Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)

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Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)

Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century....
wrote his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major (Op. 100) in 1944.

teen years had passed since Prokofiev's last symphony.

World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
was still raging during the symphony's gestation, and Prokofiev composed the symphony in a safe haven run by the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
.

piece is in four movements, lasting 40-45 minutes:

Andante (in B-flat major)
Allegro marcato
Musical terminology

This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian language , in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions....
(in D minor
D minor

D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D , E , F , G , A , B? , and C . In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C? . Its key signature has one flat ....
)
Adagio (in F major
F major

F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F , G , A , B? , C , D , and E . Its key signature has one flat .Its relative key is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor....
)
Allegro giocoso
Musical terminology

This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian language , in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions....
(in B-flat major)

The first movement embodies what Prokofiev envisioned as the glory of the human spirit.

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Sergei Prokofiev

Background

Fourteen years had passed since Prokofiev's last symphony.

World War II

World War II

Soviet Union

Movements

The piece is in four movements, lasting 40-45 minutes:

Andante (in B-flat major)
Allegro marcato
Musical terminology

This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian language , in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions....
(in D minor
D minor

D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D , E , F , G , A , B? , and C . In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C? . Its key signature has one flat ....
)
Adagio (in F major
F major

F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F , G , A , B? , C , D , and E . Its key signature has one flat .Its relative key is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor....
)
Allegro giocoso
Musical terminology

This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian language , in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions....
(in B-flat major)

The first movement embodies what Prokofiev envisioned as the glory of the human spirit. In a tightly argued sonata form

Sonata form

Sonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical music era. While it is typically used in the first Movement of multimovement pieces, it is sometimes employed in subsequent movements as well....
, there is an elaborate and climactic development of the two themes - one calm and sustained, the other soaring with tremolo

Tremolo

Tremolo, or tremolando, is a Musical terminology with several meanings:* A regular and repetitive variation in amplitude for the duration of a single note; this is the most common meaning....
accompaniment from strings - after the exposition section. It represents the pinnacle in Prokofiev's symphonic thought. The movement is wrapped up with an electrifying coda

Coda

Coda can denote any concluding event, summation, or section. It may also refer to:Music*Coda, a passage which brings a movement or piece to a conclusion through prolongation...
, punctuated by a roaring tam-tam and low piano tremolos.

The second movement is an insistent scherzo in Prokofiev's typical toccata

Toccata

Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard instrument or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugue interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers....
mode, framing a central country dance in triple time. The third movement is a dreamy slow movement, full of nostalgia, which nevertheless builds up to a tortured climax, before receding back to dreaminess.

The finale starts with a cello choir playing a slow introduction containing elements from the first theme of the first movement, which then launches into the movement proper, a rondo

Rondo

Rondo, and its French language equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that is distinct from the form....
. The playful ("giocoso") main theme is contrasted with two calmer episodes, one played by the flute, the other a chorale

Chorale

A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. In casual modern usage, the term also includes classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
on strings. At the end, just as the movement is striving to end in a victorious tone, the music unexpectedly degenerates into a manic frenzy (rehearsal mark 111), which is then interrupted by a string quartet playing staccato

Staccato

In musical notation, the Italian language word staccato indicates that note are separated in a detached and distinctly separate manner or short and separated, with silence making up the latter part of the time allocated to each note....
"wrong notes" (rehearsal mark 113) with rude interjections from low trumpets, making the ultimate B-flat major chord sound all the more ironic.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for the following:

Woodwind

Piccolo
Piccolo

The piccolo is a small flute. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger component, the flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written....
2 Flute
Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge....
s
2 Oboe
Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy"....
s
Cor Anglais
Cor anglais

The cor anglais, or English horn, is a Double reed woodwind Musical instrument in the oboe family.The cor anglais is a transposing instrument pitched in F, a perfect fifth lower than the oboe , and is consequently approximately one-third longer....
2 Clarinet
Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
s
E-flat Clarinet
Soprano clarinet

The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family. They include the most common types of clarinets, and indeed are often referred to as simply "clarinets"....
Bass Clarinet
Bass clarinet

The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet....
2 Bassoon
Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the Bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher....
s
Contrabassoon
Contrabassoon

The contrabassoon is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences....

Brass

4 French Horn
Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. It is descended from the natural horn and is informally known as the French horn....
s
3 Trumpet
Trumpet

The trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest Register in the brass instrument family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC....
s
3 Trombone
Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass instrument family. Like all brass instruments, it is a lip-reed aerophone: sound is produced when the player?s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate....
s
Tuba
Tuba

The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped Mouthpiece ....

Percussion

Timpani
Timpani

Timpani are musical instruments in the percussion instrument family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a drumhead stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper, and more recently, constructed of more lightweight fiberglass....
Bass Drum
Bass drum

A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch . There are three general classifications of bass drums: the concert bass drum, the kick' drum, and the pitched bass drum....
Snare Drum
Snare drum

The snare drum is a drum with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or catgut cords stretched across the a drumhead, typically the bottom....
Cymbal
Cymbal

Cymbals are a modern percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various cymbal alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture....
s
Triangle
Triangle (instrument)

The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the Percussion instrument family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel in modern instruments, bent into a triangle shape....
Tambourine
Tambourine

The tambourine or Marine is a musical instrument of the Percussion instrument family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils"....
Tam-tam
Wood block
Wood block

A wood block is essentially a small piece of slit drums made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument. It is struck with a stick, making a characteristically percussive sound....

Keyboard

Piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....

Strings

Violin
Violin

The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
s (1st and 2nd)
Viola
Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position....
s
Cello
Cello

The violoncello is a bowed string instrument. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra....
s
Double Bass
Double bass

The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument used in the modern orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the orchestra and smaller string musical ensembles in European classical music....
es
Harp
Harp

The 'harp' is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the Sounding board. It is also considered to be a percussion instrument....

Premiere

The symphony was premiered on January 13, 1945 in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory

Moscow Conservatory

The Moscow Conservatory is a prominent music school in Russia.It was co-founded in 1866 by Nikolai Rubinstein and Prince Nikolai Petrovitch Troubetzkoy....
by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Prokofiev himself. The premiere was very well received, and the symphony has remained one of the composer's most popular works.

Notable Recordings

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Concertgebouw Orchestra	Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian Conducting and virtuoso pianist. He has been a citizen of Iceland, the home of his wife ??runn, since 1972 and currently lives with his family in Switzerland....	Decca Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....	1985	CD
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra	Gennadi Rozhdestvensky	BBC	1971	CD
New York Philharmonic New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842. Based in New York City, the Philharmonic performs most of its concerts at Avery Fisher Hall....	Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein was a multi-Emmy-winning and Academy Award for Original Music Score nominated American Conductor , composer, author, music lecturer and Piano....	Sony Sony is a multinational corporation list of conglomerates corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding US$99.1 billion ....	1966	CD
London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Arts Centre....	Valery Gergiev Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conducting and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and principal guest conductor of the Metropolitan Opera....	Philips Philips Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , usually known as Philips, is a Netherlands electronics company. It is one of the largest electronics companies in the world, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands....	2004	CD
Concerts Colonne Orchestra	Jascha Horenstein Jascha Horenstein Jascha Horenstein was a Ukraine-born United States conducting.Horenstein was born in Kiev, Ukraine ; his mother was Austrian. His family moved to Vienna in 1911 and he studied there with Joseph Marx and Franz Schreker before moving to Berlin and working as an assistant to Wilhelm Furtw?ngler....	Vox Vox Records VOX Records is a budget classical music record label founded by George Mendelssohn, a distant descendant of the composer Felix Mendelssohn, in 1945....		CD/LP
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra	Mariss Jansons Mariss Jansons Mariss Jansons is a Latvian conducting, the son of conductor Arvid Jansons. His mother, the singer Iraida Jansons, who was Jewish, gave birth to him in hiding in Riga, Latvia, after her father and brother were killed in the Riga ghetto....	Chandos Chandos Records Chandos Records is an independent European classical music label based in the United Kingdom, founded by Brian Couzens. Their catalog contains a range of classical music - for example, much orchestral, choir and chamber music by such relatively lesser-known British composers as Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi, Charles Stanford and Arnold Bax co...	1987	CD
Scottish National Orchestra	Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi Neeme J?rvi is an Estonian-born United States conducting.Neeme J?rvi was born in Tallinn and studied first there and then in Saint Petersburg under Evgeny Mravinsky, among others....	Chandos Chandos Records Chandos Records is an independent European classical music label based in the United Kingdom, founded by Brian Couzens. Their catalog contains a range of classical music - for example, much orchestral, choir and chamber music by such relatively lesser-known British composers as Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi, Charles Stanford and Arnold Bax co...	1985	CD
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra....	Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conducting, one of the most renowned 20th-century conductors. His obituary in The New York Times described him as "probably the world's best-known conductor and one of the most powerful figures in classical music." Karajan conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for thirty-five years....	Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon is a Germany classical record label, now part of the Universal Music Group. The company has long been known for its high standards of high fidelity....	1965	CD
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, acquiring its current name in 1953....	Dmitri Kitaenko	RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Today, the RCA is owned by the France conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson....	1987	CD
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Czech Philharmonic Orchestra The Cesk? filharmonie is a symphony orchestra based in Prague and is the best-known and most respected orchestra in the Czech Republic. It was voted 20th place of the top 20 best orchestras in the World in a 2008 survey organized by the British magazine Gramophone ....	Zdenek Kosler	Supraphon Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech Republic record label, it is oriented mainly on publishing classical music....	1979	CD
Boston Symphony Orchestra Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five "....	Sergei Koussevitzky	RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Today, the RCA is owned by the France conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson.... , Dutton Dutton Dutton has several meanings:Places:Dutton, Alabama, town in the United StatesDutton, Cheshire, village in England*Dutton, Lancashire, village in England...	1946	CD
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine	Theodore Kuchar	Naxos	1995	CD
Boston Symphony Orchestra Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five "....	Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf was an Austrian-born American conducting. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality....	RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Today, the RCA is owned by the France conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson....	1963	CD
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five "....	James Levine James Levine James Lawrence Levine is an United States orchestral conducting and piano. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and of the Boston Symphony Orchestra....	Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon is a Germany classical record label, now part of the Universal Music Group. The company has long been known for its high standards of high fidelity....	1992	CD
National Orchestra of the O.R.T.F.	Jean Martinon Jean Martinon Jean Martinon was a France conducting and composer....	Vox Vox Records VOX Records is a budget classical music record label founded by George Mendelssohn, a distant descendant of the composer Felix Mendelssohn, in 1945....		CD
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra	Evgeny Mravinsky Evgeny Mravinsky Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Mravinsky was a Russians conducting....	Russian Disc, Leningrad Masters	1968	CD
Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is historically considered to be one of the "Big Five " American orchestras....	Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti, Italian orders of merit is an Italian conducting. He is the Music Director Designate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and will officially start his contract in 2010....	Philips Philips Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , usually known as Philips, is a Netherlands electronics company. It is one of the largest electronics companies in the world, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands....	1990	CD
Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is historically considered to be one of the "Big Five " American orchestras....	Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy was a Hungary-United States conducting and violinist....	Sony Sony is a multinational corporation list of conglomerates corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding US$99.1 billion ....	1957	CD
Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is historically considered to be one of the "Big Five " American orchestras....	Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy was a Hungary-United States conducting and violinist....	RCA RCA Red Seal Records RCA Red Seal Records is a prestigious European classical music label and is now part of Sony BMG Masterworks.The Red Seal label was begun in 1902 in music by the Gramophone Company in the United Kingdom and was quickly picked up by its United States affiliate the Victor Talking Machine Company by its president Eldridge R....	1975	CD (Japan only)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra....	Seiji Ozawa Seiji Ozawa is a Japanese conducting, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic music works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera....	Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon is a Germany classical record label, now part of the Universal Music Group. The company has long been known for its high standards of high fidelity....	1990	CD
Orchestre National de France Orchestre National de France The Orchestre National de France is a symphony orchestra run by Radio France. It has also been known as the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Fran?aise and Orchestre National de l'Office de Radiodiffusion T?l?vision Fran?aise ....	Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire , , known to close friends as ?Slava,? was a Russians cellist and conducting....	Erato Erato Records Erato Records is a record label founded in 1953 in music to promote France classical music. In 1992 in music it became part of Warner Bros. Records....	1988	CD
USSR Ministry of Culture State Symphony Orchestra	Gennadi Rozhdestvensky		?	CD/LP
Cleveland Orchestra Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five "....	George Szell George Szell George Szell , originally Gy?rgy Sz?ll or Georg Szell, was a Hungary-born American conducting and composer. He is remembered today for his long and successful tenure as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, and for the recordings of the standard classical repertoire he made in Cleveland and with other orchestras....	Sony Sony is a multinational corporation list of conglomerates corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding US$99.1 billion ....	1959	CD/LP
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England....	Simon Rattle Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society of Arts, is an England Conducting. He rose to prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and is currently principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....	EMI EMI The EMI Group is a United Kingdom music company comprising the major record label EMI Music ? which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in London, England, United Kingdom ? and EMI Music Publishing, based in New York City....	1992	CD
St. Petersburg Philharmonic	Yuri Temirkanov Yuri Temirkanov Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov is a Russian conducting of Circassian origin.Yuri Temirkanov has been the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic since 1988....	RCA RCA Red Seal Records RCA Red Seal Records is a prestigious European classical music label and is now part of Sony BMG Masterworks.The Red Seal label was begun in 1902 in music by the Gramophone Company in the United Kingdom and was quickly picked up by its United States affiliate the Victor Talking Machine Company by its president Eldridge R....	1991	CD
London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Arts Centre....	Walter Weller Walter Weller Walter Weller is an Austrians conducting and violinist....	Decca Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....	1976	CD