of Three Oranges Suite
Timpani + 5 percussion
Glockenspiel, triangle, xylophone, snare drum, suspended cymbal, clash cymbals, orchestral bass drum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Peter and the Wolf
Timpani
Int'l 32/29/26 Prem 32/30/28
1 percussion
Orchestral bass drum, snare drum, tambourine, triangle, castanets, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal
__________________________________________________________________________________
Piano Concerto No 1
Timpani + 1 percussion
Pedal glockenspiel
__________________________________________________________________________________
Piano Concerto No 2
Timpani
Int'l 32/29/26 Prem 32/30/28
2 percussion
Tambourine, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, snare drum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Piano Concerto No 3
Timpani + 2 percussion
Castanets, tambourine, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, orchestral bass drum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Romeo and Juliet Suite
Timpani
Int'l 32/29/26/23 Prem 32/30/28/25
4 percussion
Tubular bell, orchestral bass drum, maracas, wood block, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, snare drum, triangle, tambourine, wood block, xylophone, glockenspiel
__________________________________________________________________________________
Scythian Suite
Timpani + 9 percussion
Xylophone, glockenspiel, 2 suspended cymbals, tambourine, snare drum, clash cymbals, orchestral bass drum, triangle, tam tam
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sinfonia Concertante
Timpani + 2 percussion
Clash cymbals, tambourine, triangle, snare drum, orchestral bass drum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Symphony No 1
Timpani
Int'l 32/29/26 Prem 32/30/28 (Hi 'F#')
__________________________________________________________________________________
Symphony No 2
Timpani + 3 percussion
Triangle, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, castanets, tambourine, snare drum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Symphony No 3
Timpani + 3 percussion
Tubular bells, castanets, tambourine, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, snare drum, tam tam
__________________________________________________________________________________
Symphony No 4
Timpani
Int'l 32/29/26/23 Prem 32/30/28/25
3 percussion
Wood block, clash cymbals, orchestral bass drum, snare drum, triangle, tambourine, suspended cymbal
__________________________________________________________________________________
Symphony No 5
Timpani
Int'l 32/29/26 Prem 32/30/28
6 percussion
Whip, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, tam tam, snare drum, triangle, tambourine, suspended cymbal
__________________________________________________________________________________
Symphony No 6
Timpani + 4 percussion
Tambourine, wood block, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, tam tam, snare drum, triangle
__________________________________________________________________________________
Symphony No 7
Timpani + 4 percussion
Tambourine, triangle, orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, snare drum, wood block, glockenspiel, xylophone
__________________________________________________________________________________
Violin Concerto No 1
Timpani + 2 percussion
Tambourine, snare drum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Violin Concerto No 2
No Timpani + 2 percussion
Clash cymbals, snare drum, castanets, triangle, orchestral bass drum
__________________________________________________________________________________